Help for Shin Splints (HS Coach)

Can't say much about how to cure an athlete who already has shin splints. Other than to make sure it isn't compartment syndrome.

But as for preventative medicine - that's where you can make a big difference.

Have all your kids stand on one leg, preferably while barefoot, for two minutes each leg. Some coaches will prescribe this while they brush teeth at home.

That will strengthen all lower leg muscles. foot and shin and calf. That should help and is relatively easy to do as a group. Even sort of fun.

I read a study once that suggested this simple exercise cuts lower leg injuries by some large percentage.

In addition to what the guy before me said, add in runs on softer surfaces than concrete, and make sure they are not running on the sloped edge of the road. Furthermore, make sure they aren't taking lots of time off between seasons and then starting up full bore. Runners who take months off are the ones who get shin splints over and over again.

Has he been checked for stress fractures? Our top guy was running through non stop shin splints and ended up they were stress fractures and the reason they weren't going away was because he was never stopping looking enough to heal.

**running, not looking

I struggled with shin splints in high school but never had them in college.

1. The shin splints would usually occur during winter and spring track. I don't think I had any issues during cross country season, probably because we did our speed workouts on grass. Track workouts really beat me up.

2. Two exercises I began doing that I think greatly helped. The 1st is to spell the alphabet with your feet. Move each foot around as if it was holding a pencil and you were spelling each letter. The 2nd exercise is to walk on your heels. Both of these exercises will strengthen the muscles in their lower legs.

3. In high school I ran fewer miles and usually entered the season doing little to no base work. I think running more miles in college, especially entering the season with a decent base, better prepared my legs for the pounding.

I don't know if this would work for everyone, but for me, integrating barefoot running took away my shin splints. I run my speedwork barefoot and I've started doing some 3-5 mile runs barefoot as long as it isn't on bad trails.

If this is the route you go though, make sure to ease him into it and don't have him do 12x400 all barefoot (I hurt myself doing that a bit over a year ago).

Barefoot boy wrote:

I don't know if this would work for everyone, but for me, integrating barefoot running took away my shin splints. I run my speedwork barefoot and I've started doing some 3-5 mile runs barefoot as long as it isn't on bad trails.

If this is the route you go though, make sure to ease him into it and don't have him do 12x400 all barefoot (I hurt myself doing that a bit over a year ago).

I am very skeptical about barefoot running...I hear so many injuries/blisters/bruises caused by stepping on stuff and other weird stuff...americans have very soft feet and really need shoes to stay safe.

Esp when people do it in a group and aren't looking at where they are stepping.

But I understand it helps you and others.

I definitely had blisters when I first started but at this point I have some crazy callouses.

I also only did it on the track or on the field for a while, and now I do it on sidewalks so it's easy to not step on things.

It is really important to start it slowly i.e. less than a mile barefoot the first time you do it to build the muscles in your feet.

I did do a lot of research before it too so that also probably helped me.

I was a high school coach for a number of years and have an electronic handouts for athletes on this topic.

It is far from perfect but did provide some relief for many.

Provide an email address and I will send it to you.

Just the facts-

I would appreciate this a lot.

brianmarshall19@yahoo.com

shin splint help wrote:

Just the facts-

I would appreciate this a lot.

brianmarshall19@yahoo.com

Just sent. Please let me know if you do not receive it.

Would it be possible to post a public link to this?

Good shoes and ease into running slowly. I like 2 weeks of base work even for sprinters.

For my son, getting fitted for the right shoes helped.

hoo boy, I have some relevant experience

some stuff that's worked for me:

hip/glute/core strengthening routine:

3x2min Plank

3x75sec Clamshell Hold

3x10 Side Plank Leg Lifts

3x10 One Leg Glute Bridge/3x30 Donkey Kicks

3x10 Single Leg Squats

3x20 Band Walks

2xMAX One Leg Balance

barefoot strides/3x10min running barefoot each week on grass (I'm now in the process of transitioning to true minimalism) - if your runner is a bigger guy/not interested in this, orthotics might work too (I'd recommend Spenco Max Support if it's medial/inner shin splints because those tend to be pronation-related)

ice massage every day (I recommend buying an ice cup, but the dixie cup method should work too)

Eccentric Calf Raises and Toe Raises (google "gizmodo no more shin splints" and the article with the exercise should come up) along with walking on toes and heels after runs

These are a few things. I'll try to think of other things that helped me, but hopefully this is a start.

Barefoot boy wrote:

I don't know if this would work for everyone, but for me, integrating barefoot running took away my shin splints. I run my speedwork barefoot and I've started doing some 3-5 mile runs barefoot as long as it isn't on bad trails.

If this is the route you go though, make sure to ease him into it and don't have him do 12x400 all barefoot (I hurt myself doing that a bit over a year ago).

Side note for us city runners, but I think Merrell Vapor Glove 3s provide a lot of the same benefits in terms of very accurately simulating barefoot running.