How To Prevent Shin Splints
Shin splints are a painful repercussion of doing some running in the “too much, too fast, too soon” category. We’ll walk through how to prevent splints in 30 seconds.
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Shin splints are a painful repercussion of doing some running in the “too much, too fast, too soon” category. We’ll walk through how to prevent splints in 30 seconds.
A lot of my athletes (myself included) suffer from shin splints after doing some running in the “too much, too fast, too soon” category. One simple technique for preventing shin splints is heel walking. It’s a quick and effective way to strengthen the muscles on the front of your shin—a hard-to-strengthen area—and you can do it anywhere.
Point your toes up as far as you can and simply walk on your heels. Start by walking for 30 seconds at a time and build up to 60-90 seconds. It sounds silly, but you’ll start to feel it pretty quickly. If you’re particularly prone to shin splints, vow to walk on your heels for 30 seconds before you start every run.
But don’t stop there. Walk on your heels while you’re cooking dinner. Walk on your heels while waiting for the subway or while in line at the grocery store. Walk on your heels to kill time at an annoying stoplight during a run. Bonus points if you do heel walking uphill!