Excercising but still not the results I want.

[ryo1987]

Ive been going to the gym and excercising regularly but I went to do a 3miler there and could only do a mile and a half. I keep getting tenderness in my muscles at front of legs near shins and its starting to really annoy me, considering ive got PGAC soon. Anyone any advice on stretches for that part of leg, ways to train for 3miler and general gunner type training to help. Thanks

[jakeh83]

Sounds like shin splints mate, the best thing really is rest for a couple of weeks. Take some anti inflamatries and put some ice on them, its important to warm up before and after exercise to prevent this type of thing but generally i think its caused by over exercise

[Stokey_14]

Sounds like shin splints mate, the best thing really is rest for a couple of weeks.

Not being funny here mate, but how can you tell from that brief description? (I'm not having a go) But a pain in the shin area isn't always shin splints. Try these stretches before you get up and run...

http://www.walkinghealthy.com/Stretchin ... ches01.asp

see pages 1-2-3 and 4 for decent stretches. Also make sure the rest of your legs are well stretched out as this can also lead to complications.

Finally if it doesn't go away after a rest period and the use of a correct warm up then go get it see to by a doctor. (If you’re worried about it now go see one, they may have some strong anti inflammatory for it Ibuprofen isn't always enough)


Hope it’s nothing bad

Stokey

[_chris]

Not being funny here mate, but how can you tell from that brief description? (I'm not having a go) But a pain in the shin area isn't always shin splints. Try these stretches before you get up and run...

No it could be compartment syndrome or stress fracture aswell Common sense people, pain=stop, asess possible causes, work out best course of action. If you can't do it yourself get down a doctor. I would suggest you stop for 2 weeks, then try gently running, if its gone good forget about it, if your still suffering get down a doctor and have them asess it; although in reality they'll just tell you to rest longer, but they'll know how long you should rest for before becoming worried (especially in the case of compartment syndrome) if its not clearing up.

And stokey those stretches are for the calf muscle, which is the treatment you'ld follow for anterior shin splints (front outside part of the leg), so do you think he has shin splints or not? Heres an extract from runners world article on shin problems, suggesting stretches and excercises for shin problems:

Gently stretch your Achilles if you have medial shin splints (the inside of the shin - chris), and your calves if you have anterior shin splints. Also, try this stretch for your shins: Kneel on a carpeted floor, legs and feet together and toes pointed directly back. Then slowly sit back onto your calves and heels, pushing your ankles into the floor until you feel tension in the muscles of your shin. Hold for 10 to 12 seconds, relax and repeat.

In a sitting position, trace the alphabet on the floor with your toes. Do this with each leg. Or alternate walking on your heels for 30 seconds with 30 seconds of regular walking. Repeat four times. These exercises are good for both recovery and prevention. Try to do them three times a day. If you continue running, wrap your leg before you go out.

Obviously your going to need to keep your fitness up but swimming cycling etc. should be fine on your shin and will keep your CV fitness high, if you have access to an elliptical trainer than use it. A good way of building running fitness while still extremely low impact - so long as you don't mind looking like a tit - is to go to your pool and 'run' the length of the pool repeatedly. Obviously this will be much slower than swimming or running on the surface but your muscles will be worked the same way as running, its the closest non-running training you could do, and as your fighting through huge resisitance, it will work them hard.

[Stokey_14]

so do you think he has shin splints or not?

Personally I wouldn't like to say not have been given an in detailed descriptions + not being a qualified doctor etc.

those where just the stretch’s I use when warming up for a run... Thought they may help as it could just be a simple tightness of the calf causing the pain, I used to get this before I started Properly warming up and after that the problem went straight away.

Best bet is the doc really mate

Stokey

[ADDiction]

Tight calves causing shin pain... .

Well done for considering the quacks though Stokey, probably best to leave it to the pro's .

[Stokey_14]

probably best to leave it to the pro's .

Ye you're probably right just trying my best... my thought was that the gastrocnemius (spelling?) is very close to the shin there for a tightness in the muscle around that area my cause a shin pain... obviously not

Sorry if I gave any bad our un-helpful advice. Atleast i tryed ay

Stokey

[james_m]

Ive been going to the gym and excercising regularly but I went to do a 3miler there and could only do a mile and a half. I keep getting tenderness in my muscles at front of legs near shins and its starting to really annoy me, considering ive got PGAC soon. Anyone any advice on stretches for that part of leg, ways to train for 3miler and general gunner type training to help. Thanks

I used to get the same thing. I found that doing a real good warm up and good stretching routine (especially the calf stretches) before running helps as well as stretching through out the day. Also when running concentrate on relaxing your lower legs and ankles, I felt I was tightening up as I was trying to control my ankles when my feet hit the floor. Other than that I think its something that goes away as your legs get stronger and you become more supple.

I would not think it was "shin splints" as this tends to affect the bone instead of the muscles around the shin area.

What I did was to stop running for a couple weeks so it fully healed. Then started running gradually like 2-3 times a week over short distances and on a treadmill to really minimise the impact on the legs. Then really slowly introduce road running/cross country as well as longer distance and running more frequently.

I used the personal smart coach system on runnersworld.com which I think is a superb application. This can be found by clicking the "Training" link at the top of the page, then clicking "Smart Coach" link and the bottom left hand side of the page.

Good luck mate and keep us informed of your progress!

Cheers
James

[_chris]

I would not think it was "shin splints" as this tends to affect the bone instead of the muscles around the shin area.

Wrong, shins splints is a catch all phrase for muscular pain in the lower leg around the shin area, there seems to be so many misconceptions on this site about what they are. But simple advice, if you don't know don't post. Pain affecting the bone in your lower leg is much more likely to be a stress fracture, shin splints are muscular, which is why stretching is treatment for it.

And tight calves can cause shin pain, thats why a method of treating shinsplints, listed in an article I quoted within this very topic. Stokeys right the calf could be the problem, as a lower leg muscle, my only point was the initial diagnosis of shin splints would still be correct if that was the case.

What I'm seeing here is people who have very incorrect assumptions of what shin splints is. It is not a 'condition' that can be attributed to one thing, it a phrase used to initialy diagnose any muscular pain in the area around the shin bone. Stress fractures are often misdiagnosed as shin splints but the difference becomes obvious as warming up and stretching your muscles will not help ease the pain, which will worsen as you run. Compartment syndrome is also often initial diagnosed as shin splints, but warming up and stretching won't help this either, and after a period of rest with no improvements a doctor would look into this. Shin splints is overuse of the lower leg muscles, which results in small tears. Thats it, lower leg muscles, overused, torn. Not a particular muscle, not a bone; it just decribes any lower leg muscle pain, there is no specific treatment other than rest, stretching the lower leg muscles, warming up, and icing to releif the pain. Its therefore easy to diagnose shin splints, you don't have to investigate which muscle it is or anything, because the treatment is the same. If the pain is affecting the bone, doesn't get relieved by rest and stretching, then a doctor should obviously be consulted then.

So the original assesment of shin splints based on the information given is correct; and all the following advice, rest, stretch etc. go to a doctor if problems persist is correct as part of overall treatment. But as for all the 'shin splints' 'not shinsplints' part, people just need to do a bit more study into understanding what shin splints actually are. Whether people were saying it was or wasn't shin splints, they were all giving similar and correct treatments for shin splints, which I guess is the main thing, as long as the treatments right, it only has a name so the doctors can say you have something in particular.

[james_m]

Fair play Chris, I stand corrected. However I was only repeating the exact words from my GP. He said that "shin splints" was to do with the bone and not the muscles or tendons etc in the lower leg and that problems to do with these had their own names. He said the most common use of the phrase "shin splints" was fractures running along bones in the lower leg however I see you refer to this as stress fractures. Seems like their are many misconceptions and I agree that the best way with any injury is to see your doc.

Many thanks for the info!

Cheers
James

[_chris]

Fair play Chris, I stand corrected. However I was only repeating the exact words from my GP. He said that "shin splints" was to do with the bone and not the muscles or tendons etc in the lower leg and that problems to do with these had their own names. He said the most common use of the phrase "shin splints" was fractures running along bones in the lower leg however I see you refer to this as stress fractures. Seems like their are many misconceptions and I agree that the best way with any injury is to see your doc.

Many thanks for the info!

Cheers
James

Yeah thats always the thing with GPs, hats of to them they generally do a great job, but how can anyone be expected to know all the thousands of possible things you could have wrong. I'm lucky in that one of our surgeries gps works with the main local rugby team, i.e. an expert on sports injuries, so if I'm injured throguh sports I can go to him. Sports specialists are the way forwards with sports injuries. But fractures are just usually called fractures, shin splints is something different, clearly confusion there.

[ryo1987]

Cheers for that advice, Ive got my PGAC in about a month. I was able to do 3miles today in 23mins which is obviously sufficient but i was quite out of breath for some reason. Would anyone know what warm up i should do before taking on a 3 miler?

[Stu-]

So it still hurts ryo but you can do the 3 miler? Not sure if your last post was saying that the pain has gone or not.

I think I have the same issue regarding pain the muscle on the outside of both my shins.

[ryo1987]

Yeh ive still got the pain. Its quite mild but still present. Mite just get PGAC outa the way then have complete rest for a while, Im abit worried.

[_chris]

Did you go to a doctor? Did you take a rest break at all, how long if you did? What are you shoes like, cushioning wise, how old and what type; were they professionally fitted for you?

To warm up start walking around after about 30s start overexagerating all your motions, this will gently stretch out the muscles, then jog lightly for a bit, then you can stop and stretch if you feel tight (may be adviceable as your suffering muscle pain) or launch straight into your 3 miles. This shouldn't leave you too tired but it will leave your muscles ready to go.

Cooling down slow to a light jog after you've finished and jog a bit more, then once stopped stretch out carefully.

I wouldn't worry about it too much, it can't be that bad if you ran 23 min 3 miles, thats a pretty good training pace, if it was really bad I doubt you'ld be able to stick at that pace.