Shin Splints, Go Away!

When I’m out at the weekly half-marathon training walks for the group I hang with (Foot Traffic University), I listen to what folks are saying to each other. This week, I was hearing a lot about shin splints, a common problem for walkers. Having suffered through shin splints for many years, I finally figured out how to avoid them and it’s an unusual day that the problem crops up. So, a few thoughts . . .

Shins galore . . .

First, “shin splints” are what we refer to when the front of the lower leg is tight and cramping and slowing us down because it’s downright uncomfortable. In my experience, I get them when I don’t warm up enough. By that, I mean I head out of the starting gate too fast. I get excited and in my enthusiasm I’m keeping up with everyone else who is starting too fast. It hurts. And, we keep pushing and then we’re hurting. Honestly, in the long run, it slows you down more than a good lengthy warm-up might slow you down.

Second, I apply my “reverse psychology” on the shin splints. Instead of stretching, which is supposedly an attempt to lengthen the tightened muscle, I shorten them even more. On my walk with the dogs this evening, I was picking up the pace just to play around with a different gait, and my shins felt a little tense. I popped over to the curb and put the front of my foot on the curb and dropped my heel toward the street. The dogs got a great sniff-fest and I got a nice 30-second lengthening of my calf, which shortened my shin even more.

I walked on and felt that, sure enough, there was some relief, but the tension wasn’t all gone. So, I stopped again a few blocks later and this time I turned my toes inward and my heel out and dropped my heel toward the street like that. Then, I turned my toes outward and my heel in and dropped my heel down again. Each time, I moved really slow and did not go as far as I could have gone. I was just playin’ around. Voila, that time it worked and my shins let go of the tightness sensation and my walk was bouncy and fun and my dogs loved me for it.

So, what about the message that you should stretch those places that are tight to loosen them up? It makes sense, but is that really how the body works? For example, many people with tight muscles go the massage therapist and the person works their muscles really hard, really gets down in there and stretches them out to release that holding. The problem is that within 48 hours, those muscles are back as tight as ever. Then, less frequently, I hear the story of the massage therapist who moved really slowly and waited for the muscle to let go on its’ own. The pressure wasn’t as deep and the urge to force the muscles to let go was significantly decreased. In those cases, I’ve met some really happy massage clients who for days afterward were feeling the effects of that letting go.

My strategy is based on my practice of the Feldenkrais Method. In this work, we don’t go against what the person can do in an effort to show them what they should be doing. In fact, when they come in and it’s easier to turn their head to one side and the other side of the neck hurts, I don’t turn their head to the side that hurts. I turn their head to the side that is easy, the way their head is organized to go. I help them make that turning even easier, simpler, less effortful. Without fail, when we are done they can turn their head easier to the side that was hard in the beginning, but we didn’t get there by stretching.

In summary, instead of stretching out your tight shins, go make them shorter. Make the muscle fiber shorter, which relieves the muscle of working, lets it relax, and then it will be softer, more pliable and more resilient. And, none of this has to cause pain or be forceful. It may take some practice and stopping more than once to drop a heel off a curb, but you’ll be glad you did. And, by all means, go easy on that calf muscle.

Walking can be fun and you shouldn’t have to hurt to get somewhere. Your potential to do what you want to do expands when you go gently with yourself. Gentle isn’t the same as slow, but that’s discussion for another posting about pacing for the distance.

And now, to the walk . . .