For those that have ever experienced them, I’m sure you will agree there is nothing more frustrating (and painful) than shin splints.
But what exactly are shin splints and why do they strike down some people and not others?
Well it’s actually quite simple......

Running down you lower leg are many different muscles and tendons (tendons are what joins your muscles to the bone), all of which form the ‘calf and shin’ region. When you run, these muscles and tendons work overtime to hold your foot, ankle and lower leg stable.
Sometimes, the effort and stress associated with all this support generates so much force that the tendons start to partially tear away from the bone.

As a result, theses tears are what give you that incredibly painful feeling in your lower legs, almost certainly preventing you from running more and thus ruining your motivation to get fit again.

So why do some people get them and not others? To understand why shin splints only affect some people, we must first look at the common causes. The most common ways to get shin splints are:
• Exercising or running on hard surfaces like concrete
• Excessive uphill or downhill running
• Trying to go too hard to quickly after a long layoff from exercise
• Exercising or running with old, worn out, or poor fitting shoes
• If you have an over pronating step (your foot roles inwards).

So as you can see, only some people fall into the above categories, which is why they are the unlucky souls that have to deal with shin splints.
When you look at the above common causes though, there is one common link that can help prevent 95% of shin splint cases. GOOD SHOES!
You cannot under estimate how important a good, fitted pair of shoes is for reducing the stress on your feet, ankles, knees and body.

A correctly fitted pair of good shoes is going to eliminate foot pronation, and drastically reduce the impact forces on your muscles, tendons and bones when exercising. A good sports shoe outlet will have a ‘foot strike’ machine which looks at what your foot is doing each time it ‘strikes’ the ground. They can then recommend the right shoe for your foot plus fit you with any further insoles that might be needed.
I also highly recommend visiting a podiatrist if you have ever experienced any discomfort with shin splints in the past.

I have many clients both in group situations and personal training who have complained of sore shins at one point or another. Most of the time this is simply tired muscles, just like any other part of your body gets sore when being trained. However, in continuing cases they are almost always completely reversed by simply getting the correct footwear fitted.

My advice, NEVER skimp when getting footwear for exercise! You are far better taking the correct precautions and never getting shin splints, than getting them and trying to reverse the damage!