Few things are more annoying than a nagging shin injury, especially for endurance athletes. I’m in Boston, where the endurance‑training crowd is big, and I’ve seen plenty of people with shin splints walk through the doors at CORE. It’s a mess not because shin splints are unimaginable, but because of how some people try to deal with them. I’ve got some thoughts. Shall we?
Shin splints, or Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome, are common in endurance athletes and jumpers. People describe pain along the inner edge of the shin bone (tibia). The root cause is usually overdoing it—too much activity, too soon, leading to swelling and pain in the lower leg tissues.
No, you aren’t going to die from shin splints.
How do you address it? There are several straightforward approaches. Rest from the offending activity (not just Netflix and chilling), stretch the calf muscles (gastrocnemius and soleus) and the Achilles tendon, and add some manual work such as massage, Graston, or self‑release with a foam roller or The Stick. These help, but they can be a bit surface‑level.
Other options to consider:
1) Reduce training volume
If shin splints come from overtraining or insufficient recovery, dialing back how much you train is worth trying.
2) Strengthen the front of the lower leg
Focus on the Tibialis Anterior. A common drill is standing and pulling the toes toward the knees for several sets. I also like active ankle dorsiflexion rather than relying only on a band. Note: the video accompanying this tip can be a bit dull.
3) Don’t chase a keto cure
No, not worth it. (Just kidding.)
4) Emphasize deceleration and landing technique
Coaching people on how to land and slow their bodyweight can greatly reduce shin splint recurrence. When you master a solid box jump landing, it should sound like a controlled drop, not an elephant crashing down. It’s also a good time to touch on gait and running mechanics, even if it isn’t my specialty.
There’s more to it. A major driver of shin splints is over‑pronation of the feet. Orthotics are often seen as the fix, but they aren’t always the answer. I’m not a doctor, and many people benefit from orthotics, but for many, other approaches are more relevant. A physical therapist I respect, Bill Hartman, influenced my thinking: pronation leads to tibial internal rotation, femoral internal rotation, and anterior pelvic tilt. What counters that trend? Probably not an orthotic.
If we reverse engineer the biomechanics, the approach looks like this:
do more anterior core work and glute work to nudge the pelvis toward posterior tilt, promote femoral external rotation, tibial external rotation, and foot supination.
I explain this a bit more in a quick video.
With that in mind, here are some exercises I think deserve more emphasis for shin splints:
– Hammer the anterior core and hip stability with dead bugs
Dead bugs are an underrated MVP for developing anterior core strength and pelvic control. They may look easy, but done right they’re powerful.
– Active foot squat with a band
A passive foot tends to default to pronation. An active foot maintains three points of pressure (heel, pinky toe, big toe). A band gives kinesthetic feedback so you stay aware of your foot position.
– Standing kettlebell swap
Popularized by Dr. Joel Seedman, this drill emphasizes slow transitions and owning each one. If you speed up to stay balanced, you miss the point. It strongly activates the glutes and hip muscles.
– 1‑legged Romanian deadlift kettlebell swap
A progression from the standing KB swap that increases hip stability.
– Glute bridge with band abduction
Find where you feel your glutes the most and work from there. If needed, add a band for extra hip abduction at the top of each rep.
– Side plank with hip clamshell
One of my favorites and a challenging, glute‑targeting drill. Do 3–4 sets of 5–10 reps per side.
That’s it. I’m not great at closing, but that’s the gist. In this political climate, I’ll still take cheese, enjoy Bourne‑style action scenes, and consider myself awesome.
