Thread: Shins cramping up

I was reading a book by eric cressey who is a well known strength and conditioning specialist, he trains kevin youkilis of the boston red sox. He was suggesting that shin splints can be due to tight ankles. Whats your profession do you sit down alot or wear dress shoes?

He expresses it could be due to excessive plantar flexion and not enough dorsiflexion. plantar flexion is the position your foot is in during a calf raise where as dorsiflexion is what is occuring during toe raises. There are several stretches you can do. Do you do any kind of resisted toe raises or circling of your ankles?

I know doesn't sound like the best exercises to get you big and strong. But indirectly these exercises are great because they keep your body in balance and if you don't have strong joint i.e your ankles then you won't be able to continue with the strength exercises without greater risk of injury

Telling us the kind of cardio you're doing would be helpful. Bike? Treadmill? Elliptical? Stair climber? Rowing machine?

Also, are you changing shoes before cardio? You're not lifting in running shoes, are you?

Originally Posted by carter1990

I was reading a book by eric cressey who is a well known strength and conditioning specialist, he trains kevin youkilis of the boston red sox. He was suggesting that shin splints can be due to tight ankles. Whats your profession do you sit down alot or wear dress shoes?

He expresses it could be due to excessive plantar flexion and not enough dorsiflexion. plantar flexion is the position your foot is in during a calf raise where as dorsiflexion is what is occuring during toe raises. There are several stretches you can do. Do you do any kind of resisted toe raises or circling of your ankles?

I know doesn't sound like the best exercises to get you big and strong. But indirectly these exercises are great because they keep your body in balance and if you don't have strong joint i.e your ankles then you won't be able to continue with the strength exercises without greater risk of injury

I'm in sneakers most of the day because I have bad ankles. I own a contracting company but I mostly do estimating. I will do an online search for Eric Cressey and see if I can get some info. Thank you for the reply

Originally Posted by ThreeGigs

Telling us the kind of cardio you're doing would be helpful. Bike? Treadmill? Elliptical? Stair climber? Rowing machine?

Also, are you changing shoes before cardio? You're not lifting in running shoes, are you?

Sorry, its all treadmill. And yes I do a change of sneakers before I hit the treadmill.

A ton of water and taurine may help a bit. It helped me quite a bit when my calves used to cramp up.

Potassium deficiency?

My best guess is he's running wrong. Probably hitting heel first with his toe too high in the air and the tibialis is resisting the eccentric with each stride, and it's causing tightness and cramping. Could be tight calf muscles too, making the tibialis work harder to elevate the foot/toe, but he says he's stretched out.

Do you walk for a couple of minutes before going to the running pace?

I have experienced this a lot myself. Personally I don't do anything but steady state cardio (for a variety of reasons) - and that being mostly at a walking pace.

Also does it pass if you push thru the 3 minute point and keep going?

I'm also thinking it may be something like you're already pumped up from training and then you're going to do a sprint -- thus my suggestion for a few minutes of "warmup" allow your legs to prepare for that sort of activity instead of going cold from lifting?

(I"m reaching here - just looking for things that might allow more of a transition).

Originally Posted by carter1990

I was reading a book by eric cressey who is a well known strength and conditioning specialist, he trains kevin youkilis of the boston red sox. He was suggesting that shin splints can be due to tight ankles. Whats your profession do you sit down alot or wear dress shoes?

He expresses it could be due to excessive plantar flexion and not enough dorsiflexion. plantar flexion is the position your foot is in during a calf raise where as dorsiflexion is what is occuring during toe raises. There are several stretches you can do. Do you do any kind of resisted toe raises or circling of your ankles?

I know doesn't sound like the best exercises to get you big and strong. But indirectly these exercises are great because they keep your body in balance and if you don't have strong joint i.e your ankles then you won't be able to continue with the strength exercises without greater risk of injury

this is true to an extent. I have noticed that a lot of people tend to run or jog more flat footed on tredmills than if they were running on the ground, which puts more stress on the anterior portion of the lower leg. that being said one of the major reasons for this is an improper warm up of the upper leg. Lightly stretching and warming up the hamstrings and quads and then making certain that you are running or jogging more on the ball of your foot as you would if you were outside propelling yourself forward will tell you if this is the issue or not.

Originally Posted by ThreeGigs

My best guess is he's running wrong. Probably hitting heel first with his toe too high in the air and the tibialis is resisting the eccentric with each stride, and it's causing tightness and cramping. Could be tight calf muscles too, making the tibialis work harder to elevate the foot/toe, but he says he's stretched out.

^^^ This
Try putting some incline on on your treadmill, it helps keep your feet from "slapping" the deck.
I wouldn't rule out a taurine or potassium deffiancy either but this is worth a try.

Been running for 2 years now every other day and ran into this recently as well. It is most likely your shoes. ALWAYS warm-up and stretch before and after a run as well 5-10 min warm-up and cool down. Just walking for 15 min after a run will do amazing things for your endurance as well.

Everyone seems to be right here . Shins splints can be caused by so many things. Honestly I think your landing heal first. Save your body and go get fitted for real running shoes from a real running store. Its worth the time and money....trust me. If you don't have one close by then take a video of yourself running on a treadmill from behind and send it to Learning Center - Footwear. They will analyze your gait and give you advice for a good running shoe. They were dead on with me. I also recommend some good insoles. Spencos are great. I over-pronate so I have been using these Brooks shoes for mild over-pronation. My body is adjusting to them, but at least I know Im running with better form. I tried Mizunos and my knees hated them for some reason so I took them back. Everyone is different though. Remember running shoes don't need time to break-in they should feel right the first time you run in them. Good luck, and keep the cardio up!