[QUIKAZHELL]

QUIKAZHELL on April 22, 2003 at 10:16 pm #8353

Best thing to do when you feel a shin splint(s) coming on is………..

[Mike Young]

Mike Young on April 22, 2003 at 11:04 pm #19895

Get new shoes, run on softer surfaces, check mechanics, back off on plyos & sprinting in spikes, ice, and possibly soft tissue assessment of surrounding areas.

ELITETRACK Founder

[Kebba Tolbert]

Kebba Tolbert on April 23, 2003 at 4:19 am #19896

also:

assess technique… make sure landing are flat footed, make sure foot is not out in front of cm

[magic-stick]

magic-stick on March 7, 2004 at 11:33 pm #19897

This is the best way to ice shin splints for me. I fill a dixie cup up with water and freeze it. After it totally frozen I take off the cup around the ice and just rub the ice along my shins. The ice is in a perfect shape to rub up and down your shin.

[rice773]

rice773 on March 16, 2004 at 7:08 am #19898

Is there anything to be said for compression, i.e. wrapping shins in an ace bandage?

[Carl Valle]

Carl Valle on March 16, 2004 at 6:52 pm #19899

overstriding….(hence why technique during tempo AND speed is vital)

one week off from impact work and work more olympic lift, jumps, and mobility work.

[Jay Turner]

Jay Turner on March 16, 2004 at 7:50 pm #19900

If you have or are starting to have shin problems, if you have to run in the grass can you do the same workouts you would do on the track or do you have to alter them?

[Mike Young]

Mike Young on March 16, 2004 at 9:46 pm #19901

[i]Originally posted by DaGovernor[/i]
If you have or are starting to have shin problems, if you have to run in the grass can you do the same workouts you would do on the track or do you have to alter them?

I think you could do the same workouts but the stimulus would be a little different due to the much softer surface.

ELITETRACK Founder

[Jay Turner]

Jay Turner on March 16, 2004 at 10:41 pm #19902

Can you elaborate a little more mike on the different training stimulus?

[Mike Young]

Mike Young on March 17, 2004 at 7:15 am #19903

Softer surfaces = less shock, greater force absorbancy, longer ground contact times, lower running velocities, and less taxing on the CNS.

ELITETRACK Founder

[Jay Turner]

Jay Turner on March 17, 2004 at 9:08 pm #19904

Ok, well obviously if I did the same workouts that I am doing now I'd be ok. But it seems like because it would be less taxing on the CNS, I could concievably do more to maximize this stimulus. Am I correct? Any suggestions?

[Mike Young]

Mike Young on March 18, 2004 at 7:40 am #19905

If you did more, the stimulus still wouldn't be the same. It would be as if the squat workout you were supposed to do was 8 x 3 w/ 4 sets @ 405 but your gym only had enough weight for you to squat 315. Well, you could do 12 x 3 w/ 8 sets @ 315 but it still wouldn't be the same. I just don't think pure speed work should be done on the grass unless there is no other option due to facilities, weather conditions, injuries, etc.

ELITETRACK Founder

[pete]

pete on March 18, 2004 at 8:00 am #19906

Do you think grass running or running on cinder could serve as sort of a form of resisted running, or would resistance have to come from hills or something other than the surface? BTW, sorry I'm asking so many questions today.

[Jay Turner]

Jay Turner on March 18, 2004 at 8:18 am #19907

[i]Originally posted by mike[/i]
If you did more, the stimulus still wouldn't be the same. It would be as if the squat workout you were supposed to do was 8 x 3 w/ 4 sets @ 405 but your gym only had enough weight for you to squat 315. Well, you could do 12 x 3 w/ 8 sets @ 315 but it still wouldn't be the same. I just don't think pure speed work should be done on the grass unless there is no other option due to facilities, weather conditions, injuries, etc.

That makes sense. Well I have a few girls on my team that are battling shin injuries. If I gave them workouts in the grass every day, I know their Speed endurance will be ok, but without pure speed work being done until they are ready to step on the track, how far behind would they be once they return to the track?

[Mike Young]

Mike Young on March 19, 2004 at 11:34 am #19908

[i]Originally posted by pete[/i]
Do you think grass running or running on cinder could serve as sort of a form of resisted running, or would resistance have to come from hills or something other than the surface? BTW, sorry I'm asking so many questions today.

I think so but from personal experience I don't quite think they are equivalent. Whenever I've done runs in the sand or cinder it always to place a much greater stress on the lower leg muscles than their resisted run counterparts. Also, the softer the surface, the longer the ground contact time. Shorter ground contact times have been indicated as one of the primary indicators of better sprinters so overly soft surfaces should probably not be used to often for speed development work.

ELITETRACK Founder

[Mike Young]

Mike Young on March 19, 2004 at 11:37 am #19909

DaGov-
I'm not quite sure what you're asking. Are you having those girls do their speed work on the grass?

ELITETRACK Founder

[Jay Turner]

Jay Turner on March 19, 2004 at 12:06 pm #19910

[i]Originally posted by mike[/i]
DaGov-
I'm not quite sure what you're asking. Are you having those girls do their speed work on the grass?

Well since they have the shin problems I only run them in the grass, which means I can't do speed work because I don't want them on the track right now. So how would that affect speed development knowing that they are not getting any done?

[pete]

pete on March 20, 2004 at 6:37 am #19911

[i]Originally posted by mike[/i]

I think so but from personal experience I don't quite think they are equivalent. Whenever I've done runs in the sand or cinder it always to place a much greater stress on the lower leg muscles than their resisted run counterparts. Also, the softer the surface, the longer the ground contact time. Shorter ground contact times have been indicated as one of the primary indicators of better sprinters so overly soft surfaces should probably not be used to often for speed development work.

Thanks Mike. We are going to be having some meets on cinder so do you think that it could be an effective form of resistance training if used up to once per week but with regular sprint training twice per week or do you think this is too frequent.

[Mike Young]

Mike Young on March 20, 2004 at 12:01 pm #19912

Pete-
That setup seems fine to me.

ELITETRACK Founder

[pete]

pete on March 20, 2004 at 6:45 pm #19913

Thanks again!

[Mike Young]

Mike Young on March 22, 2004 at 12:15 am #19914

[i]Originally posted by DaGovernor[/i]
Well since they have the shin problems I only run them in the grass, which means I can't do speed work because I don't want them on the track right now. So how would that affect speed development knowing that they are not getting any done?

Their top end speed might be hurt. In such a case, you may want to at least consider a long–>short setup so that speed can be addressed at some point in the program.

ELITETRACK Founder

[jumpscoachmike]

jumpscoachmike on April 21, 2004 at 9:33 pm #19915

Guys…

My top jumper just started feeling shin splint pain a couple days ago. When she got them last season, they came on much earlier in the season so we held them off longer this year…

The pain is strictly in her left leg (hop/step leg) and nothing yet in the right. She rates the pain as a 7 on a 1-10 scale. I'm very watchful of her training stimuli and losing her to this nagging injury would be terrible.

We have a large invitational Sat. and I have entered her to double LJ/TJ. She also runs the 400. The pain started sun. after a meet last sat. and this week we have focused training efforts more on mobility, lifting, and core strength and I have cut bounding altogether so far this week.

Question is…we have 4 weeks until conference…7 weeks until regional/state competition. Should I scratch her this weekend and continue to rest? Should I make the call on Saturday morning? Ice bath yesterday proved to be a good idea and I'd like to fit another one in before Sat.

Thoughts, comments? …

[Mike Young]

Mike Young on April 22, 2004 at 2:43 am #19916

I would continue to ice, do what you can in training, and I'd probably recommend holding her out of at least one event (preferably the TJ) this weekend.

ELITETRACK Founder

[jumpscoachmike]

jumpscoachmike on April 22, 2004 at 8:23 am #19917

Thanks Mike…that sounds like a plan to me. Ice bath tomorrow (thurs.) or friday? Which would fit best with a saturday comp.?

[jumpscoachmike]

jumpscoachmike on April 22, 2004 at 8:36 am #19918

Mike-

I was just curious and wondering…

How many issues do you deal with involving minor or major shin splint problems with your athletes? Have any of your top notch athletes (jumpers especially) in the last couple years had to cope with this injury while still trying to compete at their high level? Has Toney ever had shin setbacks?

[jumpscoachmike]

jumpscoachmike on April 22, 2004 at 7:33 pm #19919

One last question for now Mike 😛

What would be your advice on the lifting end of things? Monday we lifted harder (tues. we discovered the shin splints) and this morning we performed hang cleans and did some circuit work in addition. Also core work.

Just wondering what you would do….

[Mike Young]

Mike Young on April 22, 2004 at 8:24 pm #19920

We get a few cases of shin splints a year but they never seem to get out of control. I think the barefoot exercises we do are helpful in this regard. Also, most of the athletes take ice baths immediately following practice which probably helps reduce the likelihood of a lot of injuries. Our multi-eventers and high jumpers seem to be the most likely to get shin splints. As for notable jumpers with shin splints, Toney does have some type of lower leg issue right now that is more of a nagging issue than anything else. It could be shin splints but I don't know the exact cause yet. For other related injuries, Marcus Thomas jumped at Nationals and trained for about 3 weeks on a broken foot two years, and Walter has had ankle and lower leg problems for the past year and he has done pretty well for himself in that time span. All of these issues can be fixed but aggressive care and patience in returning to full speed are important.

ELITETRACK Founder

[Mike Young]

Mike Young on April 22, 2004 at 8:29 pm #19921

[i]Originally posted by jumpscoachmike[/i]
One last question for now Mike 😛

What would be your advice on the lifting end of things? Monday we lifted harder (tues. we discovered the shin splints) and this morning we performed hang cleans and did some circuit work in addition. Also core work.

Just wondering what you would do….

It would depend on if and how much you had to cut back on track. If you had to eliminate running and jumping, additional Olympic lifts could be substituted quite well. Everything else could remain the same (or slightly increase in volume) unless you foresaw that the injury would take a long time to rehab, in which case, I might consider switching up the focus of the training from speed to strength.

ELITETRACK Founder

[jumpscoachmike]

jumpscoachmike on April 22, 2004 at 9:16 pm #19922

Many thanks Mike. She will LJ this weekend and as of right now, I will hold with TJ until conference meet on May 4. Icing will continue, as well as a slight change in wt. lifting loads.

[jumpscoachmike]

jumpscoachmike on April 28, 2004 at 8:16 pm #19923

Anyone know of something athletes can wear for shin splints…heel cups aside. Any type of neoprene sleeve for the lower leg to help compression?

[Jay Turner]

Jay Turner on April 28, 2004 at 10:28 pm #19924

What are heel cups and how do they help shin splints?

[jumpscoachmike]

jumpscoachmike on April 28, 2004 at 10:54 pm #19925

Gov-

I shouldn't say heel cups can help cure shin splints….what they are is a preventative measure in helping to avoid them. They are rubber or plastic 'cups' that fit into the heels of a shoe. The cups help to absorb some of the impact an athlete (especially a jumper) takes when they do a lot of pounding (i.e. skips, bounds, plyos).

All my jumpers wear them during jumps practices and they have aided most of my athletes….however, I'd really like to find something, like I mentioned above, that can be worn for protection when an athlete has the shin splints already.