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Shin Splints: A Runner's Worst Nightmare

Shin splints are a runner’s worst nightmare.  It’s a catch-all term that most commonly refers to runners suffering from pain along the medial tibia.  It can also progress into stress reactions as well as afflict runners along the antero-lateral portion of the tibia.  Commonly, rehab focuses on modalities to calm the pain, strengthening exercises for the lower leg and hips, and stretching.  Many patient’s see symptom reduction, but many also see a return when they begin to increase their mileage again.  It’s frustrating for the therapist and even more so for the runner.

I want to focus on a small change you can make to runners that pays huge dividends when they are experiencing pain along the antero-lateral tibia.  To effectively treat this, you need to understand a basic premise, the tibialis anterior is typically working too hard during the gait cycle and we need to change that.

Let’s take a look at a runner and the exact...

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The Test You're Missing With Your Runners

core running Aug 27, 2019

Treating runners can be a difficult task.  There are many types of injuries and they originate from a number of different areas. Is it a running form error? Is it weakness? Maybe something is too stiff?  The number of possibilities is partially why so many runners struggle to return to activity.  We discuss this throughout our running courses as look at the ACE Running Readiness Assessment to identify the “weak link(s)”.

Here, I wanted to talk about the Unilateral Hip Bridge Endurance Test¹ and its amazing utility in runners with knee pain, back pain, and many other issues.  If you’re not familiar with the test, you can watch me explain it below.  On the surface, the test appears to be a simple test of the glute max, but as you look deeper, the knowledge you can gain from this is extraordinary.

 

 

The first step of the test is to perform a bilateral bridge.  At this point you gain a few points...

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The Building Blocks of Running: Posture

posture running Aug 27, 2019

 

I constantly see runners working on their core.  They do planks.  They do sit ups.  They do a terrifying exercise because they saw it on the internet.  They all hear that they need a strong core, so they strive to achieve it!

As a clinician, I also see a number of non-runners, many of whom have heard the same thing.  Build your core.  Sit with better posture.  Both groups typically have a misunderstanding of what this means.  In fact, I think most of us have struggled through the years at exactly what this means.

Posture is one of those things that gets talked about endlessly, but few truly understand what it means.  We constantly hear, sit up straight, stand up tall, but the fact of the matter is, this isn’t what good posture means!

Good posture is being able to adapt to the demands of an activity.  It is not bad to sit for an hour, slumped in a chair to relax and watch a movie.1  It may be problematic for a 40+...

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Free CE Course: Essential Elements of Running 

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