Working on making a comeback to running after a long hiatus. I am having shin splint pain which I am pretty confident is because I am extremely inflexible and tight.
Are there any suggestions out there for stretching routines for the lower half of the body?
Thanks!
Buy the book Supple Leopard and use it.
You have just ‘forgotten’ how to run. Build your running up gradually you don’t need anything else. Keep it simple.
Buy the book Supple Leopard and use it.
Not saying don’t but the book, didn’t know it existed and may pick it up before a flight in a few weeks, but there are also tons of free videos of his.
New or returning runners often get shin splints. They aggravate me after a little lay off or whenever I start to increase mileage. Be gradual, make sure your shoes are fresh, and they should loosen up.
Toe raises, keeping your heal on the floor had a huge impact on my shin splints and in a fairly short amount of time as well. Initially, I could only do about 30 before getting a burning sensation. Now I can do about 150 and my shin splints have completely gone.
YMMV.
A slow return to running is best (short easy frequent runs). This will allow you to adapt with minimal chance of injury. Flexibility is a good thing, but tight muscles are also often a sign of lack of functional strength in certain key areas, especially the glutes / hips. Less strength there means your other muscles need to work harder than they should.
I am not a physio or chiro nor do I work in the industry. But after a few years of constantly dealing with this types of pains I decided to get checked out. No major issues for me, but definitely some areas of weakness that I have been given a personalized 15-20 min 3x a week type regime for. This has helped immensely without taking away from my training. I might suggest you get a referral to a good Sports type physio persona to get assessed.
I am extremely flexible. That didn’t stop me from getting shin splints when I took up running.