How To Eliminate Shin Splints

Recently, I have had some repeated questions about shin splints. What do you need to do to get rid of them? I thought I would devote this article on how to get rid of shin splints.

I first became aware of shin splints when I was a freshman in high school (a mere 4 years ago - I'm pretty advanced for my age). Several of my teammates had shin splints varying from them tolerating it throughout the season to causing problems to the point where they couldn't run. One of the remedies I would see would be them wrapping athletic tape around their shins tightly. I have no clue if that worked, so if you want to try that, it is on you. I have a couple other solutions that I know will work so why don't you read on to find out what they are.

Here is a quick video you can watch that will demonstrate everything I'm about to discuss:

Shin splints are when you have a dull or constant ache in your shins. Usually, it is in the front of the leg either in the muscle or on either side of your shinbone. The pain varies from hurting during activity and/or after the activity. The muscle could be swollen and painful to the touch.

Why do you get shin splints? For a myriad (I know, big word for me) of reasons, but here are a few:

1. A weakness in the tibialis anterior. This is the thin muscle on the front of your shin. This is the muscle that could be tender to the touch if shin splints occur.
2. Your foot wear isn't great and doesn't provide much arch support.
3. Your running form stinks, excuse me, your running mechanics are flawed.
4. You have the beginning of a stress fracture. This would be the worst-case scenario. Ugh!

Usually, your issues are any of 1 through 3. I start by strengthening the tibialis anterior. You can do this with 2 exercises. The first would be to stand on a step with just your heel and let the rest of your foot hang over the step. You then want to pull your toes up as high as you can towards your shin (this is called dorsiflexion) then lower them back down. Repeat for 2 to 3 sets of 15.

The other exercise would consist of an exercise band wrapped around a pole. Make the band into a loop or if it has a handle place that over your foot as you sit down away from the pole. When you sit, the band should be around your foot and the pole and no slack in the band (so you should be 2 or 3 feet away from the pole). Pull your toes towards you (dorsiflex your foot), then return. Repeat for the same number of sets and reps. At some point, I will make a video for Youtube to show you how to do these exercises. I will let you know when that is completed.

Those two exercises will strengthen the muscle you need to get stronger. The other thing you could do is take paper cups, fill them with water, and freeze them. You then will ice massage your shins for 15-20 minutes definitely after your activity, but possibly twice a day. As the ice melts, you tear away the paper. Piece of cake! And if you need to, take some ibuprofen or some other anti-inflammatory.

In my experience with my athletes, this usually does the trick. You should start seeing signs of relief within four weeks, possibly a little longer. Severe conditions have been known to take up to 6 months. I would recommend seeing a doctor if it is lasting this long, just to make sure it isn't a stress fracture.

Well, I hope that helps you out. Oh, just to make sure it isn't your running mechanics, you might want to have those looked at by a particularly studly speed coach that I know. And yes, he is only 4 years removed from high school (multiply that by ... I'll let you guess the number).

The Professionals I Use To Keep My Body Feeling Young

When I started training athletes and my wellness clients, I wanted to give them the feel that they were being trained as if they were a professional athlete getting paid the big bucks. The training that we do is no different than what a pro would be doing with his/her workouts. If you watch video, they are doing jumps, using speed sleds, parachutes, working on form. It is the same training that our athletes would do, it is just scaled down to their maturity level.

Speed/strength training is just one component for an athlete to be great. An athlete hires other services to fine tune his/her body to be the best that it can be. Massage therapy, dieticians, chiropractic care, and trainers are just a few of the amenities that an athlete might hire. So I thought it would be neat to show you who I have used to take care of my body. I wouldn't recommend these services if I didn't believe that they helped me out. I've got three services I'm going to discuss and the people who I use.

If you don't live in Columbus, make sure you really look at credentials and references. It helps if you know someone who is using that person, then if they pass those tests, you should feel a little better about using them.

For massage therapy, I use Melissa Muguruza Weaver, LMT. You can click here to visit her website. Her office is located in the Marble Cliff area. I have had several clients/former clients use Melissa and so I decided to try her out. She is great. She knows her stuff. She is very professional and runs her business that way, which is important to me. Plus, she gives a great massage. I've been fortunate enough to hand out some of her gift certificates to my clients and they have all come back with great kudos. She knows the body real well and you leave there feeling like a million bucks. If your body needs to recover from soreness, then a good massage will help. There are all different types of massage and I'm sure you need to figure out what style works best for you. You won't be disappointed if you try Melissa.

I'm a big believer that your body needs to be in good alignment in order for you to avoid injuries. Your bones should be aligned, but your muscles as well. Through the years, your movement patterns, if not proper, will lead to inflexibilites and possible injuries. One thing I have used to keep my muscles in good alignment is Rolfing. Basically, it is muscle manipulation that can be anything from relaxing to extremely painful. One of my clients got me turned onto this and I have found it extremely beneficial for my aches and pains. Getting my muscles into alignment has eliminated some issues I've had in my lower back, my abdominals, and my trapezius. Michael Loukas is the rolfer I have used for the last couple of years. Check out his website by clicking here. This guy is top notch, very professional, and really knows how the body works. Rolfing is a 14 step program and once you have done that, you can continue on as often as you want or do what I do and check back for refresher visits. It can be a little painful, but it is well worth it. If you have had some nagging health issues, muscle or joint aches, strains, etc., call Michael and see what he can do for you.

Chiropractic care can be very skeptical to a lot of people. Finding someone who is good and not out to take your money is hard. But, I believe when you find that good chiropractor, you use him as wellness prevention. Meaning, once he helps your issue, then continue to go on a maintenance schedule for injury prevention. Dr. Brian Neidenthal was referred to me, by you guessed it, a client. Brian is the owner of Atlas Family Heath Center and you can see his website by clicking here. Brian's specialty is the atlas, essentially your head and neck. If your head and neck are properly aligned then the rest of your body will be aligned. If there are issues, you align it and the body will then be able to heal itself. He rarely cracks my back, only if he feels he needs to. Really, it is about keeping my head and neck aligned which is done with a special laser.

Look, all sorts of athletes go to these people. Tons of them have massage therapists. Charles Barkley had a rolfer. Tiger Woods has a chiropractor. I think the combination of these three have helped my body stay young and helped my aching knees. Don't wait until you have an injury or health issue. Go to these specialists now for wellness prevention and get the star athlete treatment you deserve.

Stride Length vs. Stride Frequency

Recently, I have been having a great discussion with one of my Youtube subscribers about sprinting and the different things that you need to do to run faster. Specifically, this person wanted to discuss improving your maximal speed. One of the topics that was brought up was about stride length and stride frequency. The question was, "Which one is more important for you to run faster; stride length or stride frequency?"

This is a great question. I have heard some of your top professionals take both sides of this debate. Some will say to really start running faster you need to work on stride length. While others have said that stride length is somewhat fixed and that a stride frequency improvement will get you running faster.

When it comes to my clients, a lot of times I have to take it by an individual case. If I have an athlete who has a decent stride length, but their stride frequency isn't that great, then I will focus on the stride frequency and sprinkle in some stride length to see what can be improved. If I see the reverse, then obviously my focus will be switched. Ultimately, for my athletes (understand that most of them range in age between 10-17) developing leg strength and power will be the solution for both issues.

If your legs are generating more force as they are pushing off the ground, then stride length is increased because you will have a little more hang time with your strides. Thus, you are making the stride length longer. Also, if those legs are generating more power than the turnover speed of those legs is quicker. Because it is quicker that means you move from point A to point B faster.

Now let's go back to the question at hand. The only way to truly answer this question is to discuss it with an athlete that really has no mechanical flaws. There are no flexibility issues that are limiting the range of motion for the legs (this can really affect both stride length and stride frequency). Essentially, the runner is perfect. So how to get this athlete faster?

If you had a gun to my head and forced me to pick an answer, I would give the slight edge to improving the stride frequency that would give you the better shot of the athlete getting faster. My reason is that the stride length first will be limited by leg length. So at a certain point you can only get out so far before you would be increasing your hang time to a point that is detrimental to speed development. Once you have maxed out that stride length, then you need to apply all your tricks to get that frequency as fast as possible. How quick can those legs turnover? That is where training, strength training, and speed drills will come into play to continually develop that over time.

Lucky for you though, when I develop a speed program, I don't have to make a decision which one I'm going to work on. I usually will be hitting both because those are the athletes that I'm working with right now. Most have some very noticeable mechanical flaws (at least noticeable to me) and those flaws usually include an improvement of both stride length and stride frequency. So, as fun a debate as this was, I will never have to pick and choose and I will work on both areas for you to start running faster.

How To Run Faster Using The Speed Sled

As I write this post, I just watched Alex Morgan racing down the field running faster then her opponent to get to the ball and score a goal for USA. The commentators stated that she is the fastest player on the team. Speed kills and it can be a huge weapon for an athlete. I don't know if Alex Morgan does speed work to help her get faster or maintain her speed, but if she did my guess is that she probably used a speed sled at one time or another in her speed program.

A couple of months ago, I wrote about the main components for speed development. One of those components I talked about was resistance running. Resistance running is when you provide some type of external resistance for the athlete while the athlete is running. It makes it harder for the athlete to run at full speed, but really helps develop the power and acceleration needed for an athlete.

One of those exercises for resistance running would be the use of a speed sled. A speed sled is a metal sled that can hold weighted plates totaling anywhere from 100-180 pounds depending on the sled. There is usually a shoulder harness attached to the sled that provides plenty of length so that the athlete can run without hitting the sled or any other restrictions.

How much weight you add to the sled is critical for the athlete's speed development. Some experts go by the 10% rule. You add weight and once your speed is reduced by 10% then you stay there. I add weight based on strength coach guru Mike Boyle's recommendation. Add weight until you get a breakdown in running mechanics. So, if the running mechanics are perfect, then keep adding weight. Once it starts getting shotty, then back off a little. I feel that doing it this way will really help with the speed development.

Now the sled I have is a MiR Speed Sled. You can click here to purchase it if you would like. I like it because it is a lot cheaper than others you will find on the market. It is still holding up for me, but the only downside is that it doesn't hold as much weight as some of the others. It's max is 110 pounds, but for a lot of my athletes you won't need nearly half that. That's why I like this drill. I can put 10 pounds on the sled and that could be challenging for younger athletes. Or I have 75 pounds on for Armand Robinson, my athlete I discussed in my last post, and that helps him out. Check out this video I have of Armand using our speed sled. It demonstrates how to use this machine and what proper mechanics look like while the athlete is running.

Obviously, I like this exercise and I've been implementing it with more and more of my athletes. It can be adapted to all ages in my opinion and really develop your speed. Take a look at the video and if you get the chance, give it a shot.

Columbus Ohio Speed Trainer Helps Armand Robinson Get Faster

Armand Robinson, a graduate from Reynoldsburg, had just graduated from Miami (OH) and was moving back to Columbus, Ohio and needed a speed trainer. He wanted someone to help him run faster, improve his speed, but get him into game shape for when the NFL comes calling.

Armand is a slot receiver that holds a couple records at Miami. He shares the record for the most receptions in a game and is fourth in the leaders for receptions and receiving yards in a season. Unfortunately, Armand was not drafted to an NFL team, but some had expressed strong interest in Armand. If we can improve his speed just a little, keep him quick, and maintain his strength, he will have a good chance of making a great impression at an NFL camp when this lockout ends.

I was contacted by Armand's agent to keep him in shape so that when this NFL lockout ends, he will be ready to go. More importantly, make sure he is running faster and getting more explosive. If you have been training with us this summer, you might have had the chance to train along side him and get to know him. Armand has something to prove, so he has been working pretty hard in our workouts to optimize his potential. That hasn't gone unnoticed by the younger athletes that I work with. If they think they are working hard, they watch Armand and realize that they might have another gear to shift to when it comes to training.

Armand's workout is more than what my average client is doing with me. All of our clients get a basic strength program when they start speed training with us. This is optional and they do on their own time. I personalized this program for Armand, so he can strength train outside of here and I give him an updated schedule each week.

He then makes it to the facility three times a week for speed training and conditioning. So he is doing our normal speed workout, but I am also putting him through a conditioning component that I don't do with other clients primarily because my purpose with most clients is getting them faster. With Armand, I have to get him faster, but in great shape for NFL camps he might attend.

Armand is at the highest level an athlete can be at, so the speed training I get to do with him, I don't usually get to do with a lot of my clients. I can put him through speed drills and plyometrics that are more advanced, but his body can handle. It has been fun getting the chance to do these things with him and also so other clients can see what they might be able to look forward to as they get older.

One of the drills I use with Armand is a speed sled. You can watch video of Armand using this speed sled and how he is developing the speed and power that will be so important for him in football.



The conditioning has also been fun for me. I don't do this with most clients, but my knowledge of conditioning different sports is quite extensive. I'm always amazed at the old school approach most high school and youth coaches put their athletes through. The same passed down conditioning drills. Their are better ways to get your kids in shape.

One of those ways for football is pattern running. Football has many different positions, but the energy demands are different for each position. Are you really going to condition an offensive lineman the same way you condition a wide receiver? So, what I do is put together about 6 patterns that Armand would run in a game. They are all of various distances. He runs 6 to one side of the field then the other side and then rests for a certain time frame. He runs each pattern at full speed and then jogs back to the line of scrimmage. We did 5 circuits of these the other day in 90 degree heat in a span of about 12-14 minutes and Armand was spent. A great conditioning tool.

I wanted to introduce you to Armand and have you keep an eye out for him when this lockout ends. I think he has worked hard this summer to get himself in the best shape possible. Talking to him, you know he feels faster and quicker and his strength is getting to where he wants it to be. Hopefully, you will follow see him in the NFL this year, but for now you can follow Armand on twitter at @armandrobinson.

To read more information on the speed sled discussed in the video, you can click here.

Alternative To The Best Exercise For Improving Your Speed

A few months ago, I had put together a video entitled The Best Exercise to Improve Speed and Run Faster. In the video, I discussed the glute ham machine which helps improve your hamstring strength. I also had mentioned it in a few newsletters I wrote that was focusing on developing hamstring strength.

The glute ham is a great piece of equipment, but the problem is that not many people can have access to it. You might be able to find it in a high school or collegiate weight room. If you don't have access to those two weight rooms, then you probably aren't going to be able to use it. Most commercial gyms don't have them and most equipment stores don't sell them.

Consequently, I decided to discuss an alternate exercise that you can do to help develop the necessary strength you need to run faster. That is where the manual hamstring curl will come into play. This is a pretty tough exercise and very demanding on the hamstrings. If you can get good at this exercise you will have some very strong hamstrings that can muster up some serious firepower for your speed development.

Here is how you do:

• You need to get on your knees and secure your feet with something. It can either be someone holding your ankles down, slide them under a platform that won't move, or recently I have seen someone use a plywood board and tie rope around it tight enough to hold your feel down securely.
• So you start with your body upright on your knees. You will look like a capital "L" with your shins being the bottom part of the "L."
• Then what you will do is lower your body at your knees as slow as you can so it starts falling to the ground. Really feel those hamstrings fighting to keep you in position.
• At the last instant, put your hands out to help cushion your fall and give a slight push off the ground to help you return to the starting position.
• Contract at the hamstrings to get you back to the top.
• To make the intensity harder, minimize how much you push off the ground. The more you push off, the easier it will be.
• Repeat for desired repetitions.

To picture this better, I did create a video demonstrating this exercise. You can click here to watch it. I think it is a great substitute for the glue ham machine and will really work those hamstrings to get you faster. Try it out and let me know what you think.

Getting Faster To Help Your Tennis Game

This past weekend, the Wimbledon final was being played pitting Rafael Nadal, the number one ranked player in the world, against Novak Djokovic, the number two ranked player in the world. Now, because of how tennis computes their rankings, Djokovic was going to end up the number one player, irregardless of how he did in the final. But, to solidify the meaning of that #1 ranking, I'm sure he wanted to win.

Nadal is regarded as the fittest tennis player on the planet. The guy wears sleeveless shirts to show off his guns and is very fast and quick. He can run down balls that might otherwise be winners.

Djokovic is on one of the best streaks in tennis history. He has only lost one time this year and that was at the semifinals of the French Open. I think it is good for tennis to have him sneak into the class of Nadal and Roger Federer. If only an American could step up his game, but that is a rant for another day.

Djokovic lost in the U.S. Open Final and decided to make a re-dedication to fitness. He felt that was his weakness when he played the likes of Nadal. So, he started lifting, did speed drills to improve his speed and quickness, and really upped the cardio so his endurance would be top notch.

So, Djokovic comes into this Wimbledon match trying to become the first player other than Nadal and Federer since like 2002 to win this championship. He eventually did win in 4 sets and it was pretty fun to watch and listen to the commentators.

Djokovic was using his speed to his advantage. Because he was so quick and fast, he was the one tracking down all the shots and putting Nadal on the defensive. Speed is so important in tennis. If you are fast and quick, you can get yourself in an optimum position to hit the ball the way you want to hit it. Meaning, you are putting your body in proper position to mechanically make the right hits.

So if you have improved your speed and quickness, you can create a competitive advantage for yourself by constantly returning every ball to your opponent. Ultimately, this will cause frustration to your opponent and he will probably make some mis-hits. Especially, if his speed and quickness isn't up to snuff.

The commentators kept noting Djokovic's speed and how he was getting to every ball. At one point, I heard one of my favorite phrases, "Speed Kills!" Never thought I would hear this in tennis.

We don't get the chance to work with many tennis players. The last one we worked with, Matthew Wareti, made it to the states this year in tennis. He had worked with us before his freshman year and he ended up making states as part of a doubles team. This past year was for singles. Consequently, I think we would be a real asset to a lot of tennis players. They get so focused on practicing tennis all the time, they falter in their overall athleticism. That has to be developed, but another rant for another day.

Once again, speed plays a factor in another sport that you probably didn't realize. Get faster and quicker and you now have a weapon that can rival any booming serve on the tennis courts.