The Little Things
April 30, 2012

I mentioned that close to a month ago I went to sports medicine after shin splints/random shin pain that had been going on since February. After being asked where it hurt, they immediately jumped into action, coming back to the room with a bunch of different bands for exercises, compression sleeves, and a stack of physical therapy exercises. The verdict? Weak ankle muscles (in non-technical terms).

Because everything is connected, weak muscles in one area can cause problems in another, and that’s definitely what has been going on with me. Apparently weak ankle and foot muscles can lead to shin splints, and that’s what I need to work on in order to avoid them in the future.

The problem is that not much of what we do in life strengthens these muscles, and the physical therapist explained that most people have very weak muscles in this area. I walked away with 8 or 9 different exercises to try, and a number of different bands to use to strengthen the muscles.

I guess what I took away from the time in sports medicine was that it’s important to focus on strengthening all our muscles, because a weak link in the system can create some big problems down the road.

I’ve been doing my exercises and wearing the compression sleeves and I’ve had a pretty great month of running (finally) 😀 These exercises increase range of motion, flexion, and strength, which are all important things for people, and especially runners.

Now it’s your turn to share: What do you think is one of your weak areas when it comes to muscle strength? 

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One response to “Sports Medicine Visit”

  1. RunningFarce says:
    April 30, 2012 at 7:30 am

    I am glad to read this. I’ve had some shin splints lately also that I’ve been battling and have tried several different things to make them go away! They’ve been hurting less, but I can still feel them flare up once or twice a week.