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If you're in the middle of marathon training and your shins have started complaining, this doesn't have to derail your race. Shin splints, or medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS), are one of the most common overuse injuries experienced by marathon runners. Treat shin splints the right way from the start, and most people are back to full training within a few weeks. 

Let's dive into the different movements of exercise to improve your running There are various ways to do a particular exercise - push, pull, raise, lower, explode, slow down; the list goes on! On top of that, you can break down each exercise into its different parts: concentric, eccentric and isometric. Each phase has its benefits and challenges, which we will dive into now! What are concentric movements? Concentric movements occur when your muscle fibres shorten. Think "concentric" and "contract." Another easy way to think about it is that you're generally competing against gravity during this part of the exercise....

Do compression sleeves work?  Compression sleeves, compression socks... whatever you want to call them! If you're a runner, you undoubtedly have come into contact with someone who wears compression sleeves as part of their running and recovery. Some brands and runners go as far as saying they will support your recovery from shin splints. But do they actually help? Evidence from Clinical Study: Widely considered one of the top research groups into shin splints ("medial tibial stress syndrome"), Moen et al. are based at the University of Amsterdam. Moen at the team went as far as conducting a randomized controlled...

So you think you've got shin splints. What are they? We address the big question of "what are shin splints?" in this article. The dull-ache or burn in your shin bone can be quite a nuisance when walking or running. And treatment can be difficult, long and arduous. In this article, I quickly run through whether or not those shin splints will ever go away. Quick Recap: What are shin splints? Shin splints are described as a dull ache on your shinbone and clinically referred to as "medial tibial stress syndrome." Quite simply, your shin bone is under too high...

So, your shin hurts. Shin splints is an umbrella term that encompasses a variety of lower limb injuries. These include medial tibial stress syndrome, stress fractures, chronic exertional compartment syndrome, biomechanical overload syndrome and more. Irrespective of the above injuries, there is pain felt at some point or another. But, you might be asking yourself, do they feel different? The answer is: yes! How they feel is quite often a quick way to help determine the actual injury behind your pain. The following are adapted from a clinical article by sports physician Matthew Hislop MD. You can find that article...