The hidden cause of shin splints
If you’ve ever had shin splints, you’ll never forget the pain. It robs you of your strength and speed and once the muscles start tearing away from your shins, there isn’t much you can do except “suck it up” for the rest of the season.
Shin splints seem to occur more often at the beginning of the season and often as athletes move outside after training indoors all winter. I don’t think this is a coincidence and it has nothing to do with treadmills are easier on the shins.
The problem is too much of a good thing. If you cannot properly regulate the expression of these hormones, they end up causing chronic and systemic inflammation.
One of the ways the body controls inflammation and allows rebuilding and strengthening is with sunshine, specifically the formation of Vitamin D. That’s why your shins heal up in the summer only to get worse again in the winter. It’s not just the change of surface that’s causing all that damage, it’s the loss of vitamin D.
Studies have shown that athletes with higher levels of vitamin D, have lower levels of cytokines. These athletes have enough of the hormones to trigger muscle and nerve growth, but not the excessive quantities that cause chronic inflammation and injury.
The greater your ability to recover, the more intensely you can train, and the better athlete you will become. Rest and recovery is the yin that allows for the yang of training and practice. That’s why I named this website The Yin/Yang University and I encourage DIII women athletes to think outside the gym.
If you cannot recover, you cannot train hard. If you cannot train hard, you will never become the athlete you know you can be.
TAKE ACTION! Click on the Vitamin D link above to learn more about what you can do to be healthy this year.
Is rest the only cure?
We are taught by the training room that shin splints are caused by over training and/or running on different surfaces, grass, turf, pavement, indoors, etc. Once you have shin splints the only cure is rest.An ounce of prevention
Well, maybe, I’m not convinced the cause of shin splints is simply mechanical. What if there was a way to prevent shin splints that did not require special exercise or extra time with ice and stim? What if there is a hidden reason your shins are tearing apart?Shin splints seem to occur more often at the beginning of the season and often as athletes move outside after training indoors all winter. I don’t think this is a coincidence and it has nothing to do with treadmills are easier on the shins.
The love/hate relationship with inflammation
Intense training releases inflammatory molecules called cytokines. These molecules are the body’s hormonal signal to repair, re-build and strengthen the body which eventually leads to getting stronger and faster as an athlete. So simply turning them off with ibuprofen may cut into your building new muscle.The problem is too much of a good thing. If you cannot properly regulate the expression of these hormones, they end up causing chronic and systemic inflammation.
How starting your season overwhelms your body with inflammation
So here is the scenario. You are training all winter in the gym, lifting weights, running on the treadmill. Pre-season begins and the intensity of your training picks up, a lot. Sure you train hard in the off season, but you cannot duplicate the adrenaline and competitive intensity of actual practice.Why ice baths are good, but not good enough
The intensity of practice floods your body with cytokines and the inflammatory process begins. After a few days, you begin to feel the soreness and, if you are smart, you get into the ice bath after practice. But ice does not control the cytokines, it only temporarily slams the brakes on the inflammation process and numbs your legs.Damage is done even while you sleep
After, while you are sleeping, the excess inflammatory hormones are doing damage. Unlike the off-season, you don’t have enough time to recover in-between practices. You are now working out at maximum intensity six times a week, maybe more if you have two-a-days. The damage the excess cytokines are causing begins to accumulate.That feeling of dread returns
The pain in your shins starts to build. You feel like a dark cloud is gathering, and hope it will just go away, but it doesn’t. Your coach notices you are not running smoothly and calls you over. You can’t avoid telling the truth any more. She tells you to take it easy, but you both know, you will be in pain for the rest of the season. Does that story sound familiar?Why everybody doesn’t get shin splints?
So here is the million dollar question, “How come everybody doesn’t get shin splints.” The answer lies in how different athletes down regulate, or control, the inflammatory cytokines.How the body controls excessive inflammation
When an athlete is suffering from inflammatory injuries, like shin splints, the standard treatment is rest, but that is not the only way. Your body has its own way of handling inflammation.One of the ways the body controls inflammation and allows rebuilding and strengthening is with sunshine, specifically the formation of Vitamin D. That’s why your shins heal up in the summer only to get worse again in the winter. It’s not just the change of surface that’s causing all that damage, it’s the loss of vitamin D.
Studies have shown that athletes with higher levels of vitamin D, have lower levels of cytokines. These athletes have enough of the hormones to trigger muscle and nerve growth, but not the excessive quantities that cause chronic inflammation and injury.
How to avoid getting stuck on the sideline with shin splints
As a competitive athlete, you cannot avoid training hard, and the inflammation that ensues, but you can control how well your body recovers from that training. Vitamin D is a key component to your time spent recovering outside the gym.The greater your ability to recover, the more intensely you can train, and the better athlete you will become. Rest and recovery is the yin that allows for the yang of training and practice. That’s why I named this website The Yin/Yang University and I encourage DIII women athletes to think outside the gym.
If you cannot recover, you cannot train hard. If you cannot train hard, you will never become the athlete you know you can be.
TAKE ACTION! Click on the Vitamin D link above to learn more about what you can do to be healthy this year.
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