By Dave McGovern
Dear Dave,
I am pretty new to walking, and my shins are killing me! Are these shin splints? What can I do to prevent this? – Wallace Martin – Orlando, FL
Imagine lifting a 3 lb. weight in the gym. Easy, right? Now imagine lifting the same weight 65 times per minute for ten minutes. Ouch! Unless you’re in the habit of doing high-speed bicep curls, your arm will probably get pretty tired before too long. The same thing happens to your shins if you’re not used to a lot of vigorous walking.
Your shins are tasked with preventing your feet from slapping down in front of your body. When you walk slowly with a short stride your shins have a pretty easy existence—they don’t do a heck of a lot. But when you walk fast with a long stride, there’s a lot more force acting on the heel when it strikes the ground. The longer your stride in front of your body, the thicker the heel on your shoe, and the faster you go, the more leverage that is created. Taking shorter, faster strides rather than long slow ones, and wearing shoes with lower heels will result in less leverage and less shin pain. (So will walking slower, but I’ll never recommend that!) Stretching your calves (the back of your lower legs), and massaging your shins will also help.
This type of shin soreness, by the way, is extremely common, and is not technically “shin splints,” which is a form of tendinitis that plagues runners. In most cases the pain you’re feeling will get better as your shins get stronger after a few weeks of walking, so keep walking!
Do you have a question for Dave McGovern? Go ahead and ask in the comment section below and you too could be featured on the site!
Good question Josephine I am in the same boat as you are. Hope we get a good answer.
Welcome! It's so great to see so many walkers on the site today. No matter what your health situation is, we want to encourage all of you to keep motivated and keep that love of walking - that's what we're all here for! As we learned in this heartwarming video , walking can positively impact so many areas of your life, and everybody has a great story to tell. We look forward to hearing yours!
Hi Josephine and Linda - Welcome! We've got some great articles to help those who are just getting started - you can find them by following this link . Next week we will be talking all about nutrition so be sure to check back for great tips to help you change your diet as well. So glad you're here!
Thank you soo much for the article posted on hurting shins! Now I know what to do when mine hurt. keep up the good work! I am sooo loving this site.
Hi
I just found this site, and love it, I have MS so walking is good for me so I can continue to walk. I am not sure how far I should walk to start with I took my puppy with me this am and before I knew it I had walked a 1.6 miles, is doing the elptical just as good? When it get to hot and humid I may have to go on that instead of going outside. Ellen
Ellen,
Whichever activity that allows you to exercise consistently is the best one for YOU! For many people that means walking, but if you occasionally need to walk inside and don't have a treadmill, then yes, the eliptical is a good alternative. It's a low-impact activity that allow you to start at a very easy level and progress to a more vigorous workout. (Just like walking!)
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