Shin Splints/Diet critique/Abs question

[Mike C.]

My first problem has to do with shin splints. I recently started cross-country, and now I suddenly have really bad shin splints, though I have been running all last spring/summer/and fall. I think it might be my shoes are old so I am using new shoes now, and also do stretching exercises. How much time should i give my calves to improve?

Secondly, I am regulating my diet to prepare for wreslting. please give your advice on my current diet.
Breakfast - bagle at 280 calories
lunch - salad (chicken, letuce, croutons) with a sauce (fat loaded so I don't use too much of it)
Dinner - it varies, as I don't make dinner, mom does by the time i come home from practice.

Is this diet appropriate for a 123 lb 17y.o. male who is trying to reduce his body fat %? Or does it slow my metabolism down too much that I store more fat? As for activity, I run a number of miles every day, and lift weights every other weekday.

Thirdly, this is more an issue of personal vanity, but what kind of ab workout would you recommend? Currently, I'm doing 100 reps of situps with 60+ leg raises. Should this produce results if I'm losing body fat?

[.V.]

Visible abs are purely a function of low body fat. Direct ab work isn't even a requirement if you are doing core work like squats and deadlifts. But it's just so much fun I wouldn't dream of skipping it. But you are really overdoing it on the abs. Add some weight to those situps and those leg raises and do much less. Like 2-3 sets of 8-10 reps.

For diet, I would reccomend eating a balance of protein, carbohydrate, and fat with every meal. you have no protein with breakfast. Lunch looks OK, from the ingredients you've listed...but how much are you eating? Dinner - as long as you have protein, carbs, and fat should be fine. 3 meals a day isn't optimal for muscle growth or fat loss, but many have developed magnificient physiques in years past on just that.

Wrestling? I'd say you probably need to worry about building muscle if you are only 123lbs. Get going with some weight training. Core lifts like squats, deadlifts, bench press, rows to build the whole body up and make it stronger. Train for strength instead of training like a bodybuilder.

If you build muscle, then burning fat will automatically happen because it takes more calories to keep the muscle you build.

[Mike C.]

Alright, Ill change up my breakfast, and add some protein with the bagel. I suppose by your saying 3 meals/a day isn't optimal for fat loss, do you mean eating smaller meals throughout the day helps speed up the metabolism?

[.V.]

Originally Posted by Mike C.

do you mean eating smaller meals throughout the day helps speed up the metabolism?

That and the more constand availablilty of nutrients to the muscles seems to help them grow better and get stronger. Again, it's not mandatory, many great physiques were built on 3 squares a day.

[mail84]

hi, your shin splints are normally caused by bad running trainers (also often worn out) and hard ground, esp in runners. normally up to eight weeks rest is recommended, however if the footwear is changed, and it isn't a severe case, light running can be maintained, but prob not advised. maybe just run a light jog once a week across soft grass. sometimes this may not clear the problem, and there can be an underlying structural misalignment of your feet, being compensated by the tibialis anterior muscle, thereby overworking it, and literally pulling it away from the bone. this will require orthoses. so if it doesn't get better these orthoses can be made by your podiatrist.

[mail84]

sorry also massage of the affects shin is supposed to help.

[Merrida]

Former X-country runner here, and I also had bouts with shin splints. Shin splint is a term that, if dissected means that with every impact of your foot on the ground the tibialis muscle near the front of your shin bone is slightly being pulled away from the bone. When the impact stops the pulling stops. Trainers (as in sports trainers) will often TAPE your shins to keep compression. In my opinion, it aggrivated it. The minute I'd stop running with taped shin the pain was horrible. But hey, they just want you to run and cover the distance.

Most cross country track running (if you compete, - I did this on varsity so it was ages ago), the ground you cover is soft and you generally are running over dirt, grass, roots, up and down hill. Down hill running is going to aggrivate it even more.

If you're competing you can't take rest or you'll be benched, and there are other ways around it.

See if your gym has a tib machine. Most don't (my last one did), but an alternative is....get a sled, a leg press machine where you're lying flat. Go to a full lock out with your knees are straight. Keeping your heels on the plate pull your toes up into a dorsiflex position up towards your knees, keeping your heels on the plate. Do NOT bend your knees. The whole thing is done with you stationary making small movements with your feet.

Just REMEMBER you're trying to activate and strengthen your tibs for dorsiflexion...so don't try to engage your quads or calves. Keep your focus. Rep range: You do it until it burns like hell then do 5 more. Start with light weight because high reps are MORE important than weight in this particular exercise.

It works. I can attest to it so can some of my runners...(which I no longer do).


Edit -- Start with a LIGHT weight. Vital. The way you'll measure progress is greater range of motion. This greater range is for muscle flexibility and lengthening so you don't get that pull. Can't emphasize that enough. Dont' do dorsiflexion exercises in this manner with 80 pounds. Seriously 40 is plenty. Yes it is. You raise your toes high, lower to the plate but do NOT touch the plate, raise again quickly. This exercise should be done swiftly for the burn. Pull toes up, return to almost flat feet but not by pushing your toes down.


Lather, rinse, repeat.