How Do I Stop My Shins From Hurting When I Run?

Landing with a heel strike when running is the leading cause of shin splints, whereas landing with a forefoot strike accounts for reducing all the impacts and physical stressors that directly cause the condition.

Why Heel Strike Running is Bad for the Shins — Landing heel-first (above right) when running aligns the shin bone at an extreme angle tilted excessively ahead of the body, which loads more impact through the shins than forefoot strike running (above left). This is one of the many ways forefoot running does more to safeguard the shins vs heel strike running.

Most notably, to make forefoot running even safer on your shins, run faster than slower!

Conventional wisdom suggests the faster you run, the greater the impact generated, the more prone you’ll be to injury. BUT, this is only true in heel strike running, not in forefoot running. This is because the minimal amount of impact produced in forefoot running does not increase with running speed because forefoot running at faster speeds actually pushes your mechanics into a more safe range that results in significantly less brake impact than expected on the shins.

A study by Bartosik et al., in the Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association found that slower running speeds, especially if a heel strike is employed, was a major risk factor for shin splints because the front of the foot tended to unnecessarily lift too much upon landing (shown below) which increased fatiguing strain on the front of the shin.

Is it Bad to Heel Strike When Running? — Running slow was found to cause shin splints by causing the front of the foot to lift too far up upon landing. This constant forefoot-lift upon each step was found to over-strain the muscles in the front of the shin.

The research confirmed that lifting the front of the foot (the forefoot) prior to each step during running caused an unusually large spike in muscle activity in the front of the shin, whereby this extra work fatigues the shins, but at faster running speeds, the foot does not have enough time to lift before landing, shown below:

What is the Correct Foot Strike for Running? — At faster running speeds, the front of the foot has less time to lift before landing, allowing the forefoot to remain in a neutral posture, resulting in a smoother placement of the forefoot at landing, which in turn, unburdens the shin muscles, as well.

The Take Home Message

Running fast with a forefoot strike has the maximum positive impact on reducing the impacts that cause shin splints by preventing unnecessary forefoot-lift at landing. As a result, there’s greater smoothness in foot placement which produces less vigorous muscle response in the shin, while allowing the shin muscles to remain more relaxed at each step.

References:

Bartosik KE, Sitler M, Hillstrom HJ, Palamarchuk H, Huxel K, Kim E. Anatomical and biomechanical assessments of medial tibial stress syndrome. J Am Podiatr Med Assoc. 2010;100(2):121-132.
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