Started running again... my tabialis anterior muscles are KILLING me..

[MrEgo]

I ran cross country in high school, so I have lots of experience, but that was 11 years and 50lbs ago.

I've been doing almost strictly weight training for the past 5 years, and up until recently, it was rare that I did any cardio at all. I went for a run today. After about 2 miles, my tabialis anterior muscles on both of my lower legs started feeling as though they were cramping up or swelling up or both. I had to stop and wait for the swelling to go down. My feet started going numb because I assume the swelling was cutting off the blood supply. The muscles felt extremely tight when I pulled my feet behind my back to try and stretch them.

My shoes have limited mileage on them. I bought them from a legitimate shoe store (Gazelle sports), so they are definitely legit. Any thoughts or suggestions as to what may be causing it?

 

[CFP]

Aren't these shin splints?

I think it can be corrected by getting better shoes.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Tibialis anterior overuse is frequently caused by a lack of dorsiflexion. Do some soft tissue work on your calves (gastroc and soleus) and some stretching for dorsiflexion. I bet they stop giving you so much grief after a little bit of progress.

 

[MrEgo]

Tibialis anterior overuse is frequently caused by a lack of dorsiflexion. Do some soft tissue work on your calves (gastroc and soleus) and some stretching for dorsiflexion. I bet they stop giving you so much grief after a little bit of progress.

Do you have any pointers on stretching them? How long to hold it for.. some of the stretches to do.. etc?

 

[JL514]

Aren't these shin splints?

I think it can be corrected by getting better shoes.

Not necessarily shin splints. In my experience shin splints are very focused towards the top of the shin, where as OP seems to be describing an entire muscle becoming sore. Tibialis stabilizes your foot when you strike the ground and helps you pull your foot off the ground for the next step. If you haven't done any running in a while it might be fatiguing early. Slow down, should get better as you get back into it.

Massaging and stretching should help. Buy a foam roller and read up on myofascial release.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online...g_performance_repair/feel_better_for_10_bucks

 

[MrEgo]

Not necessarily shin splints. In my experience shin splints are very focused towards the top of the shin, where as OP seems to be describing an entire muscle becoming sore. Tibialis stabilizes your foot when you strike the ground and helps you pull your foot off the ground for the next step. If you haven't done any running in a while it might be fatiguing early. Slow down, should get better as you get back into it.

Massaging and stretching should help. Buy a foam roller and read up on myofascial release.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online...g_performance_repair/feel_better_for_10_bucks

Thanks. I wasn't out of breath or extremly fatigued anywhere else. It was just the tabialis anterior that was holding me back.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Do you have any pointers on stretching them? How long to hold it for.. some of the stretches to do.. etc?

All of your typical calf stretches - gasctroc (knee straight) and soleus (knee bent). Calf raises off a step while going slow on the eccentric contraction.

Probably also just too much too fast. Just b/c you ran cross country a few years back doesn't mean you can go out and pop out a 3-5 miler. Your muscles do need to adjust to the stress of running again.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Not necessarily shin splints. In my experience shin splints are very focused towards the top of the shin, where as OP seems to be describing an entire muscle becoming sore. Tibialis stabilizes your foot when you strike the ground and helps you pull your foot off the ground for the next step. If you haven't done any running in a while it might be fatiguing early. Slow down, should get better as you get back into it.

Massaging and stretching should help. Buy a foam roller and read up on myofascial release.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online...g_performance_repair/feel_better_for_10_bucks

People call any muscular strains in the anterior shin "shin splints." That typically refers to either anterior or posterior tibialis strain. You're specifically talking about posterior tibialis strain, as that eccentrically controls the arch with running. Considering that a common compensation for a lack of dorsiflexion is eversion (along with flattening of the arch), that could lead to overuse of the posterior tibialis. However, if the OP doesn't have enough dorsiflexion, the dominant muscle responsible for dorsiflexion may be trying to create enough force to get that range, resulting in overuse. Both are frequently caused by tight calves and, as you said, myofascial release and foam rolling can definitely help, as well as stretching and strengthening of the surrounding and affected musculature.

 

[wayliff]

he he - since the last two runs I started to experience this pain and today got the point where I was starting to wonder what is going on. Note that I can feel the pain before I warm up and stretch and today it was somewhat bad after I was ready to go to work.

Good to see the answers already...

I do want to mention that I started to exercise about 2.5 months ago and started to include stretching about 1 month ago (sacredly).
I stretch after warm-up for about 2 minutes and also after finishing my HIIT, I wait about 1.5-2 minutes resting and then I'll stretch again for about 2 minutes.

I do the following stretches on each leg. (not in this particular order)
20 seconds Quadriceps.
25 seconds Gastroc.
20 seconds Hip flexor.
20 seconds Hamstring. However I just learned I have been doing it wrong which I will change next time I'm out.

Now it seems I have neglected the soleus stretch and perhaps that is the reason I am getting the pain?

Anyway thanks for posting informative answers to the OP. I have learned too.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

he he - since the last two runs I started to experience this pain and today got the point where I was starting to wonder what is going on. Note that I can feel the pain before I warm up and stretch and today it was somewhat bad after I was ready to go to work.

Good to see the answers already...

I do want to mention that I started to exercise about 2.5 months ago and started to include stretching about 1 month ago (sacredly).
I stretch after warm-up for about 2 minutes and also after finishing my HIIT, I wait about 1.5-2 minutes resting and then I'll stretch again for about 2 minutes.

I do the following stretches on each leg. (not in this particular order)
20 seconds Quadriceps.
25 seconds Gastroc.
20 seconds Hip flexor.
20 seconds Hamstring. However I just learned I have been doing it wrong which I will change next time I'm out.

Now it seems I have neglected the soleus stretch and perhaps that is the reason I am getting the pain?

Anyway thanks for posting informative answers to the OP. I have learned too.

20sec is not nearly long enough for plastic changes to occur. Typically, stretches less than 30sec aren't effective. I typically give patients stretches for at least a minute. Typically one minute on the left, one minute on right, then repeat. You definitely need to spend more time on stretching to have permanent effects on your muscle length. To improve mobility, the stretches need to be done multiple times per day, every day. To maintain it, you only need to do it 2-3 times per week.

 

[CFP]

Not necessarily shin splints. In my experience shin splints are very focused towards the top of the shin, where as OP seems to be describing an entire muscle becoming sore. Tibialis stabilizes your foot when you strike the ground and helps you pull your foot off the ground for the next step. If you haven't done any running in a while it might be fatiguing early. Slow down, should get better as you get back into it.

Massaging and stretching should help. Buy a foam roller and read up on myofascial release.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online...g_performance_repair/feel_better_for_10_bucks

Thanks for this tip. I've actually got the exact same problem as the OP, it was somewhat bettered by getting better shoes but I still get grief. Will try the stretches.

 

[wayliff]

20sec is not nearly long enough for plastic changes to occur. Typically, stretches less than 30sec aren't effective. I typically give patients stretches for at least a minute. Typically one minute on the left, one minute on right, then repeat. You definitely need to spend more time on stretching to have permanent effects on your muscle length. To improve mobility, the stretches need to be done multiple times per day, every day. To maintain it, you only need to do it 2-3 times per week.

Thanks for the pointers!

I will definitely at least double the times during my workout.
However when you say every day...I've read one has to warm up to stretch, or that it is better. What is the least necessary warm-up, in your experience/opinion, to avoid pulling the muscle?

Thanks again.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Thanks for the pointers!

I will definitely at least double the times during my workout.
However when you say every day...I've read one has to warm up to stretch, or that it is better. What is the least necessary warm-up, in your experience/opinion, to avoid pulling the muscle?

Thanks again.

Warming up will improve your comfort level as well as improve the elasticity, but it's not necessary for stretching. Sometimes that's not plausible - you can still stretch. Honestly, a 5-min walk/bike/jog/uppper body circuit (depending on the body part you want to stretch significantly) is more than enough. Just need enough to improve blood flow and warm the musculature.

 

[wayliff]

Warming up will improve your comfort level as well as improve the elasticity, but it's not necessary for stretching. Sometimes that's not plausible - you can still stretch. Honestly, a 5-min walk/bike/jog/uppper body circuit (depending on the body part you want to stretch significantly) is more than enough. Just need enough to improve blood flow and warm the musculature.

Thanks for the info!