Old running shoes + imbalanced training = shin splints or worse.
Remember that your injury has a root cause and treating the site of pain is only a temporary fix. Identifying your pain is only the beginning. Successful rehab and injury prevention begins with a balanced and “holistic” approach. More stretching, running, crunches, and a few pushups alone will not get it done. An outside look at your technique, body type, training, and equipment (shoes) are places to look at and address to avoid nagging discomfort and injury. Discomfort and pain that can be a result of a chain reaction that starts with compensating or lagging bodyparts, poor technique, and/or an imbalance that manifest somewhere down the chain.
Runners often change shoes at 300 miles or 3 months to avoid problems. Barefoot training is also a great way to bring your body and technique into balance.
Shoulder problems can be a result of imbalanced training. Many athletes love to press (bench press, pushups) but don’t pull enough to fully develop the entire shoulder girdle and muscle. For every press exercise done, match it with a pull (pullups, rows).
Despite popular belief lower back pain is not always the result of weak abdominals.
Balancing your body and preventing injury is not a quick fix. Injury prevention and rehab requires discipline and consistency. Adding overhead squats, pullups, one-legged exercises, tumbling, olympic lifts, foam rolling, stretching and other complex movements are some good places to start for a better body, better health, and better way to stay in the game.
