A short outdoor walking workout could provide relief for runners suffering from stubborn, painful shin splints.
- Common among athletes, tibial periostitis manifests itself as pain in the lower legs that disappears after exercise.
- Doing four weeks of outdoor walking workouts and strength training exercises at home improves leg strength and running technique.
- “Outdoor walking training could be an important new tool to help treadmill users sweat without pain.”
This is a common injury among athletes (runners, hikers, dancers). Shin splints are characterized by inflammation of the periosteum, i.e. the membrane that surrounds the shin bone. The latter manifests itself as pain in the lower legs that disappears after exercise. However, in regular runners, it can worsen and become persistent. In severe cases, shin splints can even lead to stress fractures. Previous research has shown that short outdoor walking workouts can significantly reduce this pain in the shin area. But experts were unsure whether these benefits would carry over to the flat, even surface of the treadmill.
Shin splints: four weeks of outdoor walking training for 17 adults
To find out whether outdoor walking training would benefit treadmill users, American researchers conducted a study. For the study, they recruited 17 people aged 18 to 45. These participants, who suffered from shin splints during or after running for at least a month, were in the habit of running at least three times a week on a treadmill. The volunteers were randomly divided into two groups: one group did outdoor walking training for four weeks and did muscle strengthening exercises at home, while the other group did only the exercises at home.
During the gait training, participants received “vibrotactile feedback,” meaning they felt a small vibration when special sensors in their shoes detected that their feet had been in contact with the ground for too long. This would help improve their stride and gait to reduce shin pain.
An improvement in running biomechanics
According to the results, published in the journal Journal of Biomechanicsboth groups saw improvements in leg strength. But the walkers also improved their running technique, or what the authors call “favorable adjustments in gait mechanics during running.” These improvements were seen during both outdoor and treadmill runs. “This suggests that outdoor walking training could be an important new tool to help treadmill users sweat without pain.”
