Shin Pain When Walking in AM, not PM, Why?

[Greypaws]

If I walk in the morning my shins & sometimes calves hurt, pain goes away once I'm back home. Walking the same route in the PM without issue. I do stretch before each walk. Terrain is flat to mildly hilly equivalent of 1-3 staircases. I can walk on flat most of the way but it's 3 staircases down to the flat & 3 up to get back home. Building up to walk 5 miles a day, right now 3 + miles daily, it's easier to go out twice daily.

Why does this  happen? Any suggestions for resolution?

[Dennis13k]

Hi there Greypaws! I've had similar symptoms in the lower leg areas myself, though not the actual sins themselves. I find personally even after stretching, temperature plays the biggest role. The colder it is the more likely I get sore.

There are a myriad of sites that examine Anterior Compartment Syndrome (I tend to get this more) and shin splints, which you seem to have.

I've found site below one of the more helpful ones. Hope your symptoms ease up soon so you can enjoy walking more!

http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/8892850/shin-splints-shin-pain-treatment-prevention-.htm

[slysam]

It sounds like you may not be warmed up enough. It helps if your muscles are literally warm (which happens to some extent from activity throughout the day) . I need more of a warmup to workout in the morning than later in the day. I don't usually warm up for walking, but maybe you try that. I would suggest that you look up "joint mobility" exercises or "mobility" exercises. There are a lot on youTube. I have some workout dvds that start with mobility exercises for warmup and feel they are very effective as a warmup. I use to do light cardio like walking for my warmup but have switched to doing some mobility exercises and a little dynamic stretching (no held static stretchign while muscles are cold) before the light cardio. I even do some if I play golf (I am not a serious golfer I just think it is safer if the hips and back are warm first. My friends laugh about it as it looks dorky).

[slysam]

Oh, I'd stretch after the walk not before. I don't think traditional stretching does much to help you warmup. I use to take a lot of dance classes and many dance teachers warm up with stretches. t isn't that common in fitness circles anymore as recent research seems to indicate that it can cause injury to stretch too much before you are warm. (I don't think they are talking about a mild stretch like you would naturally do when you wake up, but the stretches where you are really using your full range and holding the stretch for 30-60 seconds are best done after the workout). I would actually take a brisk walk and warmup before a dance class as I didn't like the stretching while cold. I haven't seen anyone warm up with stretches in a gym or fitness class for years though. I think I would look up some mobility exercises and dynamic stretches for the warmup so you actually feel warm before you start your walk. Since you are only experiencing this in the morning is what makes me think it may be a lack of warmup in your case. But I am not a physical therapist or anything like that.

[TCG]

I was also told not to stretch but to warm up before I walked or did any exercise. I usually workout on the elliptical before my usual workout, I'm not putting pressure on my legs because its a gliding motion not a pounding motion. Think of the muscle like a piece of meat that has been put in the freezer, if you try to bend it right after taking it out of the freeze it will break, if you get it to room temperature, it will bend more fluidly. When walking start at a slow pace then when you feel the muscles warm and relaxed walk faster. Good luck and have a great day.

[gerrymcd]

Its now generally accepted that stretching before exercise isn't productive, and more likely to result in damage than help prevent it.  

Like others said, your muscles are 'warmed up' if you walk later in the day, compared to first thing in the morning.  

[Greypaws]

Thank you for your responses, I'll give your suggestions a try. If anyone has any other ideas, please add them to this thread.

[Rosmilla]

I'm sure this is age related as I can run freely afternoons but in the morning now especially as winter approaches in the southern hemisphere I experience stiffness and pain in all sorts of lower limb areas. So mostly I walk am and jog pm if time permits. Today I will be going to the gym for a class and have walked 5kms early this morning with a sore back...must have been twisted in my sleep.

[Gershon]

My suggestion is to reduce your miles to the point where you don't get shin splints and then start to gradually increase them. It can take a couple years to build up to big miles without pain. Along the way, most will probably experience some pains that will cause them to slow their progress.

At the early stages of each new pain, the solution is always to back off a bit on miles and increase them slowly.