The Care Of Shin Splints - Or Prevent Shin Splints By Building Strong Foot Muscles

Understanding shin splints requires knowing how to use your foot muscles properly.

This affects all your ballet positions and movements. Even more basic, is understanding where your weight should be on your standing foot/feet.

If not drawn back too much on the heel, the calf muscles and tibial (shin) muscles do not have to strain even before you've made a move.

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 To avoid shin splints altogether, check how you're standing in parallel, and how your feet are positioned on the floor.

Ideally, you have arches that don't flatten on the floor when you are standing, and also don't hold an arch shape with a rigid locked position.

The front of your ankle is relaxed because your weight is on the middle of the heel, the outside of the foot at the little toe metatarsal joint, and the inside of the foot at the big toe metatarsal joint.Think "tripod".

The rest of your body is stacked upward from ankle to knee (if your knees are hyper-extended you have been shown how to hold them in a straight position) to hip, through the natural spinal curves to your head.

Imagery-wise, your head floats above all of this. Realistically, you work with your rib cage held but not clenched down, so your neck does not have to compensate with a chin pulling up and forward, eliminating the natural curve.

And all of that has to do with how your feet rest on the floor.

If your feet are flat and soft, standing correctly, turning out correctly and getting the weight distributed on the foot (picture a triangle or tripod) is going to activate the sole of the foot muscles but NOT activate tibial (shin) and/or calf muscles that will strain if your weight has sunk inwards. Dancers call it rolling ankles.

Having the weight a tad forward (isn't that nice and scientific) feeling ready to move into a tendu and take the weight on the standing leg, is an activated but not tense or clenched feeling in your legs and core muscle area.

So even though shin splints are usually associated with jumping on hard floors, or overworking through long rehearsal days, shin splints can start with a lack of understanding just how to stand on your feet - and also not understanding what type of feet you are standing on.

It doesn't MATTER what kind of feet you have. It matters that you know how to use them and improve them, way before you get into pointe shoes.

A foot that is arched but rigid in the mid section can be loosened up with massage, warm foot baths, and regular ballet strengthening exercises.

A soft flat foot can be strengthened and activated properly on the floor.More about that HERE.

A hyper-mobile highly arched foot can be strengthened and controlled by the intrinsic (sole of the foot) muscles.

A less flexible ankle can be stretched properly, starting with relaxing the shin muscles.......that may be strained by weight drawing back on the heel, as mentioned above.

Ideally you prevent shin splints.

If you are past that, you practice good care of shin splints with massage, ice, perhaps rest, and applying all of the above.

Swelling and inflammation of the tibial muscles can get extremely painful, and severe pain should be addressed by a ballet/sports/fitness physiotherapist or chiropractor. There may be a stress fracture present, so it's good to know exactly what you are healing.

Take a look at your parallel bare feet position in the mirror and get your weight placed properly.  

Women and men in sports/fitness/ballet can learn to prevent shin splints with The Perfect Pointe Book exercises and improve reflexes and fine balance, for all dance and sports.

Dance Injuries Can Be Prevented By Pre-pointe Exercises

Common dance injuries such as sprained ankles, inflamed Achilles tendons, and shin splints can be prevented.

To build strength in the foot muscles, a deliberate and separate routine of practice can be included in your daily routines. Strong foot muscles prevent muscle exhaustion in the calves, and in the feet.

Not all ballet teachers emphasize the use of the floor in the zillion battement tendus and battement degages that you in the first few years of training. In fact, every brushing movement you do for a grand battement, a glissade or a jete or assemble, should work the sole of the foot muscles.

Even if you are taught to use the floor properly, foot exercises added to your daily routines ensure that you build the strength needed to begin pointe work.

The common ballet injuries mentioned above can be prevented. In practicing foot exercises, reflexes are built along with muscle. Your body's proprioception is enhanced. Proprioception is a vast subject.

Suffice it to say that your brain has a communication system with the muscles, joints, and inner ear, (part of your balance system ) that is automated. It allows instant perception and adjustments to muscle behaviour so that you can function in the world without deliberately monitoring every tiny move you make.

Since we are so brilliantly engineered, let's do all we can do to take full advantage of it.

For example, Achilles tendon injuries are a symptom of deficient muscle activity, or overtraining/muscle exhaustion in the feet and perhaps lower leg muscles too. Or full body exhaustion.

The Achilles tendon will become inflamed in response to the strain and resulting lack of support in nearby muscles. The use of the foot, ankle and calves must be reviewed in order to recover, and prevent future misuse.

Take full advantage of the information from current manuals that discuss anatomy, foot types, foot exercises, and all the requirements for advancing to dancing in pointe shoes (and also lead to excellent footwork for male ballet virtuosity).

Muscle exhaustion and injuries can be prevented.

THE PERFECT POINTE BOOK gives you a wealth of information on how to prevent dance injuries. Get yours today.

Staying In Shape Over School Breaks From Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes

School breaks are always welcome - whether you're going on a trip or just hanging out and relaxing, it's a pleasant change. But staying in shape is a challenge. If your ballet school is closed too, here's some tips for not feeling completely out of shape when you get back.

You can start thinking about this by making a note of your technical weaknesses. Every student knows what their most common correction is.

You can probably put aside 15-20 minutes a day to address a few exercises that use the muscles involved in your ballet class corrections.

There are also a few exercises to add for almost anyone.

Foot exercises, especially if you are doing pointe work, are a good choice to do every day. Using a stretchy band both under the toes (for lengthening/pointing) and over the toes (for flexing) is a good one. Toe swapping, 'playing the piano' and pulling a towel are good too. The shin splints and sore calves that show up after returning from a break are from loss of strength in the foot muscles.

Three very slow motion pull ups for your abs are all you need to do per day. Starting lying on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor, pull up slowly with your lower ab muscles. Count to 10, for moving up to your highest point. Your shoulders and shoulder blades will be off the floor. Then slowly down, but don't rest. Stop an inch from the floor and start up again. Put one hand behind your head if your neck is straining.

Choose a couple of stretches - your tighter areas. Stretch gently because you are not going to be as warm as a class will warm you up. If you're skiing, swimming, rock climbing or doing some other sport, stretch afterwards.

Have a great break!