One of the keys to preventing shin splints is the strength of your anterior tibialis muscle that pulls your foot upwards towards your knee. This is called dorsiflexion and this muscle is important in absorbing shock during running and jumping. When it is strong, and free of tension problems (fixable with soft tissue massage) chances of shin splints are very low. That’s why at our personal training gym, where athletes of all kinds train, we need the machine shown below. It’s the only way to properly train the tibialis anterior. No shin splints for any of our personal training clients or athletes!

In addition to training of the tibialis anterior it is important for the athlete to build up his ability to tolerate lots of jumps and sprints. World class track athletes do up to 1000+ jumps per week in training!