When active and non-active people alike start running, hiking, skipping or aerobic dancing, they will often run into the problem of shin splints. You know, that chronic, throbbing pain next to your shin bone. What is happening is that the soft tissue covering the shin, called the periosteum, becomes damaged from too much use, too soon.

Army recruits often get them as they:

1. Are not used to walking; and
2. Fail to wear in their boots properly.

Ice packs and rest can speed the healing process, but like anything else, some preparation goes a long way to save on pain and frustration.

First, make certain that your running shoes and boots fit properly. A simple method is to put the runner or boot on and ram the toe of your boot against a wall. Then, slide your forefinger between the back of the foot wear and your heel. You should have about a finger thickness between the shoe and the back of your heel.

You might also want to insert some kind of shock-absorbing insoles in your footwear. One summer, while instructing a military boot camp, I was constantly getting back and hip pain from foot drill on the parade square. After sliding my runner insoles into my boots, the pain went away almost instantly.

Before you hike or run, you need to warm up your feet and ankles. A couple of good warm up and cool down exercises are to strengthen the "shin muscle" and stretch your calf muscles.

A simple method is to sit down and cross one leg so that the calf rests on top of your other thigh. With the opposite hand grab the toes of the top leg. Flex and extend your foot as you resist with your hand. You should feel the calf and the muscles along your shin working. Do this about 5 to 10 times to warm up and cool down muscles.

Another method for strengthening the muscles around the shin is with a rubber band. Just anchor one end of the band around something stationary and then hook the other end over the end of your foot. Slowly pull your foot towards you.

By walking on your heels, you can help strengthen the tibilias muscle that lays next to your shin bone. It takes some balance, so you might want to hold on to something when you start out.

After warming up and strengthening your tibilias muscles, stretch out your calf muscles. By loosening your calf muscles, you can put less strain on the shin muscles. Ensure that you warm up first with a short jog or walk. Then use some slow lunging motions. You can brace yourself against a stationary object like a wall or a tree. Put one leg forward, with the knee bent above your front foot. Straighten out your rear leg and square your hips forward. Gently bend and straighten your rear leg until you can hold your leg straight without strain.

Most of all, start out slow and avoid hard surfaces, like concrete and pavement. Some of the old gyms had wooden floors for a reason. Many gym floors today are concrete. It is better to train on a wooden floor with a bit of give to it. If you are running, stay on the grass, gravel, bark mulch or sand rather than pavement. It is far easier on the joints than hard surfaces. What you might lose in speed, you will make up in less pain and more progress.

Have fun.