Browsing: Shin exercises

How do you develop the front of the lower leg, over the shin area?

This category includes exercises for the major muscle on the front of the shin, the tibialis anterior. Keeping this muscle strengthened and in balance with the gastrocnemius and soleus can help to prevent lower-leg injuries, such as shinsplints.

The calf muscles (gastrocnemius and soleus) are used extensively in running, too. Because of their involvement in every running stride, many people think that runners should focus their training on strengthening calf muscles. Indeed they should, but it is also important to strengthen the weaker counterpart, the shin muscles (anterior tibialis). If you strengthen only the larger and stronger calf muscles, they will eventually overpower the smaller and weaker shin muscles, which may lead to shin splints, stress fractures, and Achilles tendon problems. With this in mind, we recommend that runners always conclude strength training workouts with a set of weighted toe raises to strengthen the shin muscles and maintain muscular balance in the lower-leg musculature.