I walked and now my shins are talking to me!
 

I learned a valuable lesson the other day, that I need to start cross training for cardio. I thought I was in pretty decent shape, since I can do Insanity, Cathe etc. I took my girls for a 3 mile walk in the stroller and my shins are still sore three days later! I used to run, but have been mainly doing cardio dvds with a lot of plyo type moves. Time to just get outside and walk!

I run 3-5 miles a day, and even I find that walking can make me sore. It uses your leg muscles in a completely different way.

I also find that walking hills is a great change up from running hills.

What kind of shape are your shoes in? I know if my shoes are wearing out (which is happening to me right now :eek:), my shins will start talking to me. But like Jeanne Marie said, if it's a new exercise for you it might just be that it's going to take some time.

I can run with zero shin pain, but walking long distances at a really fast pace always kills my shins. My father is the same way. I find that starting off at a slower pace and then building up speed lessens the pain.

i was just going to say the same thing.

you may need different shoes for walking than what you'd use for other activities.

also, consider getting walking inserts. i have the WalkFit brand that i bought from bed, bath and beyond and they work really well.

Thanks ladies for all your replies. I think I was mostly sore, because I never walk long distances anymore. It made me realize that I need to vary my cardio activities and if I do decide to walk on a regular basis for exercise, than I definitely need to invest in a good pair of shoes.

This thread has perfect timing. I walked into my first spin class today thinking "noooo problem, I got this" since I do the bike on my own, Cathe, Turbo, etc and have for years. Yeah....15 minutes later I thought I was gonna pass out.

Hope your shins feel better! And you give them more attention than Cathe does :sun:

I miss taking live spin classes. They used to be so tough! Even though I can do Insanity or Cathe, I would probably pass out in a real Spin class. I need to stop doing plyo jacks and burpees and start walking!

The shins are worked more in walking (especially speedwalking and racewalking) than in running. It's not shin splints, but rather just a muscle that's not used to the work it's doing.

Be sure to stretch/massage your shins after each walk.

It WILL get better as you do more.

My shin were really screaming at me the first week or so when I got into speedwalking.

So glad you brought this up! I have had the same thing happen. I realized even though I can do Cathe, Insanity etc...I need to walk more. I now have been walking about 3 times a week and my shins don't hurt anymore.

Happy walking!