When I was a gymnast, in the distant past, our biggest overuse injury was shin splints. We ran, tumbled and vaulted on hard surfaces.
Happily, shin splints in Artistic gyms is now rare. Most clubs have only one or two kids with mild cases. (‘Pommel Pains‘, forearm splints, are as big a problem as ever.)
My running friends tell me that compression wear does work. … I’m wondering if any of those few gymnasts still suffering shin splints had experimented with these:
details on this brand
Leave a comment if you’ve tried them.
6 comments ↓
As an ironman triathlete (and former gymnast), the compression socks work wonders esp during warm up & recovery periods. I recommend them for a friends high school lacrosse daughter and now her whole team swears by them. Many runners use them while running but I can see them being excellent for gymnasts during non workout times. Also, the compression tights (visit the 2XU website or look up compression at http://www.trisports.com as there are a few good brands)
Yes! My daughter has used them & they did help, but not quite tight enough. Maybe a smaller size would’ve done the trick!
That looks like a great concept. It would be nice to see something similar for the forearm if it isn’t already on the market.
I wonder if it might cause some weakening of the muscles with overuse. It would be interesting to look at this over long term.
@Coach Mark: They do have them for arms too, just google compression sleeve arm.
I’ve had shinsplints a couple of times, and looked into buying them a couple of times but never actually bought them. My coach also rather had me take some rest and heal properly instead of using these.
At Ironman Nice, France last weekend I saw dozens of men wearing the socks the night before the race.
Out at the cafes, amusingly.
… I’d thought I’d posted a Pommel photo of Leyva … or one of the other top Americans … experimenting with compression socks on the forearms. But can’t find it right now
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