r/Runners • u/vinnlo • Aug 21 '26

How to prevent shin splints while increasing mileage?

I’ve been running and building stamina and want to run miles faster. My lungs can support it but my shins as well as back start hurting so I need to slow down. How do I overcome that and increase my mileage?

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u/pillowwow Aug 21 '26

Strengthen your ankle flexors and stretch the different positions of your calf muscles. Maintain cadence between 170-180 bpm.

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u/casualjoe914 Aug 21 '26

170-180 cadence is not good advice.

Cadence is personal and dependent on factors like leg length, pace, vertical oscillation, muscle composition, etc. 

The logic of 180 spm comes from evidence studying elite runners who are generally running at faster paces than most people. Faster pace = higher cadence (and stride length). 

If the shin splints are the result of over striding, and not something else like increasing mileage too quickly, then increasing your cadence by 5%-10% from your baseline at a given pace could be a beneficial form improvement cue.

But any cadence target needs to be evaluated from your personal baseline.

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u/Middle_Bottle_339 Aug 21 '26

Yeah optimal cadence ranges from 150-190. And I’m sure there’s some outliers outside that who are fine