Do you suffer from shin splints, plantar fasciitis, and Achilles tendon pain? Many people have tried numerous therapies, injections, and other treatments, only to be disappointed. Last week, a speaker (Russ Ebbets DC, CCSP) who has worked with USA Track and Field suggested that foot drills, something that was done for years by the Germans can be quite helpful in relieving the condition. Apparently, he found numerous citations in the literature suggesting that intrinsic foot muscle strengthening can markedly improve the way our lower legs work and help reduce injuries. While there is more to shin pain, plantar fasciitis, and Achilles tendonosis than just the lower leg, the lower leg does play an important component in why the problem is so nasty for some people. It comes down to intrinsic weakness in the feet and muscles in the anterior and posterior compartment of the lower leg, which can be aggravated by certain types of footwear as well as certain body styles. He had taken this idea and developed a series of exercises that can be done daily at the beginning of practice or before your run, five of which are designed to be done barefooted, and one is designed to be done in shoes. As taken from www.CoachR.org "The six drills, illustrated below are to simply walk on the outside of the foot (invert the foot), walk on the inside of the foot (evert the foot), walk with a toe-in or pigeon-toed gait (adduct the foot), walk backward on the toes, walk with the toes pointing out (a la Charlie Chaplin) and with the shoes back on, walk on the heels - this protects against bruising the heel. Doing these exercises daily can help prevent many of the foot and heel conditions many people suffer from and they should be part of the daily regimen of anyone who is having continual problems in the heel, shins, and plantar fascia. Be sure to do the first five exercises barefoot and the heel walk with shoes. What do you think? As always, I value your opinions. Find out more about Dr. Ebbets through his link on site here.