ROM

So I'm beginning to condition my shins through repeated kicks on a heavy bag. The problem is that I found though the form of the kick is correct, the tibialis [the muscle that's basically near your shins, I had to look it up] is somewhat in the way, and taking most of the punishment rather than my shins.

Is this a problem for anyone else? I've been told that it's not abnormal, that I simply have to keep conditioning that part of my shin. Anyone else have experiences with this?

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fire cobra

Pull your toes up towards your head while standing up on one leg bro,if the muscle covers over the bone at the front of your leg oh your lucky!,great for stopping the bone on bone contact,i have known a lot of thai fighters(in Thailand) that have really well developed muscles on the front of their shins,when i kicked them and they blocked it didnt hurt me at all!,when your kicking the bag/pads make sure you do the opposite and point your toes forward as though you dont have a ankle joint just one straight weapon like a baseball bat.

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ROM

Hmm. I'm a little confused: is it normal to have your shin protected by this muscle? I noticed the muscle getting pretty beat up after the kick reps, and that's never good. I thought when you condition shins on the heavy bag, you're just hitting with the shin - not the muscle.

Also, are you telling me to have my toes pointed so that the form looks like I'm standing on something [like an L shape the base leg forms when you kick], or pointed in a way that it closely resembles a straight line?

Sorry for the questions, just a little confused, but mostly concerned about the muscle that's blocking a lot of my shin.

Edit: Ok, I'm trying to figure out a way to describe it. The muscle isn't 'covering' my shin, it's more like it's riding alongside it - parallel. If they were both the same 'thickness'? it wouldn't be too big of a deal because I'm be beating both the muscle and shin equally, but the problem is that the muscle is protruding more than the shin bone, and so it's taking most of the impact. Hope that clears something up.

Edit again: Ok, it's covering the shin bone a little bit, but I assume that's normal. The problem is still the thickness. I think.

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fire cobra

Its ok for the questions bro,and the confusion! when i wrote my post i thought it wasnt very clear sorry,hard to explain in text and ive just woke up!.

When you kick try to kick with as near a straight leg a possible,kick from the hip as opposed to the knee,point your toes down as that relaxes the muscle at the side of your shinbone,when you curl your toes up it contracts that muscle causingit to cover your shinbone either in part or in the case of some thai fighters ive trained with fully.

If when you point your toes your muscle is still over the shin slightly i cant give you a answer on how to fix that one,perhaps your turning your leg/hip to far ove and making contact with the outside of the leg a bit?.

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iPat

Without seeing your form, i can only make a few recommendations that may or may not work for you.
Start off kicking the bag lightly to warm up the shin, it may be that you are kicking and the shock is antagonising the muscle.
If you are hitting to the bottom of the shin on the muscle that is running on the inside then you are not pivoting enough.

Good luck,

Pat Davies
Aberdeen UK

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Tee Sok

Hopefully this will be of help :

I've played drums for a long time and I like using the double bass a lot.
I usually "play" withoput drums as well (in front of the computer, or going along with songs). I lift my toes up a lot, and the tibia muscle is really developed and thick now. I've noticed this some years ago,
when me a two friends used to train in a gym together. One of them
used to play drums as well and his tibia muscle was also developed, while the other one had little protection on the left side of his tibia when blocking.
So the lifting the feet up movement definitely works on that, and it's great for blocking.
But as for kicking, I would do just as fire cobra says.

You need to condition both the bone and the muscle.
You can condition the shin muscle by blocking and your shin bone by hitting,
that's the most obvious solution I can think of.

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tr1

Hey man- I have the same type of thing, i have been told it comes from having a really think calf, like not muscular but just the muscle in the calf is thick so it pushs forward the other muscles. My shin isnt dead center on my leg either its off the to left a little. I kick the heavy bag about 100 times each leg for daily conditioning, and that works pretty well, the muscle takes a lot of the brunt so i make sure i have some oil on hand (lots of menthanol in it) to help with the bruising and soreness. I actaully like the way my shin is set up i feel as though i dont get as much bone to bone so my kicks stay strong through out an entire bout.

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