Shin protection for heavy bag work

I have been training boxing on heavy bag for years. I just started mixing in mauy tai kicks, elbows and knees. I seem to have pain in one of my shins that doesn't allow me to go full force on kicks with that leg. It's fine when I'm not kicking but the minute I make contact if I kick hard I have sharp pain. My question is should I wear pads, stop kicking until I heal or just go easy? I'm not sure if this is normal. I've heard that you need to build up tolerance in shins but I believe I may have been going to hard with my kicks to start.
Btw my bag is a cloth filled Maui Thai bag not sand filled.

 

It takes time.

Rub a topical analgesic, like bengay, on you shins before and RICE after.

 

sounds normal. a bit of soreness is good just ice after and dont do it every day. maybe alternate every other day or so to give your legs time to heal

 

That's what I do. Every other day. I'm just wondering if I should ease up on the kicks some. Still do same workout but when I kick maybe not go as hard until pain free. I really don't want to wear shin guards to kick bag

 

wait till you get a kick checked by a knee. the pain you feal from a bag will be nothing compared to the big ass lump you'll have then

 

break those shins in... kill the nerves lol... hit ur shins with a broom stick to break in the shins. What i recommend if rest your shins so they can get better in the mean time and then get cloth shin pads (really cheap) these are the best for feeling the impact so your shins are used to the feeling, but also offer some protection. But if u never break your shins in the pain will never stop... i highly recommend some cloth shins for the bag and even light sparring and then thick shin pads for heavier sparring

 

dan how can you ship to an apo i wanted to pick up a pair of your victory shin pads

 

I'm going to go against the grain here. You described the pain as "sharp," and so I would strongly suggest that you ask a professional about it. Sharp pain does NOT sound normal to me. I know we all like to practice martial arts and imagine ourselves as tough guys, but you should always consider your safety first. It might be something like shin splints, but it could be something entirely different that I wouldn't even know about. Hope everything is good, though!

 

please private message me your address we can ship this monday without any problems

 

Some really stupid advice in here and some good.

First of all, and I can't stress this hard enough, DO NOT HIT YOUR SHINS! Not with brooms, kicking trees or anything like that. That is stupid and you will just hurt your legs.

If you have feeling intense pain, then yes, stop kicking for a couple of days.

However I must say that it sounds like you are kicking wrong somehow. You should not feel that much pain in the beginning with a clothes-filled bag. My first Muay Thai lessons I had issues with the sandfilled bags so I just kept kicking the other ones until my shins got "tougher" through pad-sessions. I still have problems with some sandfilled bags as they are torture on your legs.

Go to a proper gym and have them help you out. You can still practice on your own but it's better to have someone help you out in the beginning.

I wouldnt recommend kicking a bag with shinpads. If you need shinpads for bags then something is wrong.

 

ahha... yes i agree beating your shins with brooms is not the brightest, i personally have done it a few times when training for fights to just strengthen the bone and kill the nerves. My shins bruise very easily. All gyms and ppl do it differently. Regarding my personal experience I found that having conditioned shins really helps as it allows me to kick 100% without fearing the bruising or pain when someone checks my kick. That is why for light sparring, I use cloth shins so my shins can condition but for heavy sparring i use thick shin pads to really protect me.

 

Thanks for the advice and I wasn't planning on taking these guys up on the kicking trees, broomsticks, etc. Lol.

 

Araz is pro man

 

Not according to my profile
However my fights here in thailand says different.

For fights I just get my legs(and body) rubbed with thai-oil and that plus the hype of fighting tends to make me forget about any shin pain. The day after I am reminded again that I am no superman.

I've yet heard or seen any thai fighter who beats their own shin but they get their conditioning from repeating it since young age. So the main thing to do is going at it on the hardest bag you can muster and then slowly adapt.

I have noticed that lots of people thing that thai-guys kick throu bricks for shits and giggles and don't care. Thats not true. They get hurt to. They just don't show it during fights.

One thing everyone should think about is that all trauma against your body/bones will take its toll, there are no easy tips on making your shins hard as admantium. It just wont work. You just have to get used to the pain and work through it. I've been kicking pads and bags with shins that are black and blue but if I ever feel REAL pain then I stop. Pain is not weakness leaving the body, pain is your body's way of saying that it is hurt.

 

So, It looks like the pain is totally normal, my shins will adjust to the new pounding and I should just continue on with my workouts. Thanks guys

 

I don't know what you are doing on Sherdog with sense and reason, but that just isn't allowed here. Quick, someone drop an internet meme about this guy being a wuss.

Seriously, we don't even condition the shins except through heavy bag work. I've been training for 10 years (14-3 ammy's), and there is no need to use shinpads or condition your shins. Kick lighter, let them heal, and go back to work.

Physically, you are NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT looking to kill nerves. This implies a reduction or complete lack of blood flow to the bone, and later your bone will just.... die. I've seen it, and one of my training partners shattered his shin skateboarding and hitting a trash can. No joke.

Rather, you are looking for a cartilaginous buildup that accompanies small damage over long periods of time. This fibrous network (it's not cartilage, but there is certainly some hard but slightly flexible build up), in turn, distributes the pressure from checking or giving a kick over a large area; if one were to consider nerves as veritable "point sensors" of pressure (i.e. they are small compared to the point of impact of the kick), each will report less total pressure and thus less feeling over a larger area.

My 2 cents.

 

Good advice. Thanks always good to learn more... Kick lighter, let them heal, and go back to work

Well said. Gonna try doing this when training

 

I too just started leg striking, thank you for the contribution everyone.. it was very helpful!

 

Thanks guys, Going to take some time off from kicking to heal. Maybe do some light kicks after my boxing heavy bag routine until pain subsides. Still getting in my work but kicks will have to wait.

 

I don't know what I was doing. It was late at night and I was tired so I wasn't thinking straight.

Karl Malone (Old school guys will remember this)