Most common questions are: How do I condition my shins? It hurts so much when I train. How do I make my shins harder? First, you must realise that a conditioned shin is won with deadened nerves. The shin is already hard and will unlikely to get that much harder. The key is to deaden the nerves so that you wouldn't feel the pain upon impact. However, you must also realise that you should not damage the shin bone while trying to deaden the nerves. This can be done only by practicing on the Thai pads and heavy bags.
The Thai pads and heavy bags are softer than your shin bone while hard enough to damage the nerves on the skin above your shin bone with repeated impact. This process can take a while depending on how hard you train and how frequently you train.
You must accept that in the beginning, it will be painful. You've just picked one of the most demanding sports in the world. There will be pain to go with it. This is only the beginning. The first time an opponent lands a hard Thai kick on your legs, you will get a wakeup call more painful than shin conditioning.
Mentally tell yourself that this is the initiation process. In time your shins will be properly conditioned. There are ointments that may alleviate some of the pain. Use them as needed. But understand that no ointment will make the process painless.
Please do not take shortcuts by using hard objects like wood or bottles. I have heard people actually doing this. Also, if your trainer tells you to beat your shins with sticks or roll hard bottles on them, seek another Muay Thai gym.
What actually happens is you will at first feel that your shins are conditioned fast. This is because your nerves have been deadened fast so that you now feel little pain. But by using an object harder than your shin bone you've just damaged the bone too. Long term this can be bad for your bones. The only thing as hard as or harder than your shin bone that you may one day hit is the shins, knees, and elbows of your opponents. And if you end up hurting your shin bone as a result of kicking into your opponents raised knee, then you may still suffer an injury. Just try to minimize injuries in training and save your luck for the ring.
| Point | Shin Conditioning Drills Tips |
|---|---|
| 1. | Kick the Heavy Bag and/or Thai pads. You should kick over 100x's each day. I recommend 500x's, or around that figure. |
| 2. | When you start kicking the bag, start kicking lightly at first then gradually increase the power of your kicks. |
| 3. | Stop every so often and massage the shins vigorously to get the blood flowing back into them. (One of good massage techniques - place your shin between the middle knuckles of your second and third fingers, and rub vigorously the length of your shin several times) This promotes faster healing of the bruised flesh and any damage to the bone. You might also like to invest in Boxing Liniment. Massage your shins with that before and after you kick, if available. |
| 4. | Do not "tap" or "beat" your shins with sticks, boards, bottles, etc. This causes bruises, knots, etc to form on the shin. These painful little areas may stick with you for quite some time. |
The only problem with the above method is that because we don't start training Muay Thai as early in life as the Thai's do, we are playing "catch up". Thai's start training usually by the time they are 12 years old. They kick the bag literally hundreds of times per day. They often actually live at their camp, so they have the "luxury" to train like that. For most of us though, we have jobs, school, families and other responsibilities. All kinds of distractions that prevent us from training like the Thai's do. That's why some try to find easier and cheaper way and use tools such as rolling pins, Coke bottles and etc. It’s like steroids – one gets faster results but at the cost of one’s health. It’s your health, your life – don’t try to cheat yourself.
The only correct way of shin conditioning is through kicking Heavy bags and thai pads.
Authors: Yod Ruerngsa, Khun Kao Charuad and James Cartmell
