Since many of you have moved your walks and runs from sidewalks and trails to the treadmill [1], you have ended up with a case of shin splints [2]. These occur when you overstress the muscles in your lower legs, causing small tears in the tissue. If you start to experience this pain, it's not a serious injury, but it is also nothing to be ignored. To heal the tears, it's best to lower the intensity of your run by walking instead, or add incline [3] to the treadmill. If the pain is really bad, take a break from running and do some lower leg stretches and ice [4] the area.

Since shin splints can happen when your calf muscles become stronger than the shin muscles, and a way to promote healing in the area, and to prevent shin splints in the first place, is to do some strengthening exercises. Heel walks [5] are great, but to see one of my favorite exercises you can do while sitting .

• Sit on a high bench or chair. It should be tall enough so your toes can point without touching the floor.
• Place a two- to six-pound dumbbell vertically in between your feet, squeezing the weight gently to keep it in place.
• Begin by pointing your toes toward the floor. Then flex your feet and lift your toes as high as you can. This is one repetition.
• Complete three sets of 12 reps, stretching your shins with the Kneeling Shin Stretch [6] in between each set.

  Source [7]