Are you preparing to embark for basic training? Perhaps you are simply considering a career in the United States Armed Forces and have heard that many recruits get painful shin cramps in boot camp. In this article, I’ll explain the phenomenon and give you some tips to avoid it for a more positive bootcamp experience.
Basic training, often referred to as military bootcamp, involves a great deal of physical activity. In addition to exercising regularly, being forced to do push-ups and the like as a form of physical “punishment”, there is also the constant pacing back and forth.
Depending on where you go for basic training will determine the amount and style of walking. When I passed through the RTC Great Lakes, we hiked for hours every day, wearing steel-toed boots. The constant march caused many recruits to develop painful shin cramps along with shooting pains on the front of their shins.
This happens when you are constantly hitting the ground, absorbing the impact with your heels and sending the shock wave towards your shins. While the repercussions aren’t too severe for most recruits, they can be painful enough to put a damper on your boot camp experience.
The worst part about leg cramps is knowing that it can be prevented. If your ankles are comfortable and stretched regularly, then they will not only be able to take the impact of blows, but will comfortably absorb it to the point where the pain is not transmitted to your shins.
Now you may think that you won’t have time for personal stretching exercises during basic training. While that is correct, I am simply recommending a regimen of 2-3 minutes each morning and night for most mornings and nights.
And you can even start this before shipping to prepare your ankles ahead of time. As you prepare to go to sleep, lift one leg slightly. You may be sitting or lying down at this point. With his big toe he pretends to draw the alphabets in the air. You can choose alphabets, numbers, and even spell your own name. The goal is to make the big toe pull the entire foot in many different directions.
This will take the entire ankle through a series of random stretching and range of motion exercises. This routine, in turn, increases your ankle strength and its ability to absorb the shock of walking in boots every day.