It’s a great way to exercise the whole body without running through busy city streets or spending hours plodding on the treadmill.

Unfortunately, jumping rope can lead to shin splints and other injuries, disrupting your workout schedule. Pain in the front lower legs caused by heavy physical activity can lead to inflammation and weakness.

For some, shin splints – also called medial tibial stress syndrome – can cause significant discomfort and prevent any form of exercise. Evidence shows that they account for a high number of running injuries but can affect people who love jumping rope too.

Fortunately, this article is here to help. We discuss some of the best strategies to prevent shin splints and injuries while jumping rope. With these, you can go into rope-jumping sessions with more confidence. We then discuss treatment and recovery if you already have shin splints, helping you return to training faster.

As a beginner, it’s easy to make mistakes when jumping rope. However, this guide should enable you to avoid the most common problems and jump rope safely.

Choose The Right Shoes And Socks

First, choose the right shoes and socks. Some evidence suggests that people with rigid plantar arches are at a higher risk of developing shin splints. However, you can significantly reduce your risk by wearing shoes with the proper arch support that can absorb shock.

At the same time, socks should be breathable, moisture-wicking, and comfortable. Loose or worn-out socks may increase your risk of injury.

Warm Up Properly First

Another strategy to reduce your risk of shin splints while jumping rope is to warm up your muscles, joints, and cardiovascular system before starting the exercise. Increasing blood flow and oxygen to the tissues makes them more robust against impact and may delay or eliminate the development of injury and inflammation.

Switch Up The Intensity

Another strategy is to adjust the intensity of your rope-jumping sessions. Hitting the body differently and keeping it guessing can help you avoid injury.

You can vary the intensity of rope jumping along several dimensions. Changing jumping sessions’ duration, speed, and frequency may be beneficial.

For instance, you might perform an intense workout on Tuesday and follow it up with a lighter one on Friday. Cycling at a high intensity level may reduce the risk of injury and give your body time to rest and repair between sessions.

You can also try varying your jumping style. For instance, alternating between fast and slow or high and low jumps can help some people. You can also experiment with shortening or lengthening your jumping exercises based on feedback from your body.

Taking rest days between sessions improves recovery. Beginners need to give their shins time to heal before the next session.

Use a Soft, Even Surface

Another pro tip for avoiding shin splints while jumping rope is to jump on a soft surface. Mats can reduce the impact on the lower legs, while hard surfaces increase the energy the shins need to absorb.

If you are prone to shin splints, don’t jump rope on gravel, asphalt, concrete, or hard dirt. Instead, choose something softer, like a wooden floor, a rubber mat, or grass. These surfaces absorb more of the impact, leaving you feeling significantly more comfortable.

Maintain Good Form

Believe it or not, maintaining proper form is another excellent way to reduce the risk of shin splints while jumping rope. Posture can affect the stress and strain you place on the lower legs while jumping.

For instance, bad form can cause you to land harder and flat-footed, which increases impact energy traveling through the shins. It can also lead to repetitive strain injuries of the muscles, ligaments, and tendons in the lower leg.

Good form when jumping rope requires you to:

• Keep your head and shoulders up

• Keep your chest out

• Engage your core

• Keep your elbows close to your sides

• Relax your wrists

• Keep your hands at waist level

• Landing softly on the balls of your feet

• Keeping your knees slightly bent to reduce the impact

Stretch and Cool Down

Lastly, post-workout stretching can reduce your risk of developing shin splints after jumping rope. Cooldowns help by slowly returning the body to its default state after a long workout while improving flexibility and fighting inflammation.

How you cool down is a personal choice. Options include static stretching of the calves, shins, ankles, and feet. You can also use some of the methods you used when warming up, such as cycling or elliptical training. Some regular rope jumpers use foam rollers on their lower legs to reduce soreness.

Treatment: What To Do If You Get Shin Splints While Jumping Rope

Even with the best preparation, some people will still develop shin splints and other injuries while jumping rope. Fortunately, there are several things you can do to treat them and hasten your recovery.

Shin splints will usually go away by themselves once you give your body a chance to recover. However, it can take a while, and during that time, you may experience significant discomfort, even walking around the house.

Massage The Lower Leg And Tendons

Massaging the lower legs and tendons is a great way to treat any shin splints you get after jumping rope. Using your fingers or a foam roller helps the blood vessels and surrounding tissues relax, relieving tension and stiffness considerably. Extra blood can flow to the affected areas, improving the body’s recovery capacity.

Use A Compression Sleeve Or Bandage

You can also treat post-rope-jumping shin splints with a compression sleeve or bandage. Wrapping the muscle snugly, but not too tightly, helps to support the muscles and tendons and reduce swelling and inflammation. In some cases, it may help the splints repair quicker, helping you get back in action faster.

Consult With A Doctor

Following rest, most shin splints should resolve by themselves. However, you should see a doctor if the pain persists for more than a few days. Physicians can prescribe painkillers and physiotherapy, depending on the severity of the injury.

If the pain is long-term and you’ve been resting, shin splints are an unlikely culprit, and you may have a different injury. Conditions such as tendonitis and Achilles heel issues from jumping rope take significantly longer to resolve.

Take Anti-Inflammatory Medications

Another approach to treating shin splints is to take anti-inflammatory, over-the-counter medications, such as naproxen and ibuprofen. These temporarily reduce inflammatory blood markers in the shin, improving discomfort. 

However, you shouldn’t take these drugs long-term unless instructed by your doctor. That’s because they can have nasty side effects, such as stomach bleeding.

Keep The Leg Elevated Above The Heart

Keeping the affected legs elevated above the heart can also help treat shin splints. As with painkillers, it works by reducing the inflammation in the affected tissue.

Resting And Applying Ice Packs

Lastly, resting your shins and applying ice packs is the best recovery strategy. Most rope jumpers will recover in a few weeks without strenuous, high-impact exercise. Ice packs reduce inflammation in the tissue, which can speed recovery in some people.

You can apply ice packs for up to 20 minutes several times daily. You can also place a hot compress on the affected area as another inflammation-reducing strategy.

As a general rule, discontinue exercise if you believe you have shin splints. Avoid returning to the activity that caused them too soon, as it may lead to a recurrence or complications.

When you are ready to return to rope jumping, gradually increase the intensity and duration. Eventually, the tissue in the shins will become acclimated to exercise, helping to prevent the condition from recurring in the future, but it takes time.

If you have ankle pain after rope jumping, you may need a longer rest period. Sprains typically require six to eight weeks to fully recover. During this time, you should not walk on the affected foot.