Tibialis Raises: The Shin Exercise Worth Adding to Leg Day
A tibialis raise trains the muscle down the front of your shin, the tibialis anterior, by lifting your toes towards you against resistance. The simplest version is done standing with your back against a wall and your heels about a foot in front of you: lift the toes and the balls of your feet as high as you can, pause, and lower slowly. Two or three sets of 15 to 25 reps, two or three times a week, at the end of a leg session, is a sensible dose. It takes five minutes, needs no special equipment and balances out the calf work most programmes already include. It is not a miracle fix for shin pain, but it is a cheap, low-risk addition for walkers, runners and anyone who wants steadier ankles.
What the tibialis anterior does
The tibialis anterior runs from just below the outside of the knee down to the inside of the foot. Its main job is to lift the front of the foot, which anatomists call dorsiflexion. You use it every time you walk: it lifts the toes to clear the ground as the leg swings through, then controls the foot as it lowers after the heel strikes. Without it, the foot would slap down on every step.
It also works hard going downhill, on stairs and when you squat with your knees travelling forward over your toes. Most leg programmes train the calves, the muscles on the other side of the lower leg, but rarely give the front of the shin any direct work. A tibialis raise fills that gap.
Who benefits most
- Runners and regular walkers, especially people adding distance or hills. The front of the shin does a lot of braking work.
- Anyone returning to running after a break, where the lower legs often lag behind the heart and lungs. The guide to getting back into running after 40 covers the bigger picture.
- Skiers, who spend long days pressing forward into ski boots.
- People who squat, because the shin muscles help control the ankle as the knees move forward.
- Older adults, as part of general lower-leg strength and balance work.
How to do a wall tibialis raise
- Stand with your back and bottom against a wall.
- Walk your feet forward so your heels are about 30 centimetres from the wall. The further away, the harder it gets.
- Keep your legs straight and your weight in your heels.
- Lift your toes and the balls of your feet as high as they will go. You should feel the front of the shin working hard.
- Pause for a second at the top.
- Lower slowly, but do not let the toes rest on the floor between reps.
- Continue until you feel a strong burn, usually around 15 to 25 reps.
If you get a cramp in the shin, stop, walk around for a minute and come back to it with your feet a little closer to the wall.
Making it harder
Once 25 controlled reps at the wall feel easy, you need more resistance. Here are the common options, in rough order of difficulty.
| Variation | How | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wall, feet further out | Move the heels a little further from the wall each week | Simplest progression |
| Single-leg wall raise | One foot at a time, the other lifted | Doubles the load and shows any difference between sides |
| Seated dumbbell raise | Sit on a bench with a light dumbbell held upright between the feet, toes off the edge, and lift the toes | Start light; the dumbbell can slip |
| Banded raise | Seated with legs straight, a band looped over the top of the foot and anchored in front | Good at home, hard to measure progress |
| Cable raise | Seated facing a low cable, with a strap around the top of the foot | Lets you add weight in small steps |
| Tib bar | A dedicated bar that hooks over the feet, loaded with plates | Specialist kit; useful but not necessary |
Where it fits in your week
Put tibialis raises at the end of a lower body session, alongside or just after calf raises. A simple pairing is calf raises for 3 sets, then tibialis raises for 2 to 3 sets, alternating with a short rest. If you are new to calf work too, the guide to calf raises that work covers range and knee angle.
Two or three times a week is plenty. The muscle recovers quickly, but there is no need to train it daily. Expect a burning feeling during the set and a little soreness the first time. Progress when you can complete all sets at the top of the rep range with full, controlled movement.
What it will and will not do for shin pain
Shin pain during running is common, and strengthening the muscles of the lower leg is usually part of a sensible plan. But pain along the shin has several possible causes, and the NHS guidance on shin splints notes that rest, ice and gradual return are the first steps, and that pain which does not improve needs checking. A stress fracture, for example, needs a very different approach from muscle overload.
Check with your GP or a physiotherapist before training through shin pain if it is sharp, localised to one spot on the bone, present at rest or at night, or getting worse. The same applies if you have had recent lower leg or ankle surgery, or you have a heart condition and are returning to exercise after a long break.
Common mistakes
- Bouncing. Short, fast reps use momentum. Pause at the top and lower under control.
- Partial range. Lift the toes as high as you can every rep.
- Bending the knees at the wall. It shortens the lever. Keep the legs straight.
- Resting the toes between reps. Tapping the floor gives the muscle a break each rep. Keep tension on.
- Doing hundreds. Once 25 is easy, add resistance rather than reps.
In the studio
In 1-1 personal training in Highgate, tibialis raises are a five-minute finisher on lower body days, usually at the wall first and then on the cable once the wall is easy. If you are training for a ski trip, a 10k or long walking holidays, Artem builds lower-leg work into the plan from the start rather than waiting for something to ache.
Questions we get asked
Do I need a tib bar?
No. A wall, a dumbbell, a band or a cable will take most people a long way.
How quickly will I notice a difference?
Endurance in the muscle often improves within a few weeks. Strength builds more gradually over a couple of months of regular work.
Can I do them every day?
Light wall raises daily are unlikely to cause harm, but two or three proper sessions a week is enough to progress.
Will they make my calves look bigger?
They train the front of the shin, not the calf. The visible change is usually small, but the shin can look a little more defined.
To have lower-leg work built into a complete programme, see personal training with Artem and prices, or start at the homepage.
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