Over the years, we’ve worked with a wide range of athletes, from world-touring performing artists to military special warfare officers. On the surface, these two groups couldn’t be more different. One commands a stage, the other a battlefield. Never would I have imagined that these two athletic populations would share a common injury, then shin splints entered the chat. In this article, you’ll learn what really causes shin splints in military athletes, how this connects to the performing arts world, and what it reveals about a hidden cause of this all-too-common injury.

The Well-Known (But Incomplete) Cause of Shin Splints

Shin splints in military athletes are often no surprise. Heavy rucks, long marches, and repetitive high-impact movements naturally stress the lower limbs. While outdated research will blame the cause on weak or overused muscles, such as the tibialis anterior, which contributes very low forces in rucking or running, modern research shows what is really happening. 

Shin splints are not a flexibility-based tissue dysfunction, tib anterior weakness or overuse, or foot posture issues. It is a load management bone stress-related injury caused by a combination of ground impact force during high-impact activities (jumping, running, etc) and the compression + shear force during the midstance portion of running. 

Here’s where it gets interesting: performing artists aren’t going on 12-mile rucks with 60 lb packs. Their strain looks different: repetitive rehearsals, explosive movements, dancing on hard surfaces, and long hours on their feet.

And yet, they end up in the same place: medial tibial stress syndrome (a.k.a. shin splints). Why?

Both groups are affected by the same hidden factor that often goes unaddressed in both prevention and recovery.

The Hidden Cause of Shin Splints

The hidden cause of shin splints in military athletes and performing artists is caloric deficits, the cause that links these populations together is caloric deficits. Having low energy availability due to a caloric deficit increases the risk of a bone stress injury, specifically shin splints (medial tibial stress syndrome) 2.5x. 

Why? Because bones, like muscles, require fuel to adapt and remodel in response to stress. When the body doesn’t have enough energy, it goes into conservation mode, diverting resources away from bone building and toward more “immediate” survival functions. Over time, this compromises bone density and the ability to withstand repetitive loading.

And it gets worse.

• Calcium intake below 800 mg/day is associated with a 6x increase in bone stress injury risk.
  
• Conversely, individuals who consumed at least 1500 mg/day had significantly lower injury rates.
  

So while we often focus on training loads, surfaces, and footwear, we’re missing a massive part of the equation: the internal environment that determines whether a bone breaks down or builds up.

Why Are These Groups in Deficit?

The reasons for caloric deficits are different but the consequences are the same.

• Performing artists often restrict intake for aesthetic reasons or due to cultural pressures around body image. Combine that with hours of rehearsals, performances, and travel, and you have a recipe for under-fueling.
  
• Military athletes, on the other hand, are rarely trying to under-eat. But in extreme environments—deserts, mountains, tundras—access to quality food is limited. Yes, MREs are available, but they’re often unappetizing, and many service members admit they’d rather go hungry than eat them consistently.
  

In both cases, the result is a state of chronic energy deficiency during periods of high physical demand, exactly when the body needs fuel the most.

Caloric Deficits and Shin Splints in Military Athletes

Performing artists are typically in a chronic caloric deficit of 300–600 calories per day. In contrast, military personnel often experience larger deficits over shorter periods, usually during specialized training or deployment, rather than continuous underfeeding.

Summary Table of Caloric Deficits in The Military Based On Training 

Training Type	Energy Expended	Calories Consumed	Estimated Deficit	Energy Availability (EA)	EA Deficit %
Standard Boot Camp	3,500–4,500 kcal/day	~2,500–3,500 kcal/day	~500–1,500 kcal/day	~30–45 kcal/kg FFM/day	~10–30%
Ranger School	4,000–7,500 kcal/day	~2,200–2,800 kcal/day	~2,000–5,000 kcal/day	~10–25 kcal/kg FFM/day	~40–70%
Special Forces Selection (e.g. BUD/S, SFAS)	5,000–7,000+ kcal/day	~2,500–3,500 kcal/day	~2,000–4,500 kcal/day	~15–30 kcal/kg FFM/day	~30–60%
Arctic Warfare / Cold Weather Training	6,000–7,500+ kcal/day	~3,000–4,000 kcal/day	~2,500–4,500 kcal/day	~15–25 kcal/kg FFM/day	~40–65%
TACP Pipeline (Schoolhouse)	4,000–6,000 kcal/day	~2,500–3,500 kcal/day	~1,500–2,500 kcal/day	~15–25 kcal/kg FFM/day	~40–65%
Special Warfare Officer Pipeline	4,500–6,500 kcal/day	~3,000–4,000 kcal/day	~1,500–2,500 kcal/day	~20–30 kcal/kg FFM/day	~35–60%

How Much Of A Deficit Is Too Much?

A caloric deficit of less than 10-15% is borderline safe, but anything above these numbers increases injury risk significantly. Read this blog post [Click Here] for more.

Final Thoughts 

Shin splints aren’t just about mileage, marching, or movement patterns; they’re a warning sign that the body’s internal resources don’t match its external demands.

The hidden cause of shin splints in both military athletes and performing artists isn’t just repetitive load; it’s the chronic or acute energy deficits that silently erode the body’s capacity to adapt.

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Author: 

Dr. Dillon Caswell, PT, DPT, SCS

Doctor of Physical Therapy | Board Certified Sports Specialist

Hope Evangelist | Top-Selling Author & Speaker | Human Performance Expert