Strengthen Your Shins: Master the Tibialis Raise Today!

There are over 600 muscles in the human body. Still, most bodybuilders and exercisers tend to focus all their attention on about a dozen or so – usually those that are most prominent. This makes a lot of sense, given that things like the pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi, deltoids, quadriceps, and biceps contribute the most to your size and strength.

However, some smaller, less prominent muscles also deserve your attention. While training them might not add much to your physique, they may help improve your performance or reduce your risk of injury. Examples include your rhomboids, rotator cuff, and brachioradialis muscles.

In this article, we explain why and how to train another minor yet potentially crucial muscle – the tibialis anterior.

Tibialis Raises – Muscles Worked

It should be no surprise to learn that tibialis raises train your tibialis anterior muscle. Like many muscles, the tibialis anterior gets its name from the Greek words that describe its position and location.

The tibialis anterior is the narrow muscle on the front (anterior) of your shin bone (tibia). It has several functions, including:

• Dorsiflexion of the ankle – pulling your foot up toward your chin
• Inversion of the foot – turning the soles of your feet inward.
• Adduction of the foot – turning your ankle inward.
• Maintenance of the medial arch of the foot.

The tibialis anterior is the antagonist of the triceps surae, which is the collective name for the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles.

While the tibialis muscle isn’t as big as your calves, it can still affect the size and shape of your lower leg. Also, if weak, it can have a negative impact on your gait (how you walk and run) and could increase your risk of certain lower leg injuries, such as shin splints.

Tibialis raises are an isolation exercise, meaning they involve movement at just one joint. In this instance, that joint is your ankle.

How to Do Tibialis Raises

There are several ways to do tibialis raises, but using a single dumbbell is probably the most accessible and straightforward. Get more from tibialis raises while keeping your risk of injury to a minimum by following these guidelines:

1. Sit on an exercise bench with your legs straight and together. Shuffle back so only your feet and lower legs hang off the bench.
2. Clamp a dumbbell between your feet.
3. Keeping your knees straight and stationary, extend your ankles and then pull them up toward your shins.
4. Continue for the desired number of reps.

Pro Tips:

• Use as big a range of motion as possible to get a good stretch in your tibialis anterior muscle.
• Put a band around your ankles and feet to hold the dumbbell in place.
• You can also do this exercise with a tool called a tib bar.
• Drop the dumbbell and continue repping out for a tough-as-nails tibialis anterior drop set.

Tibialis Raise Benefits and Drawbacks

Not sure if tibialis raises deserve a place in your workouts? Consider these benefits and then decide!

Better stability and balance

Soccer and basketball players, gymnasts, and calisthenics athletes often train their tibialis anterior muscles to improve ankle stability and balance. Stand on one leg for a minute or two, and you’ll soon feel your tibialis anterior start to work as you shift your weight and work to avoid falling over.  

Whether you play sports or just want to do pistol or shrimp squats without losing your balance, stronger tibialis anterior muscles will help.

Reduced risk of lower limb injury

The tibialis anterior is a shock absorber and helps decelerate your foot after your heel hits the floor. This is an eccentric or braking action. Runners and participants in other high-impact sports can suffer from shin splints and even stress fractures of their shins. Doing tibialis raises may reduce the risk of lower limb injury.

Better lower leg development   

Training your calves and not your tibialis anterior is like training your triceps but not your biceps or your quadriceps and not your hamstrings. While the tibialis is a slender, thin muscle, it still contributes to the overall thickness of your lower leg. If you are interested in maximizing lower leg muscle size, you need to train your tibialis anterior as well as your calves.

While tibialis raises are a mostly beneficial exercise, there is also a couple of drawbacks to consider:

May be unnecessary for some people

Suppose you don’t care about having jacked shins and aren’t a runner or athlete at risk from shin splints. In that case, you may not benefit from adding tibialis raises to your workouts. There may be better ways to spend your training time, such as stretching or working on your posture.

So, while tibialis raises are an effective exercise, not everyone needs to do them.

Severe delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS)

If you have never trained your tibialis anterior before, you should prepare yourself for some intense post-workout muscle soreness following your first few workouts.

Thankfully, because of the repeated bout effect, this will soon become less of an issue. But, initially, the pain could be pretty gnarly. So, start light, only do a few sets, and stay away from muscular failure until you have developed a tolerance to this exercise.

7 Tibialis Raise Variations and Alternatives

Tibialis raises are a highly effective lower leg exercise, but that doesn’t mean you need to do them all the time. There are several variations and alternatives you can use to keep your workouts productive and interesting:

1. Kettlebell tibialis raise

Kettlebells are tailor-made for doing tibialis raises. Using a kettlebell instead of a dumbbell means you can train one leg at the same time and identify and correct any left-to-right strength imbalances. In the case of injury, you may only want to train one leg. On the downside, kettlebells come in fixed weights, so you may not always have access to the correct load for this exercise.

Steps:

1. Sit on an exercise bench with one leg straight and the other bent with your foot resting on the floor. Shuffle back so only your foot and lower leg are off the bench.
2. Hang a kettlebell over your foot so the weight is closest to the floor.
3. Keeping your knee straight, extend your ankle and then pull it up toward your shins.
4. Continue for the desired number of reps.
5. Switch legs and repeat.

Muscles Targeted:

• Primary: Tibialis anterior
• Secondary: N/A.

Benefits:

• You can train one leg at a time.
• A good way to identify and fix left-to-right strength imbalances.
• A different strength curve to dumbbell tibialis raises.

Tips:

• Wear shoes with a thick tongue/padded upper to protect your feet from the kettlebell handle.
• Start light – this exercise is harder than it looks.
• Keep your shin horizontal so the kettlebell doesn’t slip off your toes.
• You can also do this exercise with a bent knee – like this:

2. Weight plate tibialis raises

The great thing about most tibialis anterior exercises is that you don’t need any special equipment to do them. A dumbbell, kettlebell, or weight plate is all you really require. As such, they’re ideal for home exercisers or anyone who trains in a gym without a fancy tib raise machine.

Steps:

1. Sit on an exercise bench or sturdy chair with your shins vertical and knees bent to 90 degrees.
2. Gently rest a weight plate on your toes.
3. With the weight in place, lift your toes off the floor and dorsiflex your ankle.
4. Lower your feet back down and repeat.

Muscles Targeted:

• Primary: Tibialis anterior
• Secondary: N/A.

Benefits:

• A low-tech but high-effect exercise.
• The perfect tibialis anterior strengthener for home exercisers.
• Easy to scale by using more or less weight.

Tips:

• Train each side individually or together as preferred.
• Wear shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty or scuffed on top.
• Increase your range of motion by placing your heels on blocks.

3. Resistance band tibialis raises

The tibialis anterior is such a minor muscle that you may not want to dedicate extra gym time to training it. After all, more prominent muscles like your pecs, lats, and delts need your attention more. The good news is that you can work your shin muscles at home using nothing but a resistance band.

Steps:

1. Loop a wide resistance band around a low, immovable anchor. Sit with one leg outstretched and then loop the bend over your forefoot. Move forward or backward to adjust the tension on your band.
2. Point your ankle and then pull it up toward your shin.
3. Continue for the desired number of reps and then change legs.
4. Do the same number of reps on both legs.

Muscles Targeted:

• Primary: Tibialis anterior
• Secondary: N/A.

Benefits:

• A joint-friendly exercise.
• Ideal for home workouts.
• Easy to scale by using different thickness bands or moving nearer or closer to your anchor point.

Tips:

• Use a wide band, as the added friction will help keep it around your foot.
• Loop the band around the back of your ankle and then cross it over your foot if it keeps slipping off.
• You can also do this exercise sitting on a bench or chair or with your knee bent if preferred.

4. Standing tibialis raises

No weights or resistance bands? No problem! You can train your tibialis anterior using just the tension generated by your calves for resistance. This exercise is ideal for runners and anyone else who wants to improve tibialis muscle endurance for injury prevention. It’s simple, low-tech, but effective, and the perfect excuse-free tibialis raise alternative.

Steps:

1. Stand with your back to a flat, smooth wall. Lean against it, and then walk your feet forward and away from the wall. Keep your legs straight.
2. With your legs between 30-45 degrees, pull your toes up toward your shins and then lower them back to the floor.
3. Continue for the desired number of reps.

Muscles Targeted:

• Primary: Tibialis anterior
• Secondary: N/A.

Benefits:

• An excuse-free tibialis anterior exercise.
• An excellent exercise for athletes, especially runners.
• Improves active ankle mobility and calf flexibility as you strengthen your shin muscles.

Tips:

• Increase your range of motion by putting your heels on blocks.
• The further you slide down the wall, the more demanding this exercise becomes.
• You can also do this exercise using an alternating ankle action if preferred.

5. Heel walks

Heel walks teach you how to pull your toes up while engaging the rest of your lower body. Requiring no equipment, it’s an excellent exercise for doing between sets of calf raises. Calf raise/heel walk supersets are very time effective and a great way to develop your anterior and posterior lower leg muscles at the same time.

Steps:

1. Stand in good posture with your feet together, legs straight, and looking straight ahead.
2. Pull your toes up so your weight is balanced on your heels only.
3. Keeping your legs straight, go for a walk around your training area.
4. Continue until you are unable to keep your toes off the ground.

Muscles Targeted:

• Primary: Tibialis anterior
• Secondary: N/A.

Benefits:

• A very accessible exercise as no equipment is required.
• A very functional tibialis exercise.
• Good for developing better ankle mobility and stability.

Tips:

• This exercise is easier in minimalist shoes or barefoot.
• Do not push your butt back. Instead, pull your toes up.
• Superset with tiptoe walking to hit both sets of lower leg muscles equally and in a similar fashion. For example, walk across your gym on your toes, and then walk back on your heels.

6. Tibialis anterior machine raises

Some gyms have dedicated machines for training your tibialis anterior muscles. Such devices are safe and comfortable to use, and you can easily modify your workout by adding or subtracting weight. If your gym has one of these machines, you have everything you need to develop stronger, thicker tibialis anterior muscles, so use it, you lucky lifter!

Steps:

1. Sit on the machine and place the top of your foot or feet under the pad. Your heel(s) should rest on the footrest.
2. Pull your ankle(s) up against the resistance provided by the machine.
3. Lower your ankle(s) and repeat.

Muscles Targeted:

• Primary: Tibialis anterior
• Secondary: N/A.

Benefits:

• The most comfortable way to train your tibialis anterior muscles.
• Easy to scale up or down by adjusting the weights.
• Train both legs simultaneously or one at a time as preferred.

Tips:

• Adjust your range of motion to reflect your ankle mobility.
• Pause at the top of each rep to maximize muscle engagement.
• Tibialis machines come in a few different designs and may operate differently. Make sure you follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Failure to do so could result in injury.

FAQs

Do you have a question about tibialis raises or tibialis training in general? No worries because we’ve got the answers!

1. Will tibialis raises stop me from getting shin splints?

While there is no guarantee that tibialis raises will prevent shin splints completely, doing them should lower your risk. Shin splints are common in runners and athletes who do high-impact activities.

The tibialis anterior muscle plays a crucial role in decelerating your ankle and absorbing impact. If these muscles are weak, more force is directed into your shin, resulting in inflammation and pain.

Adding tibialis raises to your prehab workouts could mean shin splints never bother you. Given how long this condition can take to heal, all runners and athletes should consider adding tibialis raises to their workouts.

2. How often should I do tibialis raises?

The tibialis anterior is just another muscle and, as such, will respond best to 2-3 workouts per week. If you are new to tibialis anterior training, start with two workouts per week, e.g., Monday and Thursday. More experienced exercisers may benefit from three workouts a week, e.g., Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

More than three workouts won’t leave much time for rest and recovery, and more workouts will not necessarily produce better results.

3. How many reps and sets of tibialis raises should I do?

The tibialis anterior is pretty small and relatively weak. As such, this muscle is not really suited to low-rep, heavy-load training. Instead, it responds best to moderate to high reps with medium to light weights. In most cases, you’ll get the best results by doing 12-20 reps per set.

Take your sets to within a couple of reps of failure to ensure you stimulate the muscle enough to make it grow and get stronger.

In terms of sets, if you feel like you need to do more than 3-4, you probably aren’t training hard enough or are resting too long between sets. Work a little harder, and you should find that you don’t need to do as much volume.

4. Are tibialis raises a good exercise for bodybuilders?

It’s not just runners and athletes who’ll benefit from tibialis raises; they’re good for bodybuilders, too. While the tibialis muscle is relatively small, it will still stand out when you’re lean, and it’s well-developed.

Recreational lifters and gym bros probably don’t need to train this muscle. Still, if you are a competitive bodybuilder looking to eliminate every possible weakness from your physique, you should probably add tibialis raises to your calf workouts.

5. My shins and the front of my ankles hurt after doing tibialis raises. What gives?

The tibialis anterior muscles are often underused, under-trained, and ignored. As such, this could be the first time you’ve worked them. If this is the case, you can expect some severe delayed onset muscle soreness after your first few tibialis raise workouts. This is normal and to be expected.

Avoid this problem by starting light and only doing a couple of relatively easy sets. Increase training volume and intensity gradually as your muscles get stronger.

You can also limit and reduce soreness by stretching and icing the affected area between workouts.

Tibialis Raise Guide – Wrapping Up

The tibialis anterior is a small muscle, and not everyone needs to train it. Athletes may benefit from doing tibialis raises, and strengthening the tibialis anterior may help lower your risk of shin splints. Stronger tibialis anterior muscles can also improve ankle stability and athletic performance.

Developing this muscle may also enhance the shape of your lower legs, although this probably only matters to competitive bodybuilders.

However, for the rest of us, our training time is probably best spent on bigger muscles or working on other fitness components, such as mobility and flexibility.

So, don’t feel you HAVE to add tibialis raises to your lower leg workouts. However, if you think they’ll be helpful, use this guide to ensure you do them correctly.

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