ideas for reducing tension/muscle tonus?

[Bob]

Tonus being the tension trapped in a muscle.

I keep getting shin splints.  I want to up the relaxation and lower the tension on my lower legs a bit.

Any ideas?

Stretching
Breathing
Massaging, deep tissues, active release movements
Hydration
More sessions per day


I'm looking for anything.

Cause?  I gained weight.  I was losing weight, but with the fat loss it was also muscle loss.  Looking like a skeleton wasn't the goal.  So I focused on gaining muscle.  I think I did that, but I also gained weight.  So now I'm running with 20 pounds of extra weight.  No surprise the leg muscles get strained faster.  Besides reducing fat with as little muscle loss as possible I'm focusing on getting my legs less tense again.  Or maybe that's just part of the process.  They adjust/get tense and eventually loosen up and it balances out. 

I just want to bump up the tension-release process.