I've been trying to embrace barefooting so much this summer that I've even been doing auto mechanic work on our cars while barefoot in my garage. Well the other night I did some extensive work on my wife's car - complete A/C system overhaul after it went out suddenly. I worked for several hours, on my feet most of the time on the concrete floor. After I came in and went to bed I was WORN THE HELL OUT!!! My feet felt quite sore from standing on the hard surfaces for so long. Anyone have any tips for this sort of thing? Even cooking in the kitchen for an hour on the hard tile floor makes my feet and ankles sore. I know for a fact that I can stand longer without soreness on hard surfaces if I have shoes on. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I could say that you're still getting accustomed to being barefoot, since you said you even wore shoes in your house in the past. But what do I know? I'm not taking Anatomy and Human Physiology til my Senior Year in high school two years from now. probably something to do with your foot muscles or tendons being underworked. Just like that initial soreness on the back of your lower leg when you first start running barefoot. Or any soreness when you're working out a group of muscles for the first time, I guess.
hmmm... doober must be right, in addition i'd suggest that maybe foot soreness can also be induced by too much pressure over your way-too-thin sole that eventually causes too hard a contact between foot bones and tendons and the hard floor. this condition can be worse if one is really huge and heavy in size , or overweight , or both. with time your own cushion of thicker skin, strenghtened muscles and conective tissues builds up in the sole, effectively gifting you with your natural shoes. then gait is crucial: stomping heels over hard surfaces is not good for your backbone, hips, knees and ankles. but since you haven't been marching for miles, this is the least likely explanation of them all. it is all a temporary condition , I bet. Now, since i was born pretty fucked up in feet and ankles and got surgical fix when 1 (_almost_ perfectly) and still can go barefoot without troubles, i assume it is safe. from my side, my legs and feet got a lot of clear health benefits from barefooting, at the price of some initial discomfort.
That concrete will getcha, man. Natural soil, grass, etc have some cushioning and stuff but walking/standing for a long time on that hard concrete always seems to wear me out faster. Even if I'm wearing shoes its like that (I'm not a dedicated barefooter, though I'm trying to do it more often when the situation allows). Plus your feet and leg muscles work more to hold your feet in position.
I would (need to get a couple for the kitchen) but when I was in the garage for hours the other night, I was all over the place doing different things, never in one place for long.
I get the same when i'm on concrete for a few hours. It's just totally flat and totally hard and your feet aren't having to flex and adjust like natural surfaces. As much as we didn't evolve to wear shoes that give the same bed every step, they didn't evolve to walk on concrete either. It's just bloody tiring stuff. Bring on the grass!
This happened to me at first also, and pretty much under the exact same circumstances. I just got used to flexing my leg/foot muscles as I stand there and that helped a lot.
You can get a pack of them for the garage. You get about 6 squares that can interlok into a larger set or just use them individually.