Questions About Toughening My Feet

As I work on foot toughness, I begin to wonder if I'm doing it wrong. I've noticed that I've been losing skin on my heel and ball of both feet. That is, just the outermost layer is, well, gone, as if I kind of scraped it, you know? Anyway, I also notice it still hurts a good deal when I walk on sharp gravel, which I do every day for about two minutes in the parking lot at work. It still hurts some. However, hot pavement doesn't bother me too much. Then the spots that contact the ground feel kind of raw. Am I doing something wrong, or is this a normal part of the process?

 

Take it easy, and let that shit regenerate for a while, allright? You're pushing your virgin feet too hard.

 

Good to know. I will let them heal before I ditch shoes completely for four days when we go to the lake place.

 

You're doing it all wrong. You need to practice walking on rusty nails, glass, dog shit and thumbtacks.

 

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Cheers Glen.

 

I beg your pardon? I barefoot 90% of the time. Even if it's 105 degrees out.

 

Calm Down.......I Was Only Rattling Your Cage......



Cheers Glen.

 

Stepping in dog shit only helps when it's fresh and hot.

Especially if you're not expecting it.

 

The best!!!

 

Although unintentional, it's possible that you're scraping the foot backwards with each foot step, rather than slightly lifting the knee to create clearance from the ground. Equally, if you land heel first and then roll through the foot (as opposed to landing mid-foot), you could be causing greater abrasion of the skin when travelling over harsher surfaces.

Having turned to barefoot running during summer months some years ago, I learned very quickly how important the adoption of a mid-foot landing is, both in terms of running efficiency (allowing them to performed pain free) and for reducing blistering and damaging the surface of the skin. Consequently, upon educating myself to adopt a shorter stride, I now land mid-foot regardless of whether I walk or run barefoot, rarely encountering damage to the skin upon my soles, with any roughness lightly smoothed with a pumice sponge (not a stone) when showering.

As you've mentioned that the skin feels raw when exposed to surfaces beneath them, invest in a pair of minimalist sandals, so that you can still enjoy the benefits of barefooting, until it's sufficiently recovered.

 

Thanks. I assume midfoot means both heel and ball land at the same time?

 

Essentially. However, when landing mid-foot, the feet should land directly in line with the body (a shorter gait will encourage such), with the heel simply kissing the ground. To effectively develop a mid-foot landing, there needs to be a slightly exaggerated bending of the knee, so that force is distributed more evenly through the muscles with each step.

Additionally, if you don't currently adopt a mid-foot landing, upon moving towards one, you'll no doubt find the calves (particularly the soleus heads) may feel fatigued due to greater intrinsic movement. However, by performing exercises that help to strengthen both the calves and the feet, the fatigue should be short-lived, as your foot fall becomes lighter and faster.

 

Great to know. I tried it a bit today, and it helped reduce pain.

 

I'm glad to hear that your transition towards a mid-foot landing has helped to reduce some of the discomfort previously experienced. Try not to think about it too much, but at the same time try to be conscious of those occasions when you revert to landing heel first. It will take a little time to become second nature, but you should eventually get there.

As I've said, don't neglect calf and foot strengthening exercises to aid your transition, since a stronger arch will be more resistant to fatigue and better placed to handle the load placed through it, even though footfall will eventually become quicker and lighter.

 

The more you walk bare foot over over hot and or uncomfortable stuff the more your feet will become desensitized to pain and heavily calloused...it's like anything really, first you experience pain, then discomfort, then tolerance, then it's no big deal.