How to Prepare for Barefooting
“Just go barefoot.”
How many times have you heard that from the dude with big calves, wide feet, and soles like supple calf skin? (Hmm, that came out weirder than I imagined.) Or maybe you’re that guy, and you’ve said it. Heck, I’ve probably said something to that effect before. It’s a casual recommendation that we long-term barefooters toss around… but maybe we shouldn’t. (Heresy!) Okay – bear with me, here. Everyone agrees that shoelessness is the foot’s natural state, and that getting to a place where you can enjoy that natural state is ideal. Natural isn’t always synonymous with good, but in the case of the human foot – a sensitive, capable, highly mobile appendage packed with innumerable nerve endings, muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, and fascia that responds and reacts to the environment as you walk and/or run – natural is almost certainly desirable. The human foot is pretty amazing, and sticking it inside a restrictive shoe obscures that fact. I think we can agree on that.
But before you tell your friends to burn their shoes, consider something: the shod foot has been living in a cast most of its life. It occasionally enjoys a bit of freedom, but it’s a fleeting, temporary freedom that’s usually only granted when there’s nothing to do but lounge and sleep. When the modern foot is called into action, like at the gym, on a walk, or when going about daily business, they are usually wearing shoes that restrict muscle engagement and turn the feet into passive pieces of leather and rubber that slap along the ground. The feet are merely along for the ride; they do nothing, while the hips and ankles must shoulder the load. Ever seen an arm that’s just had a cast removed? It’s a skinny, withered shell of its former self. The muscles have atrophied, so it’s weaker. The connective tissue can’t quite handle the demands of regular use, so strains are a real possibility. It’ll even smell bad until you wash it (just like some feet), because it’s been cramped up for so long.
The perpetually shod foot is in a very similar state. All that reactive organic material (the bones, tendons, muscles, fascia) has either atrophied, tightened up, or weakened from disuse, so you need to ease into it. Eh, “ease into it” is another phrase that gets thrown around with very little substantiation or elaboration. How, exactly, does one ease into barefooting?
Let’s explore some concrete strategies.
Buy a Lacrosse Ball
I’d like you to purchase a lacrosse ball and use it on your plantar fascia and your calves. Huh? Allow me to explain. The fascia, that interconnected sheath of connective tissue that surrounds our muscles, gets extremely tight and ornery when the muscles aren’t used, or when they’re used incorrectly. The plantar fascia, located on our feet, supports the arch and can get notoriously tight and unresponsive after a lifetime of shoe wearing. You’ve been wearing shoes for most of your life, and your plantar fascia is likely tight. This will impede your abilities to use your feet and develop natural arch support. Walking and running barefoot loads the calf muscle far more than walking and running in shoes. In fact, one of the most common complaints I hear from new barefooters is the calf pain. They go from rarely using their calves to absorbing the impact of a footfall with them – and the soreness can be excruciating. Reducing that tightness before it gets worse can go a long way toward making the barefoot transition a smooth one.
So, how does one roll one’s plantar fascia? Extremely intuitively. Place a lacrosse ball on the floor, stand on it, and roll around. Just explore your foot with the ball. It’ll be really painful at first, but that’s how you know it’s working. Roll each foot twice a day for about five minutes. Be sure to flex your foot and move your toes around as you roll over tight spots – try to put your foot through every possible range of motion it might see in the real world. You can do it while sitting, too, while watching TV or messing around the computer (at your standing workstation). It’s simple and can be done almost anywhere. There’s no excuse not to.
Rolling the calf takes more dedication. You have to be on the floor for it to work, and you have to focus. It’s still really, really simple, though: sit on the ground with your leg outstretched and the lacrosse ball underneath your calf. Place as much weight on the ball as you can handle, and roll up and down your calf. When you hit a tight spot, flex and extend your ankle until it starts to feel less tight. Be sure to hit every aspect of your calf. Roll each calf once a day for about five minutes.
All said, this won’t take more than thirty minutes out of your day. Furthermore, you don’t have to keep this up forever. Just do it for the week leading up to your barefoot transition, and thereafter on an as-needed basis.
Strengthen Your Feet
If you had spent your entire life barefoot, you wouldn’t need any specific foot-strengthening exercises – foot strength would have developed naturally – but you haven’t, so now you need them. I discussed similar exercises before in an old post on strengthening flat feet.
Toe spreads: Loop a rubber band around your toes, tight enough so that it pushes your toes together if you let it. Now, spread your toes out and hold that position for a few seconds. Do two sets of ten reps with each foot.
Toe squeezes: Stick pencils, fingers, or anything that can fit in between each toe and squeeze them together. Hold the squeeze for a few seconds before releasing. Do two sets of ten squeezes with each foot.
Toe points: Pick something in the room and point at it with your toe. Hold the position for five seconds, then try to point at your own face. Hold that position for five seconds. Repeat the process ten times with each foot.
Side roll: Stand up and slightly bend your knees. Roll onto the outer edges of your feet, take a few steps forward, then a few steps back to your starting spot. Roll back. Repeat for fifteen reps.
Sand walk: This obviously isn’t available to everyone, but if you have access to sand, go walk in it. As you walk (barefoot, of course), squeeze the sand with your feet. Sand grabbing is an old trick for grip building, and the same concept applies to your feet (which used to be grabby ape feet, if you go back far enough). I suppose you could also fill a bucket with sand and use that instead, if you can’t find enough sand to walk on.
As you move into frequent barefooting, your feet will naturally get stronger, but these overt exercises will help speed up the process.
Think About Your Walking Form
It’s important to have a few ideas about barefoot walking before actually kicking off the shoes and heading out. My basic foundation for barefoot walking? Take shorter strides, land softly; avoid over striding and harsh, jarring footfalls.
If you haven’t already, read the Definitive Guide to Walking and try out the various walking styles.
Use Linear Progression
While I’m a big fan of feeling things out and going with the flow, there’s something to be said for linear progression. That goes for strength training, endurance training, sprint training, and yes, barefooting. You don’t go from squatting the bar to squatting two plates, do you? Sure, you might get the weight up once or twice, and you might even finish the workout, but what about next time? Where do you go from there after the initial big jump? How do you think your connective tissue is going to feel without adequate adaptation?
When you start walking barefoot, keep it short. Don’t go to failure. Do a ten minute walk on flat ground (sidewalk, track), max, and head home. You’re sending some very strong, extremely new messages to your nervous system, feet, and legs, and you don’t want to overwhelm the physical structures before they’re ready.
The next time you walk, add ten more minutes. Maintain this progression until you’re up to an hour and it’s easy and effortless. Once adding more time doesn’t result in sore feet, calves, or legs, you’re ready for new terrain.
Sample New Ground Cautiously
The beauty of walking, hiking, and running barefoot is that you get to experience the ground in an entirely new way. When you’re wearing shoes, everything feels the same. You might notice big topographical changes, but you miss the little things. You miss the blades of grass between your toes, the way gravel sort of massages your soles, the way scalding sand gives way to cool, damp sand at the beach. Going barefoot, then, can shock your system. You will be awash in sensation that cannot be ignored. You can’t just clomp around in rubber soles. You’ve now got a new sensory front to consider. Eventually, this will give you greater mobility, stability, and control over your body, but it can also throw you off and lead to missteps, or even injuries, when you’re just starting.
Be ever aware of the ground on which you walk. Look for rocks, sticks, and other sharp things. In time, you will glide across the ground effortlessly, subconsciously integrating the sensory input from your feet, but not yet. No – for now, you have to focus on focusing on your surroundings. It’s a subtle distinction; you’ll never not focus on your surroundings. It’s just that the focusing will become second nature.
Swallow Your Pride
You’re effectively a beginner now, so act like it. Don’t try to be a hero and tackle a three hour hike right off the bat. And when you do head out for an extended walk, take a pair of trusty shoes along with you… just in case. Whenever I hit a decently-sized hike in bare feet, I bring a pair of Vibrams along, too. You never know what’s gonna happen and it pays to be prepared.
Especially for your first few real walks, runs, or hikes in bare feet, cut it short if anything goes awry. I mean anything. Weird foot pain, stubbed toe, tight calves, bee sting – just call it a day and stop where you are. You’re still getting acclimated to barefooting, you’re excited about it, and the last thing you want is to be sidelined for weeks because you went too hard too quickly.
Swallow your pride. It might not taste so great, but it’s a valuable nutritional supplement when transitioning to barefooting.
I don’t want to scare you away from barefooting. It’s really quite wonderful, safe, and rewarding (it’s certainly safer than regularly wearing shoes, in my opinion), but only if you do it right and acknowledge that the habitually shod foot is a pampered, emaciated thing ill-prepared for real work. Besides, the strategies I’ve outlined take maybe a week to implement and integrate. If you can’t spare a measly little week for the health and strength of your feet (you know, those miraculous pieces of evolutionary artistry that have been serving hominids well for millions of years?), you probably shouldn’t be barefooting in the first place.
Grab The Primal Blueprint Cookbook Today and Receive Free S&H and a Free Primal Blueprint Poster
Posted By: Mark Sisson
I’ve been 100% barefoot (or as near as possible) for a couple of months now and loving it. Thanks to a pair of Vibrams and a pair of Vivos (my boss forbade me to wear the former, so I also invested the latter as a compromise). I used to have so many problems with my feet, legs, hips and back, and they’ve all but vanished – the only aches I get now are in my back and Achilles tendons after work, cos frankly I’m on my feet doing a physical job for ridiculously long hours. The initial transition was fairly straightforward too, although I think I’ll be waiting a while before trying one of my walks sans Vibrams
Anyone ever watched “Dual Survival” on Discovery? Cody Lundin never wears shoes and only wears shorts, no matter the terrain or weather. He barefoot in the desert, in swamps, and in the snow. Once he put on a pair of wool socks to get some traction on the ice. Of course, he’s been developing this over years and years. Pretty cool, though.
I go barefoot around the house and garden in the warmer months and my feet really do get stronger and cease aching. The soles also toughen up and you don’t notice the slightly sharper ground objects after a while.
What do people think about working out barefoot? I lift weights now and then in Vibrams so going the full monty wouldn’t be a worry.
Wow! This post was extremely timely for me, as I have been feeling frustrated after kind of rushing into barefoot walking a couple of weeks ago. I felt inspired, kicked off those shoes, and went for it. It felt great at the time and I just wanted to keep going! Last week the soreness caught up to me, and I’ve been avoiding walks altogether this week due to some nasty pain on the tops of my feet. It sounds like I may need to go out and get that lacrosse ball right away. . .
This is great! EVERYONE! check out TPtherapy.com… They have amazing products for working with fascia and soft tissue… Check them out, they are a great company!
Born to Run is a great book!
Thanks Mark, I really enjoyed this post. As a physical therapist, I have treated many victims who have taken the accelerated path when indulging in barefoot training. As with anything, it’s all about moderation. For rehab, once I have a person relatively pain-free, I get them on the treadmill with a pretty decent incline (barefoot or in their barefoot shoes, of course). I then have them walk for 2-3 min once per day, increasing a minute or two a week. Being on an incline forces your weight to be centered more on your forefoot and toes, which is more biomechanically sound while moving barefoot. This prepares the foot for walking on flatter ground, when your weight should be distributed through forefoot and mid-foot…..less stomping through the heels (which supportive, cushiony shoes allow us to do, ugh). Anyway, great post and happy barefooting everyone!!
I wish I’d had this post two months ago when I tried to tackle a particularly rocky hike in my Vibrams!
Did a beach trail on Sunday (also in Vibrams) and wound up with blisters. Clearly I need to ease into this. Thanks, Mark!
comment welcom on…e.g.
low heel ‘e arthy type shoes’ etc
I’ve been barefoot running for a while now and I think some of the best you give is definitely to swallow your pride. When I got into it, I went out and ran a mile on hot asphalt in 95 degree weather and got such a big blister I could hardly walk for a couple of days. Definitely wasn’t the smartest move of my life. Take it slow.
I´ve been running short distances in Vibrams and, well, it feels great but you use your leg´s muscles in a different manner and the result it´s simple: Pain. No problems anyway with my lumbar discs (I have two hernias)You have to take it slow but run barefoot are great.
Wish I’d had the advice in this article. I bought some light weight running shoes. They felt better and my running times improved. I thought I was easing in. Then I got plantar fasciitis in both feet. It just happened one day. No warning. 18 months later my right foot is now cured; I still have to tape my left foot. I didn’t know what PF was until I had it.
Um… Would this be safe to do in New York City…? It’s so dirty.
Does anyone have an opinion about Yogatoes? They’re rubber toe separators that you wear inserted between your toes, (like what is sometimes used during pedicures, but out of a sturdier material). I have a pair and after wearing them for a few months, the muscles of my feet seem stronger and more coordinated, the ball of my foot is slightly wider, and my toes kind of stretched out and got longer. To me it seems like a good way to counteract the effects a lifetime of shoe wearing.
Before I ever got into primal or doing and teaching Nia, I did use a version of Yogatoes because I was looking for something to alleviate foot pain from plantar fasciitis and other pain that was probably metatarsalgia or Morton’s neuroma. The yogatoes really helped. I just wore them every night while reading in bed (the kind I had said not to walk with them on) and I would just wear them until it hurt. Gradually the length of tine I could wear them without hurting stretched out and now I could wear them all day and it would not hurt. Meanwhile my toes straightened out and the pain I was having when walking decreased. I think that straightenign my toes (which were not very un-straight) made more room for the nerve in the ball of my foot. That’s my theory anyway. So I’d certainly recommend trying them as an aid to a more natural stance and walk. S you say, to help conteract all that shoe wearing.
I’ve been wearing vibrams daily for the last 3 months and it’s made a great deal of difference.
It’s been pretty easy to gradually build yourself up with them over time. The first thing I told myself when I bought them is that there is no rush.
I’m now bringing a few runs a week (no more than 15min), and so far so good. Your feet soon adapt.
Ive been running barefoot 5k’s for about 6 months now.
I must say it is very discouraging to start out. The longer the transition to going completely barefoot – the better. Most people want to fly out the door and be ready to run barefoot. I never used vibrams, instead I used ZEMS.
Once you do make it, its worth all the pain. The looks I get and the conversations that people start with me is just great. Everyone wants to know why, and it brings up the perfect opportunity to share with them the benefits of barefooting.
I’ve been transitioning to eating primally for about 2 months, and I’ve been following it hardcore for about 2 weeks. I am turning primal gradually by changing small things in my life here and there.
I was taking the dog out, and I stood on small gravel. I said to myself “Self, this hurts, just standing here. Your feet are so weak!” And thus I decided to make going barefoot my next goal. I’m excited
I have been thinking about running barefoot, but have been scared since I run like a Clydesdale Horse. Thanks for the progression into it post.
I’ve always thought it funny that people in US wear shoes inside the house.
When I go to work I can’t wait to arrive so that I can take my shoes off. And even more when I come home from work I can’t wait to take my shoes AND my socks off (and the rest of the clothes as well). It’s liberating!
Of course, now it’s summer so I walk in my Vibrams.
Hi Mark, maybe you or someone on this forum can help me with my problem! I started wearing VFFs back in June 2010. Took about a month for my feet to get acclimated, nothing extraordinary. I ran my 12th marathon, first one in VFFs in October 2010 with no problems. In March 2011, I ran my 13th marathon, 2nd in VFFs with no problems. In April, I ran a trail 5K in the VFFs and made a sprint to the finish (effectively winning my first race). Shortly thereafter, I experienced excruciating pain in my right arch – it felt as if it had collapsed. I had a 50k race at the end of that month that I was unable to complete due to my arch pain.
It’s August 2nd and I still can’t run properly because of the pain in my feet. I went from being a heel striking runner w/ no issues to a forefoot striker w/ immense arch pain.
What about fire ants? I can’t imagine going shoeless in my region because of the stupid fire ants. How do you deal with those?
Do you also run barefoot when there is snow and ice?
I have never seen this question addressed
I started going barefoot as much as possible about three months ago. It really does work wonders.
For me, I don’t want to say I started out slow but I also wasn’t stupid about it.
Your feet and legs will feel it in the beginning. You will be sore. I walked a ton in my Vibrams in the beginning, which was a huge help.
I then started running on grass in them and gradually went to bare feet.
The other day I had to walk into some bushes barefoot to go after a Frisbee and it was like I was walking on a cloud.
It is crazy the things your feet are able to endure when you train them correctly!
Great article. And if you have not tried going barefoot, do it! My feet had been stuck in bulky basketball shoes my whole life.
Now that they can finally breathe, they are stronger and more flexible than ever!
i love this concept! i run around barefoot from the time it’s warm enough, to when it’s cold again. in winter, i wear minnetonka moccasins, the kind with a thin flexible leather sole. when i was a kid, my mom warned me that if i continued running around barefoot, my feet would spread out on the hot sidewalk, and when i grew up, my feet would be wide as pancakes. didn’t happen. i encourage the kids in my care to run nakee toesies, too. we are meant to connect with the earth!
Mark- if you’re a barefooter- why the heck are you in booties on your SUP? That would be a great place to practice active foot strengthening!
Awesome advice!, Im going to have to give this a go
I never heard of this untill i read this article!
Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It in reality was once a leisure account it. Glance advanced to more brought agreeable from you! By the way, how can we communicate?
Between getting worms from all the animal spoor that enters my yard every day, stinging nettle, fire ants, sticks, thorns, bees, wasps, and just plain dirt, why on earth would I want to walk around outside barefoot? It’s not a sensible thing at all and when you go to extremes to do nonsense, that screams fetish. Shoes were invented as protection. Yeah, by Grok. On purpose. He got tired of losing toes, stepping on sharp objects, burning his feet on hot surfaces, and having to wash his feet every single time he entered his cave.
I know, this is the second decade of the flip-flop and I know how much y’all love to make everyone see your feet and put your feet all over things in public places, so of course, the next step is no shoes at all, but you’re not fooling anyone. Foot fetish all the way.
I spent four years living in the caribbean and spent a huge amount of time barefoot and not just at the beach. It was immensly liberating and I nevr thought twice about it to be honest. I got a point where i could walk on anything but broken glass and when i went back to the UK found my feet had grown two width fittings! I miss those days and am just buying a pair of vibrams to help me recreate that as much as I can, especially during CrossFit.
um, how do you avoid hookworm and other critters attacking you through the soles of your bare feet? any advice on the appearance of vegetation or soil color that might be present in areas to be avoided? we have lost this knowledge and need to regain it. thanks
I love the article and was wondering what you thought about the “earthing” aspect? I have read some about the anti inflammatory and pain relief associated with it and would think earthing this way would help people with those issues a lot. I love being barefoot and unlike a comment above don’t have a foot fetish. I will definately try the ball to massage my foot and calf.