Hiking in Barefoot Shoes? Here’s How to Help Your Feet Recover Faster (According to Experts).
Feet suffer all sorts of abuse throughout the day. Most of us spend hours standing, walking, hiking, running, climbing, and asking much of them without doing anything for them in return. But especially if you wear barefoot shoes, they deserve a little love between all the adventuring in the form of recovery. These foot recovery techniques help you bounce back faster after big miles. Here’s why you should be doing them, especially if you wear barefoot shoes.
And to be clear: It’s not just folks who hike in barefoot shoes who’s feet need recovery tools and techniques; anyone who’s putting in the miles, no matter their footwear, should be taking care of their foot muscles and fascia. Barefoot shoe wearers may just need it a touch more often.
First Things First: Why Wear Barefoot Shoes?
“First off, barefoot shoes are awesome. If your feet are healthy, it’s the best way to keep them moving like the little perfect suspension systems that they are,” says Mike Mallory, founder of RAD, who has loads of experience not just with wearing minimalist shoes, but with recovery, too. Studies show they can improve balance, foot and ankle strength, lower limb flexibility and more.
The problem is that most people in the developed world have gotten used to shoving their feet in inflexible, overly cushioned, overly supportive footwear for most of their lives because that’s what the apparel and fashion industry has dictated.
“If you’ve lived in normal squishy shoes your whole life, it’s like being in a cast, your feet lose the articulate and sophisticated movement that they need,” Mallory adds.
“Conventional cushioned footwear does a lot of the work the foot should be doing, and over time the foot gets weaker for it. Barefoot shoes let the foot work the way it was built to, which has real benefits for foot strength, arch integrity, ankle mobility, proprioceptive input, the rest of the body effects on gait, glute activation, and posture,” explains Andrew Gorecki, a doctor of physical therapy and co-founder & CEO of MovementRx, a remote therapeutic monitoring system.
Fortunately, there’s hope, and for most people it’s almost never too late to switch to minimalist shoes (although it’s extremely important to do it right and very slowly––read abut how to transition here). Recovery tools help.
Is a Recovery Routine Important for Barefoot Hikers?
When we say “recovery,” what we mean is both muscular and myofascial release. These are important because when you’re asking more of your feet, especially if you’re new to barefoot shoes or regularly demanding much from them in the way of activity, things beneath the surface can get tight, just like any other overworked body part that feels sore and tender the day after a tough workout. And recovery is an important part of any training program.
“Myofascial release and massage are some of the best ways to combat the soreness, recover for the next day, and reach new horizons with your feet. There’s a reason why NBA players have an army of massage therapists on staff…it works,” Mallory states.
If you can’t afford an army of massage therapists––I certainly can’t––that’s what recovery tools are designed for: to combat the soreness with pressure relief, but also reset the information your feet can’t receive in cushioned shoes. Especially on products with “Neuro” surfaces, which feature hundreds of tiny little soft cones that are designed to awaken the nerve endings in the bottom of your feet. Those nerve endings are designed to take in and relay info to your brain to coordinate movement and reaction between the ankle, knee, hip, and more. Translation: more feeling equals quicker reflexes, better balance, and more efficient movement.
“Your nervous system needs to know if the ground is slippery, sharp, or angled,” Mallory explains. “It uses this, along with your eyes and ears, to coordinate your body’s response.” And those unfamiliar with barefoot shoes (or brand new to them) have more or less dulled that system and need to re-train it in order to benefit from full range of motion and sensitivity in the foot and ankle. Introducing your feet to those little cones can help with that.
What type of barefoot athletes benefit from a foot recovery practice?
It’s not just newbies who can benefit from a foot recovery practice, though; Anyone who’s active can. “The only folks I might omit are the ones who grew up in the Amazon rainforest with no shoes their whole life, braiding thatch roofs with their feet and hands simultaneously (if you want to see perfect, functional feet, you need folks that barely know what a shoe is!).”
But it is more important for beginners, he continues. That’s because “Your feet might not be used to supporting their own arches without orthotics or big arch support, and your calves and shins probably lack the strength to run hard while using a much bigger range of motion in the foot.” Even walking 10,000 steps in a day can be a chore if your feet aren’t strong enough.
“The bottom line is this: if you get any pain in the foot or the calves by just doing everyday life, or low-level jogging/running, it’s best to use some recovery tools and techniques as your feet learn to coordinate without those foot shaped crutches (shoes),” Mallory says.
And again, if you’re still transitioning and there’s excessive pain that won’t go away, you’re moving too fast. Stop, pause, wait for your feet to recover, then continue slowly when your feet are ready. Read this article for more details on how to transition safely.
What do recovery tools and techniques actually do for barefoot Hikers?
But what are recovery tools and techniques actually meant to accomplish? Two things, explains Mallory: corrective work and recovery work. “When you first start using barefoot shoes, you’ll probably find that your feet are working twice as hard as before. You’ll probably change your normal walking gait to account for it. Just like exercise, your feet are going to be sore and achy when you first start. This is totally normal and OK, and it’s almost always very illuminating.” You may be surprised by how week your feet feel after minimal activity.
Especially if you’re starting a running program or want to hike or backpack in barefoot shoes, it’s vitally important to start slow, and make sure you’re not pushing yourself to the point where you feel pain. “Your muscles can catch up quickly, but your tendons need time to build collagen in response, which takes longer. Using myofascial release tools helps to clear fluid and waste from the little muscles, let them relax, and get them ready for the next session,” Mallory instructs.
Start with getting your feet moving in every way possible via stretches and toe exercises. Keep this going for a while and you may be surprised by the extreme angles and range of motion your feet and toes have. For example, not long after I fully transitioned to barefoot shoes and after doing stretches, even fairly inconsistently, I could spread my toes on both feet crazy far apart without even trying.
“Think about getting all those little bones moving, widen out the toes, and get the ankle moving better. Hiking boots or ski boots tend to hold the ankle and foot hostage, only allowing a small range of motion. You’re never gonna roll your ankle, which is good, but your body won’t ever learn how to control those movements on its own,” Mallory goes on.
Indeed, while many people ask me whether I’m worried about rolling an ankle in minimalist hiking shoes, my answer is a resounding “no,” because my feet and ankles work so much better together now and are strong enough to keep that from happening.
Practical recovery techniques include:
- Roll the calves and shins with a stick-style roller or massage ball (like with a RAD Rod or, for an ultralight option, Rawlogy Cork Massage Balls). “The calves are like the puppet masters,” Mallory explains, “the muscles that move and control the ankle all live in the lower leg, above the foot. Making sure they don’t get tight and stay tight helps keep things functioning all the way down your leg.
- Use a Neuro Ball and/or Neuro Roller to give the nervous system a powerful stimulus (like a wake-up call). It also gets the little bones of the foot moving against each other so the arch can form naturally. “If the little bones and fascia of the foot are too tight, your foot won’t be able to ‘lift up’ into a natural arch,” Mallory says.
- But don’t just roll out your feel, podiatrist Emily Splichal has told me in previous interviews; stand on a small ball for up to a minute, applying pressure to different points under your foot, to really release tightness.
- Splichal also advocates for foot strengthening exercises like short foot or standing on one leg while you’re brushing your teeth.
- I also love to pop on some toe spacers that force my toes to spread and stretch. It feels great and I can wear them for hours (though you may want to start with 10 minutes or so).
After a long hike or trail run, what’s an ideal recovery practice for the average barefoot hiker?
In addition to the above, after a tough run or long hike, give your feet a little love in the form of post-workout recovery. You probably stretch other muscles, don’t you? Start with a myofascial release tool like a stick-style roller or foam roller and use long strokes with light pressure down your calves.
“We’re mostly trying to move fluid here, which is the system for moving in fresh blood and oxygen into the tissue (healing), and moving the waste product out through the lymph system. Both are fluid systems, so if you keep the fluid moving, you’re supercharging your recovery. Anecdotal evidence also suggests that it reduces soreness intensity by around 50 percent,” Mallory states.
Then comes corrective work, which he says is best done when any initial soreness has subsided. Compress tissue in one spot for 60 seconds or more, allowing the tissue to relax into greater range of motion. Basically, find the tender spot, stand on a little ball, and stay there for a minute to really break up the stiff layers.
I take a small Rawly cork ball backpacking and use it at the end of the day. At home, I use the Neuro Roller to do the same job plus boost sensory awareness for your feet. Fun fact: After wearing barefoot shoes for maybe a year, I impressed a rep from a neuro mat brand by being able to tell the difference between mats with very slightly differing stiffness. Minimalist shoes really do increase perception of feeling in your feet, which boosts balance, movement reflex and even mood and memory!
Bottom Line
Long story short: recovery is important for everyone and all feet, but especially for barefoot athletes and those new to the world of barefoot shoes. I use recovery tools often, especially after giving my feet a beating on long bike rides, tough trail runs, or big backpacking trips. It helps them bounce back faster, function better, improves flexibility, and feels great. Bonus: I can do it while standing at my desk or watching TV. Win-win.
So take care of your feet. Before and after you wander on.
