How to harden feet for walking barefoot on harsh surfaces?

Question

In the past I was only occasionally walking barefoot, on relatively short distances, on the earthy surfaces. But I'd like to train my feet to be able to do much more - including walking on harsh surfaces such as rocks. My inspiration are the documentaries of indigenous peoples walking barefoot in many environment, including rocky ones, and the family tales, that in the past people were walking barefoot to church, even in the winter.

However, I've done today a 20-minutes walk in the city. The pavements were hot because of full sun, and after reaching home I've found out that the skin on my soles is creased and I feel pain even standing. Luckily, it seems that I'm going to get out of it even without blisters.

Obviously my feet are too soft for harsher surfaces. I should walk a lot on earthy surfaces - unfortunately most trails in the surrounding are graveled... But are there any exercises, training programs or treatments to speed up the tempo of hardening foots? From what distances should I begin, and in which tempo to increase them? Does some ointments, cold or hot showers help?

Answer 1

Try running on sand for your morning or evening run - sand is very good at early stages of toughening up your feet as it still spreads the load well.

Once you have toughened the skin a bit, you will be able to walk on forest trails, stone, gravel etc.

But for now, the best thing you can do is moisturise your feet - this helps the cracks smooth out so they don't dig into your foot (which is what causes a lot of the pain). Moisturise, and use a pumice stone to rub down any really hard bits of skin.

Your feet will toughen rapidly if you walk barefoot every day.

Answer 2

I walk and hike barefoot a lot. My feet have no hard skin (ok a few bits around the heel as anyone would). The skin is just as supple as anyone elses, but it's tougher. So if I walk a long distance barefoot, I don't get blisters. Small bits of glass don't affect me 99.9% of the time. The other main difference is I'm used to the sensation of the ground - the small stones, hot bits, cold bits, rough textures etc. That seems to be the biggest thing people are not expecting when walking barefoot - their feet have always been surrounded by an inch of foam rubber and they have never felt a single thing.

So - start out easy - grass and smooth surfaces - paths/sidwalks and don't over do it. Give your feet time to toughen up and your brain time to get used to it. Then try more textured surfaces - fine gravel/pebbles/rock. Woodlands are great, mud and natural rock (watch for nettles and thorns). You'll find that you still feel as much as when you started, but your feet are like soft leather and resilient to most things.

Answer 3

I lifeguarded in a beach for many years where the beach was covered in iron ore pieces, kind of like walking on crushed glass mixed with sand. It wasn't painful but it did hurt and tried to avoid when possible. By the end of the summer my feet were tough enough that I have stepped on glass about 1 inch in size and it does not puncture.

Answer 4

Simply walking barefoot everywhere is one way to toughen your feet. If you live in a city, spend time outdoors in your yard, on the concrete of your garage, patio and on the grass of your lawn. But there's more than just going barefoot that will harden your feet. Jumping rope, running, jumping...you need friction and impact. But, even walking barefoot indoors helps.

Wearing good backpacking or heavy duty hiking boots under load toughens your feet from friction and impact. You build up pretty good callous on your feet if you regularly backpack. Or you're an infantryman in the military. I've had my feet so tough while an infantryman that dragging a Cold Steel Recon Tanto I could shave with across my feet, would only cut callous. I have gone hunting barefoot at times, even in late Fall or late Winter, and there's something to be said for having access to sand, be it on a lake, beach or in a sandbox so that you can walk through it. Toughening the bottom of your feet is a result of impact and friction over time, but being able to sink your feet in sand helps toughen the sides and tops a tiny bit. You usually won't notice such things unless you purposely walk in nature barefoot, because you just don't encounter briars, sticks, rocks and other things contacting the tops of your feet on manicured lawns and pavement.

I've known an old farmer who soaked his feet in kerosene for prolonged periods so that his feet stopped sweating. He did it for about 20-30 minutes a day for a month, and he said his feet never sweated again. Essentially killed off his sweat glands I assume. But at the end of the day, soaked from sweating in the fields, I watched him pull off his boots and his socks/feet were bone dry...while I who was visiting, and from just short leisurely walking, would have socks damp with sweat on those humid Kentucky days. He had tough feet too. I won't pretend to know the medical wisdom or doing such a thing or not, but it worked for him and he learned it from others who had done it before him.

When your feet are damp, it's harder for them to callous up. I and many other infantryman have watched our hard earned callouses waste away and fall off in the swamps of Panama, where days of constant submergence or dampness were normal operating conditions.

Answer 5

I used to have the most tender feet. However, I've found that by simply going barefoot year around is the best way to harden them. I live on a ranch in Texas, so I go barefoot whenever possible. Of course, I regularly run barefoot and yes, your feet will toughen to the point where hot, triple digit asphalt is not even noticed, let alone cooler concrete. Running on gravel is not a problem, let alone walking on gravel. I don't pretend my feet are as tough as an equatorial African whose soles are often compared to horses hoofs, but that's probably because I haven't been doing it long enough. Also, your feet will immediately begin to soften up if you go back to wearing shoes, say during a colder than normal winter. Then you have to start all over.

Answer 6

The only way to toughen your feet is to put them in environments where they have to be tougher. I would start by wearing thin sandals everywhere during any weather. Whenever you can walk barefoot in grass or any other natural surface. I hardly ever wore shoes as a child and teenager and it hurt at times but now I can walk pretty much anywhere and my feet are just fine.

Answer 7

Walk barefoot a lot.

Rub your feet with alcohol. Use the 99% stuff, not the 70%.

Soak your feet in brine.

On hot surfaces it's cooler to run. When you walk, each foot is on the ground more than half the time. When you run there is at least some time that both feet are airborne.

I got to the point where I could run to the 10 miles to work, wearing water socks on the gravel roads and barefoot on the pavement. (About 4 miles of gravel, 6 of pavement)

Answer 8

To walk barefoot on gravel, relax and spread your foot out as wide as it will go for each step, don't tense up and try to walk on the balls of your feet. Been barefoot since the last century.

Answer 9

I live in San Diego and this past summer I've walked barefoot at home almost 100%. Meaning when the Asphalt in front of my house was 135°F, I'd purposely stand on it to toughen the feet up. I also walk the dog a mile a day on concert and do yard work barefoot. My feet toughened up, check. Next is dexterity of the toes. I have a bunch of small objects in a container that I dump on the ground and pick them up and put them back in with my feet. Remember, your toes are there to help you balance a load so make sure you can use them too. I do my workouts now in bare feet and I have way more ability to keep good form and lift heavier.