First a disclaimer. I’m not a doctor. I can only talk about what worked for me. What works for me may not work for everyone. But I learned from many other people who were willing to share their experiences online, that I want to give back and maybe help someone else.
We live in an incredible time where we have access to more information than ever. Take advantage of that! Do your research. Find out what works for you. Try new things.
With all that being said, I want to help others by giving them what I’ve learned.
Introduction
According to Google Gemini, plantar fasciitis is «a common cause of heel pain caused by inflammation of the tissue that runs along the bottom of the foot, often resulting in stabbing pain, especially with the first steps in the morning.» If you’ve had this condition, you know exactly what it means and you may also know that it could be even worse. Lihat juga DiKyYl. In addition to the heel pain, I had excruciating pain in each of my feet after several days of putting in double-digit miles.
The first “long distance” backpacking trip for me was 70+ miles of the Pinhoti Trail in Georgia. I went with Rocket Man and Call Me Ishmael. At the end of the third day, we finished the day with a hike of about 2 miles. My feet were already sore before we started the hike, but by the time we got to camp my feet were so sore that I literally couldn’t walk anymore. My thought at the time was: I’m not sure long distance backpacking is for me… I don’t know if I can do this again.
I was able to finish that trip, but it started me on a journey. I loved hiking, but to continue doing it I needed a solution for my feet.
my eldest daughter
My two oldest sons ran cross country in high school and my daughter also ran track. For the first three years, he suffered from very painful leg cramps. In my experience, leg cramps seem to be a common problem among female runners. Around the same time, I was determined to solve my foot pain problem. At that point, I had already been diagnosed with at least plantar fasciitis. I decided to take her to a local physical therapist who specializes in runners and injury prevention.
He gave my daughter a physical therapy program that started me on the path to resolving my foot pain. This program, combined with other research I did, resolved my plantar fasciitis and all other foot pain.
my solution
Here is a quick overview of the program that worked for me. I’ll break down each of these in the following sections.
- strength training
- Minimalist shoes (barefoot)
- Yoga and Massages
- cold plunge
The first two are done before starting the journey. The two seconds are done on the way.
strength training
Of all the things I’ve done along the way to resolve my foot pain, I feel like strength training is the most important.
Background
As a dad, I’m always looking for excuses to spend time with my teenage daughter. When the physical therapist gave him the program, we needed a gym membership to run it. I said: Why don’t we both become members and work together? To my delight, she agreed. So… I started doing the same program she was doing.
Let me give credit to a YouTube channel I found called barefoot strength. If you have plantar fasciitis, or even just foot pain, I recommend this site. It was a wealth of information for me. The details below were developed over time through trial and error. They are a combination of what I learned from barefoot strength and my daughter’s physical therapist.
What I learned from all of this is that you need to strengthen the muscle groups in your legs. This in addition to strengthening your feet. I never realized how all the muscles in the lower body work together. For example, glute strength is essential for foot strength. If you only take one thing away from this post: work to strengthen your glutes.
My strength program
My Box for Jumps and High Steps
Two things about this strength program. First, simply do 3 sets, 6 to 8 reps, using heavy weight. I was very skeptical about heavyweights at first, but all I can say is that, for me, it worked. Second, I discovered that I only needed to train my lower body strength twice a week. Total gym time is about 60 minutes twice a week. This is the basic plan I’ve been doing for over 2 years:
- Back squats
- Hip extensions
- Seated and standing calf raises
- dead uprisings
- Side planks with leg raises.
- box jumps
- High box step-ups
Strength training was a turning point for me. Just to give you a quick idea of how much strength I’ve gained. When my daughter and I started, we did 75-pound back squats. At that moment I felt that it was heavy. I’m now doing over 300 pounds of back squats, which is 2.5 times my body weight. By the way, I’m not a bodybuilder… and I never will be. But my legs are a lot stronger than they were… especially my glutes.
Minimalist shoes (barefoot)
Shoes I wear when I’m not Barrfoot
Probably the most important thing I learned barefoot strength is that your feet and toes should be able to move and flex normally when you walk. Most modern shoes do not offer enough space and flexibility. When you wear shoes, you want them to be as close to walking barefoot as possible. I like LEMOS, But there are many brands out there. SLOGANS They are elegant and comfortable with a large toe box and extremely flexible, non-drooping soles.
The other change I made was, when possible, walking barefoot. So when I’m at home, I stop wearing shoes and walk barefoot. Unlike strength training, which develops the major muscle groups in your legs, walking barefoot and wearing proper shoes when you can’t, develops the small muscles in your feet and develops flexibility in your feet and toes over time.
This combination worked for me.
Yoga and Massages
I am absolutely no YOGA EXPERT. I’m actually pretty terrible at it. But there are some Yin Yoga stretches that I do every night while I’m on the trail that really help me.
Additionally, I learned how to effectively massage my feet for plantar fasciitis. I also do this every night while I’m traveling.
There is a lot of information available so you can do your own research in these two areas. These two things have helped me tremendously with pain and recovery along the way.
cold plunge
The last thing I do on the trail is take breaks by streams when possible and soak my feet in the cold. I LOVE doing this! It feels amazing!
Also, when you take breaks, try to elevate your feet if possible on a rock or tree. You can do this in addition to or instead of cold immersion.
By the way, I have tried several times to do full body cold dips…I HATE THEM…I just can’t do it.
The result
One thing I have learned is that just because a technique, diet or program works for one person doesn’t mean it will work for everyone. But the best thing about the times we live in is that each of us has more access to information than at any other time. Take advantage of it! Do your own research.
For me, these are the things that worked. I couldn’t tell you which ones had more or less effect, because I implemented them in parallel. But what I can say is that on the last two multi-day backpacking trips, I have had NO foot pain. That’s what matters. Do what works for you.
If you’ve made it this far… Thank you very much for reading!
