Sore feet after climbing shoes? My top 4 tips to help your feet recover.
We ask a lot of our feet on the wall, here’s how to look after them!
As a climber myself I know all too well how uncomfortable climbing shoes can be, especially a new pair! Yet at the same time, they are required for climbing performance. So if we are going to continue to wear more aggressively downturned and narrow climbing shoes we need to help our feet recover afterwards!
Here are my top 4 tips that I like to share with my climbing clients to help their feet recover after a session:
1) Loosen or take off your shoes between problems to let your feet splay
You can use this as an opportunity to plan your moves on the next problem while your feet relax
If you are breaking in new shoes, wear the new ones for the first bit of your session and then swap into the new pair until you break them in gradually
2) Try wearing toe spacers or walking barefoot when at home after a climbing session to help stretch out your feet and regain movement again through the whole foot
3) Use a mobility ball (cork ball or golf balls are great!) to roll through the foot for a few minutes each side after wearing more aggressively down turned shoes or after working on lots of balancy slab problems that ask a lot of your feet
move the ball side to side and up and down using a comfortable amount of pressure each time for a few minutes each foot
4) Get strong in the foot and calf so the loads can be shared equally when climbing as well as when taking falls
stay tuned on some of my favourite drills for climbers in my next blog post as there are so many positions the feet need to be strong in being a climber (Hint: calf raises are a great starting point!)
Your foot recovery doesn’t need to be complicated to be effective, and something is always going to be better than nothing. I find it handy myself to always have a ball in my climbing bag and toe spacers out where I can see them when I get home. Make it easy for yourself to get these recovery strategies done and they will happen, your feet will thank you!
*Disclaimer: all information on this blog post is provided for educational purposes only. It should not be a substitute for seeking advice from a health professional
