 Foot pain (in all its shapes and forms) is a pressing issue many hikers struggle with. Unfortunately, the usual solutions many hikers try for this (such as trying a different shoe and/or doing some rolling with the ball) will only get you so far... Foot pain is a multi-faceted issue. And if you are not taking a comprehensive approach, you will likely not see the change you want (and it will continue to plague your hiking adventures!) To help here, this article and video details a few areas of training that can often make a significant difference for a hiker's feet. Preventing Plantar Pain While HikingFoot pain (in all its forms) is a major issue in the hiking community. So today, you and I are going to explore a range of ideas and strategies you can use in your training to help reduce foot pain while hiking and keep your feet much more comfortable. Before we get into things, I want to be very clear about the context of the information I am presenting. I am not a physiotherapist, a physical therapist or a podiatrist. I am not pretending to be one, and this information is not meant to replace any work you might be doing with one of these professionals. My role for hikers with foot pain is what is called a 'return to performance specialist'. What does that mean? When someone gets an injury or pain, their first point of call is always to see a health professional (e.g. physiotherapist). This professional will look at the issue, diagnose it and guide this person through the initial stages of rehab and recovery. Hopefully, get them to a place where they are comfortable during everyday life and normal exercise. This process works well for many people. But for hikers, this isn't always enough. Because there is a BIG difference between being able to stay comfortable with the demands of everyday life and being able to stay comfortable with the demands of hiking. Because even the mildest hike will contain challenges like:
And there is often a big gap between someone being 'ready' to stay comfortable for everyday life and being ready for the specific demands of the rail. This leads many hikers to be stuck in an awful cycle:
My role here is to help bridge this gap. I take hikers who are out of the initial rehab phase and help build them up so they can be fully prepared for the demands of the hiking they want to do. That is the lens through which I want you to view the following information. This is what we will cover today:
 The Problem With Food Pain Diagnoses For Hikers When people feel pain in their feet, the first place they go is usually an internet search. They look up articles or videos. They post up in online groups of forums asking what to do. This is almost always a losing battle. The feet are complicated. And trying to 'diagnose' foot pain online is nearly impossible (even for a specifically trained professional). One of the best examples of this is plantar heel pain. The second people feel pain in their heels, they immediately label it as plantar fasciitis. But in reality, there are up to three different reasons why someone may be experiencing this type of pain. And if someone was convinced they had plantar fasciitis, and was doing very specific exercises and strategies that have been recommended for this, BUT the real issue was something different, this can just end up being a big waste of time. My point? The feet are complicated. Self-diagnosis is unreliable. And if you want a diagnosis, please go and see a specialist. Because of this, today we are not talking about specific foot conditions like plantar fasciitis, tendonitis, heel spurs or anything else like that. Instead, we are talking about foot pain in a general sense. The strategies I will share today will be beneficial for most foot pain issues hikers experience. In the best-case scenario, the ideas I am about to share are EXACTLY what your particular issue needs, and your foot pain will improve dramatically. In the worst-case scenario, there may be a few bits and pieces that are useful for your particular issue, and the rest miss the mark. BUT everything recommended will have various other benefits to your hiking, so it will be a net positive either way. Again, if you want specifics, please go and see a physiotherapist, a physical therapist or a podiatrist.  Why Foot Pain Is So Common For Hikers There are a few simple reasons why foot pain is so common for hikers around the world:
None of these things on their own is usually a problem. But combine several of them, and you get the perfect storm for foot pain. You are never going to be able to control every factor on the trail. But you can control how well you prepare.  The Number One Mistake Hikers Make When Dealing With Foot Pain The biggest mistake hikers often make here is that they look for one magic solution. Someone online says rolling a ball under the foot fixed them. Someone else swears by calf raises. Another person says new shoes solved it. Someone else recommends fancy orthotics. People latch onto the idea that one single thing will fix their pain. Unfortunately, it is very rarely that simple. Foot pain is almost always multifaceted. It comes from a combination of factors, not just one. If anyone says Just do this one thing they probably do not fully understand what they are talking about. To truly give yourself the best chance at overcoming foot pain, you need a more comprehensive approach. The big three we are focusing on today are:
Strength Training To Help Foot Pain While Hiking Direct Feet Strengthening For Hiking Direct foot strengthening involves building strength in muscles and structures that directly support the feet. If we can build strength, tolerance and resilience in these areas, we can reduce the risk of pain and injury. The main area we want to consider here is the calves. The calf muscles (the gastrocnemius and soleus) directly support the feet. On the trail, they do a huge amount of work every step we take. On top of this, when we strengthen the calves, we are not only building up that area, but we are typically also strengthening the Achilles tendon, the smaller foot muscles and the other surrounding structures. So if you want to support the feet, calf strengthening gives you a massive bang for your buck. This is usually the first thing hikers get recommended when they have foot issues... and that is because it works! Beyond foot pain, building strength and endurance in the calves has a myriad of other benefits for hikers as well. So it is a no-brainer to put some focus here. The calves have two muscles:
Here are a few great examples of exercises for this: Bent Leg Calf Raises: Bent leg calf raises are a great exercise that emphasises strengthening the soleus. This is how you do it:
* If this feels too easy, you can do it from one leg, add a step or some extra weight (with a dumbbell or backpack). Seated Calf Raise: Another option to strengthen the soleus (and a great option for anyone who gets a bit of knee discomfort from standing bent-leg calf raises). The only thing you need to be aware of is that your soleus is surprisingly strong. So you do need a significant amount of weight to load this up properly (if you are just using 1-2kg dumbbells, it probably will not do much for you). This one is usually best fr thos who have gym access, or have a wide range of resistance in dumbbells at home. This is how you do it:
*If this is too difficult, you can start with two legs at a time. Straight Leg Calf Raise: The straight leg calf raise emphasises the gastrocnemius (you have probably seen and done this exercise before). This is how you do it:
*If this is too difficult, do this from the floor or use both legs instead of one. Tips For Calf Raises: Footwear: If you can do these calf raise variations comfortably barefoot, it gives some extra challenge to the feet (which can be a good thing!). But if you try it barefoot and the feet are uncomfortable (or you are in a gym where you can't take your shoes off), just do these in shoes. Tempo: Keep all your calf raises reps slow and controlled. (I typically like to aim for a 1-2 second pause at the top of each rep, and a 3-4 second lower). The main aim is that we don't want too much 'bouncing' or rushing through the movements. Pay attention, be intentional about the exercise and make sure you get the most out of every rep. What About Foot Exercises? At this point, many hikers are probably asking the same question: "Rowan, if you are talking about foot strengthening, why are you just talking about calf raises? Why not do exercises that target the arches or the tiny muscles in the feet?. Why no marble pick-ups? Or towel scrunches? Or toe yoga? Or balance beam work?' All of these types of exercise are commonly recommended to hikers with foot pain. But they are not exercises I would ever recommend as a 'general' recommendation. Why? These exercises can be beneficial for some people. If, for your particular issue, you need some specific strengthening in a certain area, they can be useful. But as we said before, knowing wh The reason I am such a big advocate for calf raises here is that they will help almost everyone. Regardless of your specific foot issue, they will be beneficial to some degree (as long as you can find an option that is comfortable and doable for you). Outside of your foot issue, they will be beneficial for your hiking in numerous other ways. The smaller foot exercises can be very hit and miss. They will only really help you when they match your exact diagnosis (which, as we said before, is something you want to learn from a health care professional, and not online). And if they do not match your specific issue, they end up being a big waste of time and mental energy (with little benefit). Over the years, I have talked to SO many hikers who get frustrated and burnt out doing these tiny, finicky foot exercises they have found online. They invest all this time and attention into this laundry list of fiddly exercises and get nowhere. And then, as a sad carryover effect, they get so frustrated with this that it ends up impacting their other training (and ruining their motivation to just complete normal sessions, which have so many benefits of their own). So, in general, I do not recommend these types of exercises to hikers. The main exception to this is if a hiker has seen a physiotherapist, physical therapist or podiatrist, had their feet assessed and then been prescribed specific exercises like these. In that situation, absolutely follow their guidance. But if no one has assessed you and you are just doing these because the internet told you to, then you're usually better off sticking to the basics. *Note: When I say physiotherapist, podiatrist, or physical therapist, I mean someone who has actually looked at your feet. Someone who has assessed you. Someone who has put their hands on your feet, watched you move, asked the right questions, and given you a real diagnosis. Not someone who has just made big assumptions. I cannot tell you how many hikers tell me these stories:
With that being said, let's move on.  General Leg Strengthening Because, beyond strengthening the muscles that directly support the feet, it is just as important to strengthen the muscles further up the chain (i.e further up your legs). Your quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes (amongst others) all play a major role in supporting your feet. If those muscles are weak, unstable or just fatigue early on the trail, they can create a cascade of problems that eventually land right on your feet. Putting some attention into building strength and endurance in these areas can make a major difference for the feet (not to mention, help your hiking in so many other ways). A couple of my favourite general leg strengthening exercises for hikers are: Step Downs: A great option to work the quadriceps and glutes. It also has some nice added benefits of building stability and control to help you on steep descents. This is how you do it:
*If this feels too hard (and you are wobbling all over the place), use one or two trekking poles for balance. Single Leg Deadlifts: A fantastic option for developing strength and endurance through the hamstrings and glutes. This is how you do it:
*If this is too difficult, then regress back to a split stance deadlift. Quick tip: for both of these exercises, if you can do them barefoot, this will add some extra challenge to the feet (as the little muscles in the feet kick in to stop the feet from wobbling too much). If this is comfortable and practical, this can be a great option. Or, if it's uncomfortable (or not doable in a gym environment), just do them in shoes. A Note On Making Exercises 'Foot Specific': There is a huge trend in the hiking world right now where people try to make every strength exercise 'foot-specific'. They take normal strength exercises and force them to be about the feet. Common examples of this are:
When you make an exercise unstable or awkward, you reduce the amount of load you can put through the main muscles. If you do a split squat with a floating heel, you cannot challenge your quads as much... If you do a single-leg deadlift on a balance disk, you will not be able to challenge your hamstrings or glutes very much... You take an exercise that SHOULD be building strength and endurance in the big muscles, and limit their ability to do their original intention, which is counterproductive. My best recommendation is this: Keep your bigger compound exercise 'normal'. Step downs, squats, lunges, deadlifts, glute bridges, etc. Keep them traditional. Load them properly and challenge yourself. And progress this over time. Then, if you want to do unstable (or different) surface training, treat them as separate exercises. Two Keys To Strength Training For Foot Pain While Hiking Two things you need to be doing if you really want to see benefits from strength training (which so many hikers seem to miss): 1) Consistency To see the results from strength training, you need to be consistent for quite a few weeks in a row. Strength development takes time. Most hikers I speak to who tell me they have tried calf raises, or strength exercises, and it 'hasn't worked' have not done their exercises consistently, for long enough, to see results. It typically takes about 6 to 8 weeks (sometimes 10) of consistent strength training before people start to see the beginnings of genuine strength gains. And it snowballs from there. Most hikers never get here. They do two weeks, then get bored. Or they skip sessions. Or they lose momentum. Or they do a week on, and a week off for months. If you have tried strength training for your feet before, ask yourself honestly: Did you truly get six to eight weeks of consistent two to three sessions a week? If the answer is no, that is probably a major missing piece. 2) Progression The body adapts quickly. If you do the same exercises with the same amount of difficulty week after week, the muscles and structures will have no reason to change. To ensure you see improvement, you need to regularly give your body new and more challenging stimuli. We do this by progressive overload (e.g. progressively making things a little bit harder over time). You could do this by adding more weight to an exercise, increasing the range of motion, or doing more reps. Or a range of other options. A simple example of this could look like:
A lot of hikers miss this because they see a physio once or twice and just repeat the same exercises forever. No progression. No overload. No results. If you can fix these two things, consistency and progression, you will see dramatically better results for your feet and for your hiking in general. Need some help getting started with your strength training for hiking? Load Tolerance For Your Feet (Hiking Specific Foot Training)  Strength training is great. Calf raises. Step downs. Lunges. Deadlifts. All of it builds strength. But there is one thing strength training alone cannot replicate. And that is carrying a pack on your back while walking. Because here is the truth. When you hike, you are almost always carrying a pack. Whether it is a couple of kilos on a day hike or a full overnight or multi-day load. And every kilo or pound on your back puts a hugely disproportionate extra force through your feet. And we need to prepare the feet for this (if you want to stay out of pain). Yes, strength training helps prepare the muscles and structures to handle this. But there is a gap between gym strength and trail readiness. There is a difference between lifting weights for 5-20 repetitions at a time and actually walking with a load (for hundreds and thousands of steps at a time). And bridging that gap is essential if you want to keep foot pain under control. The best way to do this is simple. Loaded pack walking. It is straightforward, controllable, scalable and safe. And it is extremely effective. All my hikers do it to some degree, regardless of whether they are carrying almost nothing or a full multi-day pack. It is that beneficial. Here is how you go about it: Choose a walk to complete. This could be a neighbourhood loop, it could be a treadmill, a short trail or whatever. Just something which is accessible and manageable. When choosing a weight to start with, you want to find a weight that is 100% comfortable for your feet. This means it should not cause your feet pain while walking, AND it should not cause your feet to flare up with pain in the next 24 hours afterwards. This can take a bit of trial and error to figure out initially, but finding this starting point is critical. Walk 30 to 60 minutes. Keep the pace slow. Resist the urge to power march. (Reducing your pace and speed is a simple way of taking pressure out of your feet). Each week, if comfortable, add a small amount of weight (I typically like to aim for 1kg or 2lbs per week). Week after week, slowly and gradually build up the weight. If the feet flare up during the walk or the next day, take a rest. Remove a little weight next session. Then rebuild. The pattern you want to follow is:
Long-term, the goal is to train the feet to tolerate slightly more than what you expect on the trail. For example, if your typical day hike is seven kilos, build up to nine kilos on these controlled walks. The distance is shorter. The pace is slower. The weight is manageable. But over time, your feet adapt. You develop tolerance. You reduce the risk of pain when it really matters on the trail. This is one of the single most effective ways to prepare for hiking. It fills the gap between gym strength and real hiking. And it gives the feet the hiking-specific stress they need to adapt safely. Want to read some real success stories from hikers who have used this training to reduce foot pain on the trail? Mobility Training For Hikers With Foot Pain Mobility and flexibility are often the first things people recommend to hikers with foot pain. People will say:
To be clear, mobility and flexibility are never going to be a magic cure for foot pain. By themselves, they will rarely 'fix' the issue. But they are a piece of the puzzle when it comes to keeping your feet comfortable for hiking. When certain muscles or joints are tight, restricted, or just not moving well, that can contribute to discomfort in the feet. So if you are tight in certain areas, working on mobility is worth your attention. When it comes to mobility training for foot pain while hiking, there are a few key areas we want to consider:
The Knee To Wall Stretch The knee-to-wall stretch is a great exercise to improve the range of motion through the calves and ankles. This is how you do it:
Another good option to improve the range of motion through the calves and ankles. This is how you do it:
Plantar Fascia Stretch A simple option to stretch the bottoms of the feet. This is how you do it:
*If this causes pain in the feet during or immediately after, please do not continue with this. Big Toe Stretch A simple option to improve mobility through the big toe. This is how you do it:Start with your hands, knees and feet on the floor (with toes flexed)
What About Foam Rolling And Self-MyoFascial Release For Foot Pain While Hiking? Now, what about rolling? Foam rollers, massage balls, rolling under the foot, or rolling calves? This is very common advice for hikers with foot pain. These types of exercises can be useful, but by themselves, they are not a cure-all. Their main benefits are:
E.g. do a minute of foam rolling on your calves and then immediately do a set of knee-to-wall stretches. Use foam rolling to increase mobility in the short term, and then use a more traditional stretch or exercise to push this further. When To Use Mobility Work: For mobility and flexibility, many hikers run into the issue that they get really bored with these exercises, so they end up skipping them all the time (and never do them enough to see the best benefits) So to combat this, you want to be creative about where you use mobility in your week. A few great options:
Mobility changes take time. You will not see dramatic improvements from one session a week. My best advice is:
Load Management: The Most Important Factor in Foot Pain While Hiking Now, the final piece I want to cover is load management. This is probably the single most significant risk factor when it comes to foot pain while hiking. Load management is all about controlling the stress your feet experience over time. If there's a sudden spike in load—whether that's distance, pack weight, speed, or training frequency—that's when foot pain is most likely to show up. For hikers, these spikes often come from things like going from casual short hikes to a long overnight hike, or coming back from a break and jumping straight into a challenging trail. It can also happen if you suddenly increase the frequency of walks, stair climbs, or calf raises, or start doing lots of jumping exercises like burpees. Any sudden jump in stress is a risk factor. If you have a history of foot pain, you need to be intentional about this. People without foot issues can often tolerate bigger jumps, but if your feet are prone to pain, a calculated, gradual approach is critical. So what does that look like in practice?
Another important point: your body's tolerance changes week to week. Stress, sleep, mindset, temperature, and other life factors all influence how much load your feet can handle (and also your body's pain response). Respect that. If you're run down, fatigued, or stressed, reduce the load. That's not failure. It's smart management. In short, manage load carefully, build gradually, and listen to your body. This principle alone will dramatically reduce your risk of foot pain and make all your strength, mobility, and pack training efforts far more effective. And finally, one last point on this: be intentional. If you don't have a history of foot pain or injury, you don't need to worry too much. You can push yourself, get tired, go out hiking, and generally be fine. If you do have a history of foot pain, it can be frustrating, but it's crucial to be deliberate. Track your hiking distances, monitor your training, and pay close attention to what your feet are telling you. Don't just go through the motions. Some days will be tougher than others. Energy levels fluctuate, life gets in the way, and sometimes your feet will flare up despite doing everything "right." When this happens, adjust your sessions, scale back, and keep moving forward. No foot pain journey is ever linear. There will be setbacks. Be kind to yourself. Don't beat yourself up. Pause, adjust, then get back on track. That mindset alone makes a huge difference. Other Important Factors for Hikes With Foot Pain While we can't cover them in detail today, there are a number of other things you want to keep in mind if you struggle with foot pain:
There's more to foot health than exercises alone, and these areas often make a critical difference. Final Thoughts Foot pain while hiking can be incredibly frustrating. But if you do the right things consistently, it is almost always possible to make a positive change. And start feeling confident, capable and comfortable on your hiking adventures again! If you were a hiker who struggled with foot pain and needed some help putting together this advice, then you can check out our online personal training for hikers here: Online Personal Training For Hikers With Foot Pain Yours in trekking, Rowan Comments are closed.
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AuthorRowan is an online personal trainer who specialises in training for hiking and mountaineering. He helps get them fit, strong and resilient so they can conquer every adventure. Archives
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