For all the women lifters who want to lift better, look better and live better, come to the front. After scalp care, taking care of our feet outside of a pedicure, is one of the most neglected body parts. Our feet carry us from one place to another. They keep us stable and feel the burden of our weight and everything else that we carry. While pedicures are enjoyable, we as lifters need an individualised and intentional approach to taking care of our feet. The best foot care routine for lifters includes washing and drying our feet daily, moisturising to prevent cracked skin, managing calluses without removing them completely, trimming toenails properly, wearing moisture-wicking socks, and inspecting our feet regularly for blisters and pressure points. The same way that you would take care of your hands after lifting, your feet deserve the same care.
Healthy feet improve stability, comfort and long-term performance under the bar. In short, they look better. That gives you the confidence to wear open-toed shoes and no shoes during the warmer months.
Taking care of my feet has become part of my overall body care routine in the last couple of years. What started as a little luxury has become a consistent and enjoyable part of what I consider as self care. Before I get into how to build the best foot care routine for lifters, let’s take a moment to explore why self care should be a priority regardless if you are lifter or not.
Self Care Must Be A Priority
Self care is about individualised intentional actions to taking care of yourself. When you are consistently pouring into yourself with goodness, health, and gratitude, your cup becomes so full. Naturally you have the energy to pour into other people whether that is through maintaining and strengthening friendships, helping others in need or showing love to the others. If you are not taking care of yourself properly, you are doing a disservice to yourself and to those around you. That’s why self care must be a priority to every single person. You have got to prioritise your needs and do the things that make you happy consistently.
Healthy routines are essential to support your entire being. That includes and is not limited to: the physical, mental, emotional, social, psychological being. Without health, there is no wealth. Without health, there is no world. To establish healthy routines, you’ve got to know what makes you feel good and what does not. Establishing daily, weekly, monthly and yearly routines will support your overall health leaving you full of energy and happiness.
Disclaimer: This post does include some affiliate links. If you click and purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products that I have personally vetted.
Why Do Lifters Need A Foot Care Routine?
A lot of the lifts that we do in strength sports have similar cues such as ‘spread the floor with your feet’, ‘screw your feet into the floor’, ‘drive the weight through your feet’. Continuously doing the main lifts with heavy weights multiple times a week can put a lot of pressure on our feet. When we have active rest days or recovery, we are either walking between 7,000 to 12,000 steps or doing less strenuous activities to give our muscles a rest. In most cases, we are foam rolling, stretching, using a deep tissue massage gun or a sports therapy massage to truly relax the muscles. What about our feet? Don’t they deserve some rest and some TLC?
A couple of years I decided that I wanted to become more intentional about my foot care routine. When we were at home during the pandemic and the gyms were on lockdown, I had time to build self care routines for my overall health. Every couple of years I would expand on this wellness universe. From skincare to body care, oral care to foot care and now onto scalp care. Quickly, I realised that taking care of myself was a necessity that extended outside of the gym. Fast forward to today, I’ve seen the best results in my foot care routine that transfers over to my performance under the bar and on the platform.
Daily Foot Care Essentials for Freshness
To build the best foot care routine, it starts with being intentional and scheduling time to dedicate to yourself. A lot of what I am sharing can be done in the shower and in the evenings after work or a training session if you lift at night. These daily steps take no more than twenty minutes. Here is a thing about establishing any type of routine, it can take time for it to become an unconscious habit. However, it compounds over time. You can see results after a month and feel the results in and out of the gym after two months.
Before I share my routine, it is time to gather the tools and products that you need:
- A foot scrub or pumice stone
- Toenail cutters
- Bar soap
- A foot file
- Foot cream
- Cuticle oil
- A foot sheet mask
- Clay foot mask
- Clean socks and towels
- Foot exfoliator
- A foot peel mask (only use yearly)
- Optional: A foot basin if you want to be extra luxurious
- Optional: Epsom salts
If you’re doing this in the bathroom, put on your feel good playlist and light a candle to set the ambiance.
The Best Foot Care Routine for Lifters
Note: Before trying a new products, do a patch test on your skin to make sure that you do not react to any of the ingredients. I recommend doing it for three days straight before using the product.
Daily Foot Care Steps
1) Soaking Your Feet
Give your feet about 3-5 minutes to soak before you do anything to them once hopping into the shower. If you prefer to soak your feet in a foot basin and epsom salts while watching a TV show or movie, you can do that. Once your feet are completely saturated, it is now time to cleanse them.
2) Cleansing Your Feet
Grab any bar soap from your local store and massage the product into your hands. Make sure that you scrub the sole of feet, the top of your foot and in between your toes for at least 1 minute. After one minute, use warm to lukewarm water to wash and rinse your feet. Once you are done, step out of the shower, grab a clean towel and pat your feet. You want them to be slightly damp.
3) Foot Cream
Take a dollop of your foot cream and massage the product all over your feet. I like using this foot cream from Lush because it breathes warmth and freshness into my routine. In addition, I love the citrus scent and how it keeps my feet soft throughout the night.
4) Cuticle Care
Once you have finished massaging your feet, grab your cuticle oil and add a drop onto the cuticle of each toenail. Then gently massage each cuticle. Next, throw on some foot socks so your feet can soak up all that moisture. Cuticle oil will assist with keeping your nail beds moisturised and strengthen weak toenails. The aim is to apply this every night for great results.
Weekly Care Steps
I prefer to exfoliate my feet at least twice a week to maintain the softness and manage any calluses. To start, I suggest once a week to build up the habit. Do not exceed three times a week as it will over exfoliate your feet.
5) Gentle Exfoliation
After soaking your feet, grab your foot exfoliator and rub it hard all over your feet, heels and the toes.
6) Precision Care
Next, you want to grab your foot file and file down any calluses of concern. You need to remember that this is years of pressure built up on your feet. Try to get a dual sided foot file. I don’t remember where I got mine from but it has two sides: one to file and one to smoothen. Once you finish filing, switch to the other side. Wash your feet and pat it down with a clean towel.
7) Nail Care
Nail care is an essential component of foot care and trimming them should be done at least once a week. Toenails grow from protein, good nutrition and blood circulation. If you are doing any type of movement that promotes blood circulation in your feet, don’t be surprised if your toenails look like they are growing fast. Get yourself a good toenail cutter and a nail file.
8) Foot Sheet Mask
Most beauty stores don’t have foot sheet masks and I don’t know why. All the ones that I’ve collected are from the USA or Canada or South Africa. A couple of beauty stores such as Lookfantastic or Skin Republic carry them. For these masks, follow the instructions and wear them for no longer than 20 minutes. Once you are done, massage the excess into your skin. Apply your foot cream and your cuticle oil then, your foot socks.
Monthly Care Steps
A clay foot mask is one of the best foot care steps for lifters as it removes all the dirt, toxins and impurities on the skin as well as cleanses the pores. I see it as a recovery tool for tired arches during my deload weeks to ensure that all my muscles are getting the adequate care and rest. Our feet are constantly absorbing trapped sweat in our socks and lifting shoes. The clay mask removes thicker dead skin caused by the heavy lifts.
9) Clay Foot Mask
Smear the clay foot mask on your soles and your heels. Let it dry for 20 to 30 minutes before rinsing it off in warm water. Then apply your foot cream, cuticle oil and foot socks. When I started doing this, I thought I had lost the plot. My feet feel incredibly soft and I don’t remember the time when my feet had thick layers of hard dead skin.
Yearly Foot Peel For Skin Renewal
Doing a foot peel back in the summer of 2022 is what got me into foot care. However, I do not recommend doing this in the summer. Note: If you have skin issues such as psoriasis, eczema, athlete’s foot, open cuts and sores, this may not be the treatment for you.
10) A Foot Peel
A foot peel is similar to a chemical peel. It will not only impact the soles of your feet but the entire foot. Follow the instructions on the packet and you should be wearing the foot socks for a maximum of 90 minutes. It is a deep exfoliation process that takes around four to seven days to start the peeling process. Once it starts peeling, you need to wear socks 24/7 for at least a week because your feet are going to shed like a snake. The skin can get everywhere in your flat. I recommend doing this during the winter months; specifically the week between Christmas and New Year’s because you will most likely be completely covered and inside.
Preventative Year Foot Care
11) Visit a Podiatrist
I prefer to go for annual check ups with a full blood panel work as a preventative care policy. This ensures that things get caught early and can be resolved before it becomes a problem. I’ve been doing this since I was 24 or 25 years old.
Regular annual podiatrist check ups are essential for maintaining both foot and ankle health. Anything that could affect your gait, posture, foot positioning, changes in skin and toenail colouring etc. they would catch it early with tips and exercises to resolve it before it becomes a bigger problem. I’m going to try and book an appointment this year to see what they have to say about my foot health.
Have you ever thought about foot care? Now that you have read this post, will you give it a go? I will come back with thoughts after visiting the podiatrist and this will be shared as video content on Instagram and Pinterest. Make sure to hit that subscribe button to join the community and never miss out on a post. Find me on Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok for more powerlifting and wellness content.
Until next time,
Folakemi
Discover more from Confidence Through Fitness
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.