Is rock climbing going to change musculature in feet, need new footbeds (srs)????

[Gaperious Basterd]

I recently got into rock climbing with buddies from work, and I'm addicted.

I noticed after one month, I upgraded from beginner shoes to more advanced climbing shoes, and I'm really working the muscles in the feet (yes, MD-magz, I know MOST of the "foot muscles" actually exist in the lower leg).


Anyway, would hypertrophic response from rock climbing change foot architecture enough to require new footbeds?????


I really hope the answer is "NO."

... Noting that I am FAR from an FIS racer, my username does NOT apply to piste-carving, and a decent part of my winter recreation on the hill requires a precise foot-boot-snow connection... (i.e. I race and need a fairly precise footbed).

[CAPHILL]

About five years ago I dove head first into rock climbing. For about two years I climbed everyday.
My foot size went from an 11 to an 9.5. I ski a Mondo 26 or (cramped 25.5) now.

So yes, but it won't happen as quickly as you think.

[raueda1]

No. I'm a climber and I hang out with lots of climbers. LOTS of climbers (I'm in the business). I'm also a skier and so are a lot of my climber buds. So you'll be happy to know that I've never heard of such a thing. Your foot is all bone, tendons and cartilage anyway.

Your toes will get stronger than you imagined possible. Fingers too. Don't overdo at the beginning. Muscles get stronger a lot faster than tendons, which takes months/years. You're at a stage where it's easiest to blow tendons, pulleys etc cause they haven't caught up with the muscles. I see it all the time.

Enjoy it and climb safe. Climbing is a good addiction.

[spook]

when you fall and compound spiral fracture your foot and lower legs you'll probably have to make a change.

[raueda1]

About five years ago I dove head first into rock climbing. For about two years I climbed everyday.
My foot size went from an 11 to an 9.5. I ski a Mondo 26 or (cramped 25.5) now.

So yes, but it won't happen as quickly as you think.

NOBODY climbs every day for 2 years. Are you talking about climbing shoe sizes (which don't mean shit) or street shoes as measured by one of those shoe measuring things? I actually sell climbing shoes. I call BS on this.

[spook]

wow, i thought he meant he actually dove into a rock head first.

[raueda1]

wow, i thought he meant he actually dove into a rock head first.

Hmmm, that may actually be it. And perception of shoe size was forever changed.

[brice618]

when you fall and compound spiral fracture your foot and lower legs you'll probably have to make a change.

As much as I hate to say it, that's the truth. I've lived it. I can't keep my right foot in a boot for more than an hour or so now. So don't deck. Ok. It hurts.

[Christopher3000]

You will grow several penises on each foot

[CAPHILL]

NOBODY climbs every day for 2 years. Are you talking about climbing shoe sizes (which don't mean shit) or street shoes as measured by one of those shoe measuring things? I actually sell climbing shoes. I call BS on this.

No I didn't climb on Christmas, but I did live next to a gym making quick bouldering sessions possible. Before significant climbing I was relatively flat footed and had some splay. My street shoes started becoming ill-fitting as my arch grew in strength resulting in minimal splay. That's how you go from an 11 to a 9.5.

Here's a runner that had something similar happen: http://www.runnersworld.com/trail-ru...ing/feet-first

And, crazily, my feet have shrunk. While I was a 10.5 when I started the exercises, I’m now between a size 9.5-10. No joke. This tells me that my feet are stronger. I’ve restored the arch in my foot that I lost from years of carrying a heavy backpack while adventure racing (and, from being pregnant twice), and strengthened the muscles that give my feet structure. I feel more rooted. I feel stronger from the ground up.

It's just the result of what may have happened your feet got stronger and tightened up causing the shortening. Normally feet elongate from musculature getting weaker.

[east or bust]

Four months and a whole shoe size? Maybe she was wearing the wrong size to begin with.

I mean it makes sense but that is a drastic change in such a short period of time.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

I've been slowly moving into smaller shoes for years. But I think it's the shoes that are getting bigger. I wear the same size ski boots, and I have some old 10.5 boots and oxfords that still fit. But these days I'm a 9.5-10 in most shoes, even in the same brand as my old ones.

[GeezerSteve]

Expanding shoe size is common with ultrarunners. I went from 11-1/2 to 13+ in my first 15 years of running ultras but the expansion seems to have stopped as I run fewer of them. Honey has gained at least one full size in 9 years of ultrarunning, etc., etc. I've never heard of a runner going the other direction.

[raueda1]

Expanding shoe size is common with ultrarunners. I went from 11-1/2 to 13+ in my first 15 years of running ultras but the expansion seems to have stopped as I run fewer of them. Honey has gained at least one full size in 9 years of ultrarunning, etc., etc. I've never heard of a runner going the other direction.

Neither have I. Or anybody going the opposite direction, for that matter. The older I get the less I know. But live and learn.

[coldfeet]

I increased a shoe size over the last 15 years and I'm more physically active (more running and cycling) than I started, so I don't think it's falling musculature. Or maybe, like Norma Desmond, it's not my feet that got big, but the shoes that got small.

OP, you should post this question at Epicski and forward the link here. Not so much because the question is gaperious (it's more like OCD), but because I'm curious to see the Epic patented overanalysis applied to a rock climbing and footwear discussion.

[raueda1]

Maybe if I start squeezing on an undersized rubber my pecker will get bigger.

[Ggreenie]

This is actually a well known occurrence in those who start running barefoot or in 'minimalist' runners. The arch gets stronger and therefore taller, shortening the foot. They say the foot shortens by an average of about 5mm in length.

[GeezerSteve]

They say the foot shortens by an average of about 5mm in length.

"They," i.e., barefoot/mininalist running marketing fraud artists, have uttered alot of unsubstantiated bullshit, e.g., Vibram paying $3,750,000 to settle a false advertising claim.

[Beyond]

Feet don't get shorter in actual length. Our long bones don't shrink, and changes in the arch curve don't impact bone length, just measured width that includes the arch. This isn't rocket science; all that happens is some of us have flat splayed feet that would benefit from arch support. Maybe we didn't bother. If we develop stronger arches - some ballet dancers report this too, but rare elsewhere - our arches don't collapse as easily under weighting, so our feet "got narrower." Same effect with orthotics in ski boots. And we usually pick street shoe sizes by how the heel and ball fit, not total length. So if we want to go narrower in a shoe that only comes in one width, we end up in a smaller size.

But regardless of sport, feet widen with age, weight gain, or tens of thousands of impacts from walking, jumping, and running that stretch the ligaments around the arch.

Out.

[Jethro]

I'd be more concerned with potential big toe bunion growth from pointy, tight climbing shoes. There are not many climbing lasts which keep the big toe in a natural forward position. When the toe is squeezed inward, towards the other toes, bunion growth can happen. Not unlike what women wearing heals ezperience

[Gaperious Basterd]

I'd be more concerned with potential big toe bunion growth from pointy, tight climbing shoes. There are not many climbing lasts which keep the big toe in a natural forward position. When the toe is squeezed inward, towards the other toes, bunion growth can happen. Not unlike what women wearing heals ezperience

Well my Scarpa vapors are tight as hell, and I only use those for bouldering and climbing **** that is above my ability to feel bad-ass.

My Sportiva Vapors after stretching allow full extension of the big toe, which allows for utilization of the flexor hallicus muscle, as well as plantarflexion that's not going to bust the interphalangeal joints of the big toe!

[rod9301]

english please.

curious about the shoes that allow full stretch of the big toe.

I have two pairs of tc pro.the smaller ones, my big toe is bent, and it seems to hurt the first joint of the big toe more, and it makes it harder to smear steep stuff, hurt more.

[Slow 'n Steady]

I remember worrying if my feet were going to change or be somehow damaged when I switched from board lasted Boreal Ballets to much tighter slip lasted Moccasyms. That must have been around 1995, and I've spent the last couple decades climbing predominately in Moccasyms with no ill effects (and no change in foot size or shape).

Over that time my usage has been as high as 5-6 days per week in climbing shoes for years at a time and probably no less than averaging 2-3 days per week most of the rest of the time. So, I've never really not been in climbing shoes for any extended period in a long long time, and based on other folks' stories above it sounds like YMMV depending on lots of other factors, so take my experience for what it is worth.

[hutash]

If you are fat fuck with out of shape feel, fallen arches, etc, yeah they may change a little as you get in shape, but over all not a lot.

[Ggreenie]

A few years back I started running in Vibram Five Fingers. The shape of my foot hasn't changed, neither has the appearance. It looks the same. But the measured length has decreased slightly. I've never been fat or unfit so that was not a factor.

Call it bullshit if you want it won't bother me. Go ahead and use anecdotes and quote articles if you like. It happened to my feet. Plenty of others have reported the same thing. It ain't bullshit.