I've noticed over the last few years my foot has grown 2 sizes, while my waistline and weight have dropped slightly.

Anyone else notice something similar after starting to hike more?

How old are you? As you get older, your foot bones (metatarsals) spread out (splay), and your arch collapses (very slightly), increasing your relative shoe size. As I passed the 40-year milestone, my shoe size increased from 10 to 10.5/11 (gradually). And with a wide foot, it's hard finding "even wider" shoes/boots. I wish I could say my weight has shrunk proportionately...

Definitely. My feet have grown 1.5 sizes in the last few years, also requiring a wide size on many shoes now. During this time I've significantly increased the milage and frequency of my trips, as well as the intensity of my training. I'm in my late 20s.

Edited by PA_Jay on 05/14/2007 12:54:26 MDT.

Both my husband and I have noticed this foot growth over the past few years - more like 3/4 of a size for him, and 1 for me. We have done quite a lot of hiking in this time. I'm 27 and he's 30, so I hope it's not us getting old yet...

I was a size 9 EE when I started the AT in March 99 at 27 years old. When I finished in September 99 I was a 9.5 E.

Today, another 3000+ miles of other trails later, I am an 11 D. My feet simply aren't the bearpaws they used to be.

I'm in my early thirties and a year or two ago I started having to buy a 1/2 size up. Before that I spent 10+ years in the same sized shoes. The foot growth was very much inline with increased time hiking and backpacking.

-adam

My feet expanded in my twenties when I became more conscious of my footwear choices and gave them more space in the toebox. I did become much more outdoor active at that time. They appear larger and I now tend to wear a 1/2 size larger shoe than I did before. One thought...did my feet grow or am I buying larger shoes?

Edited by happycamper on 05/14/2007 19:15:39 MDT.

I'm 53 and for the life of me I could never again wear my heavy-duty mountaineering boots purchased in 1977. I climbed many Washington volcanoes and other peaks in them in the late 1970's and early 1980's. They are size 8 1/2. My latest purchase was size 11. Thus I've grown over two full sizes in
over 25 years.

I only gained one size, starting in my early 30's until now. Personally, I blame it on the weight I gained during pregnancy (my wife's).

Yup Elliott,
we're about the same vintage, similar growth patterns. I was a 9.5 - 10 in 76', last pair was a 13.

Hey, it's not just me!

MikeB

My experience as selling shoes is that older people always give me a size too small. This is because with age the foot gets bigger. Most of those customers are surprised about that, but I know it happens to almost all of my 'older' customers.

Eins

I had alluded to this point in another thread about shoes recently. Somewhere between 34 and 36 my feet have gotten longer. It kind of sneaks up on you, as I rarely bother to get my feet "measured". Because shoes fit so differently, I typically try a range anyway, negating the need to know exactly what size they are....but it dawned on me that hey...most of the shoes in my range are closer to 10.5 than 9.5 to 10 as previously used.

more and more "research" is coming out suggesting this phenomenon isnt attributed to aging as always thought but to muscle atrophy cause by over-engineered, controlling and/or supportive footwear...our feet didnt evolve to wear shoes...

though not bigger

and not really any muscles in the feet - most all tendons and bones and the all important fat pad of course

my vote more towards a combination of higher average weight and more hard flat surfaces in our lives (concrete, asphalt, hard flooring) compared to 100 years ago

add different fit standards and shoes made in asia that tend to run smaller as well

One full size over 20-22