The Solar Callus Guide

This will be the definitive resource that will put most medical professionals who don’t believe in the concept of the solar callus to shame.

You’ll get a practical framework on how to develop your solar callus to make the most of your health through sunbathing.

You hear the term ‘solar callus’ all the time on Health Twitter.

I’ve mentioned it often in my own work.

But, the question remains..

What is it?

Here’s the shocker:

It’s a tan.

But the solar callus goes well beyond just having tan skin. It’s in reference to the development of melanin through gradual midday sunbathing.

It’s a mental model for how you should approach your sunlight exposure, and general health. It’s a damn great one at that.

Considering how uninformed many medical professionals are on the subject of light, I’m not surprised that they don’t believe in the concept of a solar callus. I actually expect that to be the case.

How can they?

Their entire philosophy is geared around the idea that sunlight is inherently toxic to human skin and health. They literally go out of their way to recommend that you avoid the sun altogether.

Whenever you hear ‘solar callus,’ think of a tan, more specifically the production of melanin through sunlight exposure on your bare skin. Think about a well-conserved biological adaptation that all human beings can develop with the right framework.

I’ve discussed the benefits of melanin at length on this platform and others.

You can dispose of the shitty idea that “there’s no such thing as a safe tan” from organizations like The Skin Cancer Foundation. That’s centralized garbage.

Now, why is ‘callus’ referenced here?

Because we’re referring to a natural world adaptation that has been conserved by biological systems for 650+ million years. We’re talking about a polymer (melanin) found throughout nature.

When you lift weights, your hands develop a skin callus as an adaptation to the stressor of lifting something heavy.

Sunlight is no different.

When you practice midday sunbathing, an adaptation occurs in the form of melanin production to protect the skin from harsh UV conditions in the future.

Melanin blocks 99% of all UV.

This is a pro-life adaptation, in much the same way that hunter-gatherers develop the adaptation of wider and more functional feet due to their natural environment.

I’m still amazed by how most centralized practitioners fail to understand hormesis.

We’ve all heard the quote that whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

That’s the hormetic effect at work.

A small stressor over time = an adaptation = a stronger organism.

Midday sunlight exposure that is higher in UV-A and UV-B is that stressor. Ultraviolet light evolved in tandem with human beings to create a more robust species.

You don’t hear about the dangers of exercise, do you?

What about cold exposure?

How about sauna use?

They all follow the same principle of hormesis.

Now you’re beginning to see how ridiculous it is for these “professionals” to say a tan is harmful. If these people were logically consistent, you would see the largest institutions in the world demonize exercise, hot/cold therapy, and the consumption of vegetables.

There would be an endless bombardment of fear porn campaigns on anything perceived as a stressor, even though eustress and the adaptations that follow define the existence of our species.

How To Build A Solar Callus

Now there’s a right and wrong way to approach sunbathing.

To be successful here, you must follow the following framework to a T.

This applies to all skin types because I have seen it work in every skin type, from redheads to the darkest of people.

Lighter skinned people need to be more strict with this framework, but everybody is able to produce more melanin. That’s a biological fact.

Principle 1: Morning sunbathing is your greatest sunscreen

The single most effective way to avoid burns, regardless of skin type?

Sunbathe in the early morning hours, from sunrise up until about 9/10 AM, depending on your location and latitude.

The light spectrum from the sun at this time primes your skin for higher UV conditions to come during midday. You get the production of:

• Filaggrin (a skin protein which hydrates and protects the skin barrier)

• Urocanic acid (a byproduct of the amino acid histidine found in the skin)

This is the most important aspect of building your solar callus which is why I placed it at the top of the list. Without it, you leave yourself susceptible to burns and bad outcomes, especially if you are light skinned.

If you have pale skin, this is where you should focus most of your energy, especially in the beginning stages of your sunbathing journey.

Why?

Because you primarily have a form of melanin which isn’t as protective known as pheomelanin. Building more melanin is a priority.

It makes sense as well because the human body evolved to see the early morning sun on the rise before midday sunlight. It evolved to get that exposure with most of your skin in the game. Evolutionary biology at work.

Principle 2: Progressive overload is the mental heuristic to memorize.

Early morning sunbathing isn’t where you build the solar callus.

It’s where you PRIME the skin to have that opportunity.

Midday sunbathing is where that solar callus (melanin) is built.

The fitness industry uses progressive overload as a timeless principle to get stronger, while avoiding the risk of injury. To go against progressive overload in the gym is to manipulate a weight you cannot control, resulting in injury. To go against progressive overload while sunbathing is to get more midday sunlight than you are able to handle, resulting in burns and other symptoms.

The hours of 11 AM - 3 PM is where you’re able to produce melanin according to most latitudes, with peak hours around noon to 1-2 PM.

This is where you take an individual N=1 approach. Darker skinned people have more leverage, while lighter skinned people need less midday sunlight to produce the same effect.

I cannot tell you how much time you need to spend sunbathing.

What I can tell you is that avoiding burns is important because that’s an indicator you’ve gone too far according to your current level of adaptation.

Being consistent is key here.

You don’t lift a barbell once and expect to become proficient at weightlifting, nor should you believe the same about sunbathing.

For some of you, 5 minutes is the goal. For others, 25 minutes.

Layering midday sunbathing with the early AM sunbathing gives you more leverage to spend more time sunbathing. As you gain more experience, you’ll notice your threshold for sunlight begins to increase without any negative side effects (burns).

That’s the key indicator you’re approaching this work correctly.

Principle 3: Most of your bare skin needs to be in the game for this to work

Sunbathing doesn’t include being covered in clothing, head to toe.

It’s an intentional practice where you allow raw sunlight to hit your bare skin for a period of time. Again, SKIN IN THE GAME.

Principle 4: Remove that which alters the sun’s full light spectrum.

Sunglasses, contact lenses, clothing, sunscreen, being behind a window..

This is where details matter.

You cannot artificially manipulate the full light spectrum from the sun and expect good outcomes because we evolved with the spectrum as one.

Any filter over the eyes or skin creates a backfiring effect by blocking beneficial light wavelengths and concentrating other ones, mostly blue light.

In other words:

You’re disrupting the process of developing the solar callus (melanin production).

Prime example being sunglasses because they block all UV from getting into the eyes peripherally which disrupts the production of a/b/y-MSH. Melanocyte stimulating hormone in all of its forms is a signal for the body to produce melanin via melanocytes.

Sunscreen is another one. Blocks all UV and concentrates blue light which inherently damages the skin and makes you more susceptible to burns + skin cancer in isolation.

Remember, human biology doesn’t give a shit about what you BELIEVE in regards to the use of these things. It cares about RESULTS. Let your dogma fall to the wayside and be open-minded because the results speak for themselves.

Principle 5: When you’ve had enough midday sunlight, put it to rest until tomorrow.

More in this context is not better unless you’ve already developed a strong solar callus. Even then, as somebody who is very tan, I understand when it’s time to call it quits for the day because the UV index is too high.

This largely depends on your latitude and where you live.

Again, I cannot give you a general prescription here. You must gain more experience to know when the body says it’s had enough for the day. Your body will let you know through various means, typically in the form of a thought “I’ve had too much.”

This is a great time to utilize both CLOTHES and SHADE as a means to avoid burns according to your skin type.

Principle 6: Once the adaptation is developed, rest assured that you’ll be stronger.

Once you have an adequate amount of melanin and experience developed, that’s where it gets fun because it means you can spend MORE time outside without any negative consequences whatsoever.

In fact, you’ll become healthier because you can make more melanin, Vitamin D3, nitric oxide, so forth.

This is the virtuous cycle of sunbathing.

Solar callus = more melanin = can spend more time sunbathing = enhanced health.

Principle 7: Align yourself with the light and dark cycle for further protection.

Pair your sunbathing habits with the blocking of artificial light, especially after sunset. Artificial light is toxic to every aspect of human biology, particularly the neuroectoderm (brain, skin, eyes).

Being under bright, isolated blue light from various sources after sunset is a great way to damage your skin which would make it more vulnerable to midday sunbathing burns.

Brighter days, darker nights.

Be comprehensive in your approach to light.

When somebody mentions the solar callus, just know they’re referring to these principles. Even those who throw around that label don’t know most of this.

As a bonus tip, download the Dminder app to track your sunbathing sessions.

If you enjoyed this, book a call with me to join my coaching program. It’ll blow you away and get you the results you’ve been yearning for years.

Much love,

Zaid