For my foot straps I only put them tight enough to hold my feet in place without them slipping around much. I certainly don't have to tighten them painfully. My calf cuffs are pretty tight, but also not really painfully so. I find more of the problem is making sure the foot straps and cuffs are adjusted to the right size and placement so that they're comfortable. If you have them right you can have them pretty tight and still be ok. I also find that after bocking for a little while I have to tighten them up a bit again once they "settle".
If there are any specific spots on your cuffs or foot straps that hurt, then you might want to experiment with adjusting the foot straps larger or smaller, and adjusting the cuff support bars up down and back and forth until you get a good all around solid fit. That will let you tighten them comfortably.