How To Walk Tall In Your High Heels!

Those five-inch stilettos look so beautiful on their plain white pedestal in the store window. You know exactly what dress they’d be perfect for, but what you don’t know might hurt you.

Sprains, foot aches, blisters, ankle injuries, hammertoes and other long term damage can be caused by wearing shoes with heels that are too high. Podiatrists say wearing high-heeled shoes puts too much pressure on the balls of your feet and your lower back. Calluses and corns are the least of a stiletto-wearing fashionista’s problems. Constant pressure on the feet can result in the thickening of tissue around the nerves in toes and cause pain, stinging and numbness in the toes. The taller the heel is the greater the risk of injury.

High heels make women feel taller, skinnier and sexier. Beyonce popping and bouncing across stage in six-inch heels that look more like weapons is enough to make any woman believe she can survive a few nights on the town in stilettos. Even though Beyonce has admitted she is killing her feet by dancing in stilettos, she never gets on stage without them. The high heel shoe will simply never go out of style, but there are ways to minimize fashion’s damage to your feet.

Go for a wedge or platform style. The wedge style distributes your weight evenly across a greater surface putting less pressure on the balls of your feet. Platforms minimize the relative distance of the sole of the foot to the ground. The height of the platform decreases the relative height of the heel.

Have a pair of standby shoes. Instead of walking long distances in high heels wear a pair of flats or tennis shoes and change into your high heels when you arrive. If your feet start to hurt halfway through the night don’t be ashamed to slip back into those flats.

Get Into Training!!

Through training, you can teach your feet to wear heels – even the highest of heels. Some high heel fans take training to the extreme and wear six-inch or higher heels almost at all times. Whether you’re just hoping to be more comfortable in your three-inch work heels or you’re a member of the fetish group, read on to find out more about training your feet to walk well and feel comfortable in tall shoes.

Why Bother with High Heels

Wearing high heels is all about the aesthetics. Not only do they make you look taller, which plenty of us enjoy in itself, but they can make your legs look longer, more graceful, and more feminine. The effects aren’t reserved for skirts, either; wearing a pair of four-inch stiletto boots with snug-fitting blue jeans can elongate the leg and create a beautiful silhouette.

High Heel Training: the Concept

There are three components to high heel training:

• Adapting the foot to the shape and position of high heels
• Getting your feet used to walking in them
• Learning to walk in them without stumbling or toppling over-and while looking good

Part of adapting your foot to the shape and position of high heel shoes is getting the sole and in particular the arch into the proper condition. The idea behind training your feet to wear heels when it comes to shaping your foot is that over time, your foot almost reshapes. It adapts to the new position required to wear heeled shoes, mainly in the arch region.

Getting your feet used to walking in heels is different from learning to walk without bad posture, twisting an ankle, or falling. It’s about working your way up from three-inch heels, to four, to six, and so on.

Learning to walk without stumbling or toppling over has to do with repositioning your center of balance and feeling confident enough in your new shoes to hold your head high and shoulders back. There’s a “walk” that goes with sexy high heels to get the full “va-va-voom” effect you’re probably hoping to achieve. Your legs will look better in heels, but without proper training, will you?

How It Works

There are a few different methods of high heel training. Rachel Adams has created a diary of her experience getting used to heels up to seven inches tall. Rachel wore each pair of heels in the closet for a full day, working up from low heels to the tallest heels. The goal was to wear seven-inch heels from sun-up to sundown. It only took about 108 pairs of shoes to gradually get there. Rachel has since stopped her training!

The exercise method is better for young feet than older ones. Similar to ballet training, this method takes a lot of flexing, stretching, and exercising. Every day, you’ll need to stretch and flex your feet, walk barefoot and spend time on your tiptoes.

The lifestyle method is similar to what Rachel Adams did. In this method, you wear shoes of a certain height for a while, then move up to higher heels. The general idea behind the lifestyle method is that, over time, your arch will stretch out and your new comfort zone will be within the range of a certain heel height.

How to Walk in Heels

With every shift in height, you’ll need to train yourself to balance and strut in your new tall shoes. The basic idea is always the same, but there will be a period where you’ll need to adapt to each new inch. Training your foot to wear the heels beforehand by stretching and flexing will help, as will working your way up to new heel heights rather than diving right into seven-inch heels.

A quick how-to on walking in heels is as follows:

• Stand up straight and keep your core (abdomen) strong. Which in turn strengthens the spine.
• Keep your legs facing forward, close together, and straight. (not facing outwards).
• Put your heel down first, working your way down to your toes. They’ll hit the ground last.
• Shorten your usual stride, at least while you’re learning to walk in heels.
• Use caution. If the ground is slick or unstable, tread carefully and slowly or remove your heels altogether.

Enjoy!

Katherine McGee, Stylist.

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