Rock your heels and your posture
Did you know that some of the first recorded wearing of high heel was Queen Elizabeth 1st? I assume she needed every trick in the book to rule a country in the 1500s as a woman and the heels afforded her a bit more height and majesty.
For sure there is some far from empowered, down right oppressive days of women and heels – there was a crazy variation worn in Venice that was so awkward the Church condoned them as they limited women doing sinful activities like dancing or leaving their husbands. Yikes.
So, here we are in 2016, empowered again and choosing on our own accord to wear heels. I like to think that we just really think they are beautiful and would be excited to wear them even if we were out all alone just because they make us feel confident and complete our outfit perfectly.
To that end, how can we wear them without compromising our feet, ankles, knees or back?
Well to state the obvious….we don’t have to go for the 5 inch ones ; ). For every inch higher there is that much more pressure through our forefoot and increases injuries such as neuromas, and our calves are shortened that much more. A platform is a clever way to give the illusion of height without as much true difference between the level of the ball of our foot and heel. It is also wise to change up your footwear often. A night in the stiletto could be alternated by flats at work the next 2 days.
As one of the big problems with prolonged high heel wear is a shortened calf, frequent calf stretching is a great idea. If the calf learns that new shortened position, it may be very hard to be barefoot on the beach again (and how sad is that?). Foam rolling the calf can also help keep the muscle healthy. Tight calves can also lead to plantar fasciitis and knee arthritis.
Because the high heel leans our whole body forward, our spine must bring it back to upright. The stronger your spine is the more efficiently it can do this. Exercises that strengthen in length like Pilates, Barre, planking, bridging, can all help. Any postural training would be a good investment, I love Foundation Training for this.
So, you can wear those gorgeous heels and be even more empowered than ever, knowing how to protect your joints. We need them for lots of great life moments from here on.