The study found that men and women who regularly wore high heels walked better and more efficiently.
People who have ever wobbled in high heels may be surprised by the findings of a biomechanical study on this type of footwear. In this study, young women and men who had been wearing custom-made heels for months soon began to change their walking patterns.
However, contrary to popular perception of high heels, the researchers found that these changes were not a problem. Conversely, walkers who regularly wear high heels for men and women become better and more efficient, not only when wearing high heels, but also on flat shoes.
These results raise the unexpected possibility that high heels may be a "training tool" for people with mobility problems, or for healthy men and women, including possibly athletes, who want to be able to move faster and easier, according to research led by Irving N. Baker, assistant professor of animal science at the University of Texas at Austin.
But putting on and taking off stilettos can also have downsides.
Before the start of the movie Barbie, when the protagonist is experiencing an existential crisis, she kicks off a pair of high-heeled slippers and continues to slide, her feet still bent and standing on tiptoe. The film conveys a cultural point of view (and a superb visual joke).
But research suggests that this image may also have some slight physiological plausibility. While previous research on the effects of wearing high heels on the legs and feet is limited, it generally shows that wearing high heels for months or years in a row can significantly change the way people walk, whether wearing high heels or flats.
In one of the earliest studies, Australian biomechanics researchers found that young women who regularly wore high heels had shorter strides, had a stiffer gait, and that their feet and ankles remained more curved when barefoot than women who usually wore flat shoes.
But this study, and several subsequent studies, still leaves unanswered questions about what exactly happens inside the calves of people who wear high heels and whether these changes affect how easy it is to walk.
This also does not include men.
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In the new study, published this month in the Journal of Applied Physiology, Baker and colleagues looked for healthy young men and women who had never or almost never worn high heels. By recruiting volunteers who had never been exposed to high heels, the researchers hoped to be able to track changes inside the legs of people who began to wear this taller type of footwear.
They eventually found five male and three female volunteers.
The scientists then made acceptable high heels for all the volunteers by attaching foam wedge-shaped blocks to the soles of the flat-soled Chuck Taylor All-Stars low-top sneakers. Each pair of shoes is customized so that the participant's foot is bent at an angle of 14 degrees. In practice, this means that the sole of the shoe is about 2 to 3 inches high.
The scientists then used ultrasound and other techniques to check the length of the volunteers' calf muscles as well as the stiffness of the Achilles tendon. They also determined the amount of energy volunteers needed to walk on a treadmill for five minutes on a flat-bottomed chuck taylor and a high-heeled version. People who use less energy than others are more efficient or metabolically economical walkers.
In the end, they gave everyone an activity tracker and asked them to walk around the world and wear their new heels every day for 14 weeks.
Not everyone does. Some volunteers were "a little embarrassed" by the improvised heightened sneakers, Baker said. Others complain of pinched toes or other discomfort, which is not new to flat shoe lovers who occasionally wear high heels.
But more than half of the volunteers, both men and women, wear these shoes most of the time.
After 14 weeks, everyone returned to the lab to repeat the earlier tests. There was no change in the legs or walking of those volunteers who had largely given up wearing high heels in the first place.
But those who wear high heels fairly consistently tend to have shorter calf muscles and stiffer Achilles tendons than before.
What's even more surprising is that they have also become more efficient, not only when wearing high heels, but also when wearing flat shoes, using less energy when walking at the same speed on a treadmill.
Baker said researchers expect people to become more efficient over time when wearing high heels. "You put people on a new pair of shoes, and they're going to walk better on them. ”
But there's no need to expect these adjustments to translate into easier exercises in other situations. People who wear high heels seem to become "more metabolically economical humans," Baker said.
He and his colleagues speculate that the study's findings may be most relevant for people with limited mobility, such as older adults, who tend to have relatively loose Achilles tendons and walk slowly. Wearing high heels may help strengthen their Achilles tendon and reshape their calves, making walking feel "less strenuous and encouraging them to act more aggressively."
For others, it is more speculative whether we might benefit if we are not fans of louboutins or similar footwear. But, Baker said, "I can understand" that runners wear high heels after training or racing, "instead of sandals." "The harder the Achilles tendon has more energy return than the looser, so wearing high heels regularly may improve running efficiency and speed over time.
But the study was fairly small and only involved healthy young volunteers, not older adults or athletes. It also did not track injuries. Falls and sprains are not uncommon in high-heeled wearers, and the muscle and tendon changes that accompany wearing high-heeled shoes may make some wearers more susceptible to injury.
Neil Cronin, professor of physical education and health sciences at Yovasqualla University in Finland, said: "There may be an optimal balance where wearing high heels is enough to see positive effects economically in sports, but don't use them so much that other negative effects such as pain, hardening of the Achilles tendon, balance problems, etc., start to interfere." He led the 2012 study of high heels, but was not involved in the new study.
Both Baker and Cronin agree that more research is needed. But, for now, if you're hoping that your daily walks start to feel a little more relaxed, you might want to consider adding some height to your daily shoe rotation.