Why wearing heels makes your body hurt!

So if you've been around this blog or Katy Bowman's site much, you've seen this diagram - a lot:

From Every Woman's Guide To Foot Pain Relief by Katy Bowman

It's pretty telling and pretty amazing how even a wearing a small heeled shoe can force you to contort your body so you stand upright.

Your poor toes ... all that weight now piled right onto them and the ball of your foot, plus they're crammed into narrow toe boxes.  Your poor feet ... happiest when they're flat on the floor, now they are raised up.  Your poor ankles, wobbling and at a strange angle.  Your poor calf muscles ... perpetually shortened because your heels are up off the ground.  Your poor knees, thighs, hips, back, shoulders, neck and head -  all adjusting to make sure you don't fall forward in those shoes!   All because of a little thing called a heel!

If you need more details on heel height and forward pitch and how it affects your body, the video below by Katy Bowman is helpful too:






Stuck wearing heels for your job?  Try these stretches and movements for standing and walking.
Click here for the Walk This Way, Stand This Way downloadable video.