Getting ready to put your summer sandals at the back of closet and break out your high-heeled pumps? Consider the latest study examining the physical costs of adding height to your step.
Compared with wearing flats, wearing heels regularly can lead to shortened calf-muscle fibers and thicker, stiffer Achilles’ tendons, according to physiology professor Marco Narici and his colleagues at Britain’s Manchester Metropolitan University and at the University of Vienna. This may be why some women feel tightness in their calves when they kick off their heels. The findings are published in the July issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology.
From a group of 80 volunteers ages 20 to 50 who had worn two-inch or higher heels five times a week for at least two years, the researchers selected 11 who felt discomfort in their calves after taking off the shoes. Researchers did not assess physical activity level or heel thickness. A control group included nine women of comparable age, height and mass who wore flats regularly.
With magnetic resonance imaging, researchers noted that those in both groups had calf muscles of similar size but different shape. Assuming this was due to fiber lengths, the researchers used ultrasound to confirm their hypothesis: Individual muscle fibers shortened with high-heel wear.