FitSugar -- Healthy, happy you.

How Often Do You Wear Heels?

FitSugar — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:30:00 -0800

The more you move around during your workday, the better for your health, your waistline, and your brain. One element of your outfit that can often disrupt your ability and desire to get up and move is your footwear. High heels maybe lovely to look at, but they don't exactly inspire a 10-block walk. Unfortunately, high heels don't just affect your feet, they alter the alignment of your entire body and can become a literal pain in the neck. As you can probably tell, I mostly wear flats and comfy shoes. About once a week I don some heels and get a little fancy, which makes my little girls cheer with delight. But I am wondering about you . . .
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How Often Do You Wear Heels?

Every day!

Three times a week.

Only when I am going out on the town.

Never — I wear flats all the time.

Never — I wear my sneakers 24/7.

Other — share the details below.

High Heels Can Be a Pain in the Neck

FitSugar — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 08:00:00 -0700

My pal Fab has been seriously weighing the pros and cons of shoes replacing handbags as the ultimate fashion accessory. Makes sense to me because so many of the heels out this season are intricate and high. I mean really high.

High heels can create the illusion of longer legs, but they can also create all kinds of pains in lower legs. But it seems they have negative health consequences from the tip of the toe to the top of the head, or rather that neck. It works like this:

The spine is balanced at either end by the pelvis and the skull. If one end is out of alignment, the other will compensate (for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction — sorry to get so Newtonian when talking about stilettos, I just couldn't resist). To see the chain of events, just

Tips for Wearing High Heels

FitSugar — Thu, 31 May 2007 03:30:00 -0700

In a perfect world women wouldn't be subject to wearing high heels. The world is not perfect and I, for one, love putting on a sexy pair of heels when I can. The problem is that I always have a lingering guilt in my mind about the strain I may be causing to my body.

In case you're like me, even if you're not, here are some tips from The American Orthopedic Foot & Ankle Society on smart heel wearing:

Wear a shorter heel. A 2-inch heel causes less problems than a 4-inch heel. A shorter heel will give an elongated appearance if it is a thin stiletto type rather than a thick or chunky heel.
Try to save the use of your high-heeled shoes for functions where you will not be on your feet for extended periods of time; treat them as a limited-privilege accessory.
Take your designer shoes to a pedorthist to have them custom fit to your feet. They may be able to stretch the toe box to better accommodate your feet.
Try wearing a larger size than usual and insert heel cups into the backs for a better or more comfortable fit.
Wear open toe shoes instead of a similarly-styled shoe that causes discomfort in your toes. Partially open toe shoes have become more acceptable in many work environments, allowing you to further customize your shoes to your feet.
Remember that however appealing those high-heel, high-fashion shoes are, your feet need to carry you around for a lifetime. Treat them kindly!

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Most Common Injuries for Women

FitSugar — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 12:30:00 -0700

As women, when it comes to life in general, we often take the phrase no pain, no gain much more literally than our male counterparts. Due to this, we may suffer certain injuries from just living our lives.

Here is a list of our most common ailments that Self.com has come up with, along with how to prevent them from even happening in the first place:

Neck and upper back: This region bears a lot of pressure, both physically and emotionally. Women often round their shoulders, which shortens chest muscles and pulls muscles in the upper back. Plus, feeling anxious almost always leads to muscle tension. Along with the moves here, any exercise that emphasizes posture and stress relief (think yoga or Pilates) will help.

Wrist: You type on your keyboard, tap on your PDA, text on your phone. That constant action can lead to constant pain. Give your wrists a rest: Call instead of e-mailing when you can. And when you can't, at least support them. Keep them in a neutral position as much as possible, and ask for an ergonomic workup at the office to help pinpoint any hidden sources of strain.

Lower back: This is one vulnerable section. Especially if you have poorly toned core muscles, tight hamstrings and a job that requires you to sit all day, your back can become the weak link. And if you attempt to lift something heavy without good form—use your legs, don't twist—you can throw out your lower back with one heave-ho.

Knees: These poor joints might ache for any number of reasons: You wear high heels often, spend too much time climbing stairs, have tight quads and hamstrings or have flat feet. If your knee hurts, see a sports medicine specialist or an orthopedist to pinpoint the source of the pain.

Heels: Switching between your favorite high heels and flats can inflame your Achilles tendon. When you teeter, the tendon shortens, but when you slip on your ballet flats, it over stretches. Wear shoes with different heel heights from day to day to avoid extreme changes. And make sure all your shoes have adequate cushioning.

To read the full article as well as check out other great health and fitness information, visit Self.com.

High Heels – Pretty and Pretty Bad for Your Body

FitSugar — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 11:00:00 -0700

Ouch!! My feet hurt just looking at this poor girl.

High heels seem like an accident waiting to happen. Heels have been all the rage since the term "fashionable" was coined. It is true they look great - they lengthen the leg, they thin the ankle. They exaggerate the feminine form. But wearing those lovely 3 inch Manolos could be doing more damage than just crushing and bruising the toes.

If you think high heels are at the height of elegance, you might want to know what long term affects you'll suffer. Inflamed nerves and ligaments, shortened Achilles tendon and calf muscles, hammertoes, bunions, corns, ingrown toenails, and don't even get me started on posture.

Lifting your heels up to unnatural heights totally throws your balance out the door, and you compensate by adjusting your back, hips, and shoulders. In the long run, bad posture will cause terrible lower back pain, leg pains, and headaches.

What's worse? Wearing high heels may also be linked to knee osteoarthritis, a painful, degenerative joint disease characterized by the breakdown of the cartilage surrounding the knee, because when women wear heels, it puts repetitive pressure and stress on the knee joint. The thing is, it takes a while to feel the effects of knee osteoarthritis, but once you do, it's too late to undo the damage you've already done.

Fit's Tips: The best thing to do is to ditch those high heels and wear flats, or alternate every other day between heels and comfy shoes. Your feet, knees, hips and low back will love you for it.

Wear Heels? Stretch These Muscles

FitSugar — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 04:00:05 -0700

We all know that high heeled shoes are pretty, and pretty bad for your body. Yet, we all end up wearing them sometime or another - a big meeting, a wedding, or almost everyday.

Basically the height of the heel pushes the weight of the body forward which interferes with your balance. The body likes to be in equilibrium so many muscle groups work harder to maintain your balance and keep you upright. Much of this muscular work occurs in the lower back since the lumbar curve get exaggerated while wearing heels. This exaggeration in the the low part of the spine affects the hip flexors in the front of the body. Plus the poor overworking calves get tight too after a day in high heels.

Since I know many of you still wear heels daily especially with Fab tempting us almost daily with the new shoes of Spring. I wanted to show you all some stretches that can help a girl out after a day in heels - if I can't scare you out of wearing them, at least I can help you feel better after a day in them. So check these recuperative stretches out, there's 2 options for you to try for each tight body part.

Low Back Stretches

Child's Pose

Squat in the shower

If you don't like to stretch in the shower, do this stretch on dry land.

There are two more body parts to stretch, so

Fit High Heels: Cole Haan Nike Air

FitSugar — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 04:00:00 -0800

At first glance you may think that I have lost my mind writing about heels but bear with me here.

My sister and my mom have been raving about these new heels that Oprah apparently loves. I'll admit I was skeptical, as they would love anything Miss Oprah endorses, even if it were the ugliest shoes ever. I was thinking Nike sneaker meets heel, which didn't sound so attractive to me but I did the research and can now say that these Cole Haan Nike Air shoes ($275 and up) are fabulous.

Each high heel shoe of the Cole Haan Nike Air collection utilizes Nike Zoom air bag technology to cushion the ball and heel of the foot. By lining the interior of the heels with strategically placed Nike Zoom air bags, the stress and pain caused by the weight transfer from the raised heel to the toe is counterbalanced. What does it all mean? Basically these shoes could be the most comfortable and sexy heels you ever wore, even despite the fact that the heel sizes average 3-4 inches.

The Cole Haan Nike Air collection of high heels comes in a wide variety of styles including boots, wedges, platforms, pumps, Mary Janes and sling backs. Now, I'm not saying you should run in them as you would your Nike sneaks, but it's nice to know you could if you wanted. To get a pair visit the Cole Haan site.

To see more of the cute and comfy shoes,

Move It at Home: DVD - LEGWORK

FitSugar — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 08:30:00 -0800

Ever wonder how women in the entertainment industry (on Broadway, off Broadway and way off Broadway) are able to move so well in those high heels?

LEGWORK ($19.95) is a new DVD that teaches the daily routines and exercises of top Broadway dancers. What's more? The workout is specifically designed to be done by women in high heels. The Legwork workout was created and designed by high heel designers, top Broadway dancers and ballerinas with the advice from fitness experts and podiatrists. Sounds torturous? Kylin Brady's (the amazing Broadway dancer who helped create the DVD) killer legs are motivation enough.

And here's why, the DVD claims that:

You will increase sexiness, grace and confidence in heels, leg tone and strength, heal wearing endurance and stamina as well as core strength and control.
You will learn proper heel walking and control, perfect posture, poise and pose as well as everyday walking exercises and relief techniques.
You will decrease pain in feet, ankles, legs and lower back, your risk for injury as well as your daily heel wearing discomfort.

Buy the DVD on LEGWORK.com. One thing is for sure, this DVD will definitely make you feel like you're ready for A Chorus Line.