Ankle/Foot Stretching (again)

[Nova]

I know you've all likely been over this before, but I had trouble finding the answer. I'm wondering if there's a good way to get your ankles more flexible so they'll bend back more (towards the calf). I was trying to wear my Ellie 6" heels today and figured that if I could get my foot to bend back further at the ankle, I could straighten up my posture like normal. I have no trouble with the 5.5" 'Extreme" style, but I can't stand/walk in the 6" ones without being all bent up and clumsy. Ack... help, please. 'Jen'

[JeffM]

JN try this site.

http://www.heikes-heels.de/english/trainer/training01.htm

It has some good pics on how it is done and some of the results too showing just how much increase in the flexibility can be acheived.

There is also a link on this page that goes to a "How to build your own" if you want to DIY. unfortunately it is in German, so you would need to translate. This can be done using Babel Fish.

Jeff

[Bubba136]

There's no better way than by wearing them. Practice, practice, practice. When I was getting used to wearing 5" heels, I used to walk around the basement of our house in Virginia counting the steps I was taking. I started with 25, then 50 and worked my way up to 300 without stoping or sitting down. It does take a few weeks, but it works. One funny thing about my learing to wear 5" heels, the transition from 4" to 5" was far more difficult than it was from 5" to 6 heels". However, my 7" heels still give me a "fit" and I can't wear them for long periods without sitting down.

[Dr. Shoe]

The first time I wore 4.5 inch heels, it was difficult. Now I can wear 5" without a problem. I think that practice is the key.

[Laurieheels]

What more is there to say except practice? Well, stand next to something like a desk. Or dresser. Something about waist high. Place a hand on it to stead yourself. Then do reps of heel lifts. What you do is just stand on the balls of your feet, trying to raise the heels of your feet as high as you can. Consider this a warm up exercise. Do a few reps of ten. Then after a quick minute of relaxing, put on your shoes. One thing about muscles and tendons, they like to be warmed up. It works for exercise in the conventional sense, so why not for wearing your favorite heel heights? These little flex exercises will start working the muscles and tendons, and help your flexing when you put on the shoes. Basically, you're doing some pre stretching before you have your feet stretch into the position for the shoes. The muscles warm up, get ready, and are more loose when it is time to do the real work. Then practice with walking around. Counting steps like Bubba said is a good idea, it is like creating an exercise. The more steps you take in a row, the more your muscles and tendons are developing. Don't push yourself past your limit. Find the limit and stay a step below it when doing this. But in the end, this is all about practice.

[Waisted_Giraffe]

Jennifer Nova Or you could try ebay, there is someone usually selling by bid or buy it now. I bought a pair, giving my shoe size and requisite dimension. lot easier than making if you don't have scrap parts to hand to build them with. Relativly reasonable price aswell though. Can't tell you how well they've worked as a change in cirmumstance hasn't allowed me to get use out of them, however Spook's testament on her previous web site appears to be good. Happy extending Big D

[Nova]

Thanks everyone for your advice so far. It's nice to find helpful people like yourselves. So it seems to be either practice, practice, practice, or medieval torture device. Actually, I wanted to try the foot-stretcher thingy, so maybe when I get some cash and more free time I'll experiment with both methods. Jen

[chris100575]

I would think that either way would work, but practising sounds like much more fun. Not to mention what happens when you've got yourself all strapped up in your foot training device and then the phone rings. Chris