Affiliations: [a] Research Institute of Sports and Industry Science, Hanseo University, Seosan, Korea | [b] Department of Air Tourism and Service, Hanseo University, Seosan, Korea | [c] Department of Physical Education, Chungnam National University, Deajeon, Korea
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Yong-Seok Jee, Research Institute of Sports and Industry Science, Hanseo University, #46 Hanseo 1-Ro, Haemi-myeon, Seosan 31962, Korea. Tel.: +82 41 660 1028; Fax: +82 41 660 1088; E-mail:jeeys@hanseo.ac.kr
Abstract: BACKGROUND: There continues to be ongoing debates among researchers
as to the positive or negative effects of short-term wearing of high heeled
shoes (HH) on ankle muscles. OBJECTIVE: To investigate ankle functions among people wearing
low-, mid-, and high-heel shoes as well as the effects different heel
measurement heights have among the groups. METHODS: Seventy-eight female college students who habitually wore
heeled shoes at various heights from 2.71 to 10.15 cm for approximately one
academic year (40.10 ± 10.13 weeks) took part in this study.
Participants were grouped according to their heel heights: low-, mid- and
high-heels. Body composition was measured as well as the isokinetic strength
of ankle muscles at three different heights: 0 cm, 5 cm and 10 cm, relating
to the distance between the standard foot attachment and the foot supporting
plate. The isokinetic strength (in Nm) of the ankle dorsiflexor (DF),
plantarflexor (PF), evertor (EV), and invertor (IV) muscle groups was
recorded for the dominant and non-dominant sides. The total strength of
ankle muscles (TSAM), which is the sum of the peak moment of all 4 muscle
groups was calculated for both sides for all groups. RESULTS: The wearing of HH shoes significantly enhanced the
isokinetic strength of all ankle muscles when measured at a height of 0 cm,
and some ankle muscles (PF and EV) when measured at a height of 5 cm.
However, these effects decreased as the measurement height increased for DF,
PF, EV and IV (P< 0.05) for both sides. Moreover, there were no significant
differences between high- and low-heels groups at the measurement height of
10 cm. The TSAM for both sides also showed no significant differences
between groups when measuring at 10 cm. CONCLUSIONS: Wearing of HH shoes for one year may contribute to
enhancing the isokinetic strength of ankle muscles when wearing flat or
mid-heeled shoes. However, the positive effects that were measured in lower
height conditions (0 cm and 5 cm) disappeared when measured using higher
heights, indicating that wearing HH shoes yields no benefits for building
ankle muscle strength.
