Still learning

[Valerie Louise]

Ladies, I've been at this for a long time.
The Walk, has always eluded me.
Now, I know many of you will read this rest of this, and think, "This girl must be slow", but for the few that may be encountering the problems I have, and unable to figure it out, I hope this may help.
For years I've read that to get the Walk, one thing to do is wear heels. I wear four inch heels out in my shop routinely, and other lower heights depending on occasion. A thing I hate about all of them is that often, as I put the heel down, it will slip backwards with this scraping noise as the foot rolls forward.
Not so for GG women, and I've watched a lot of them. The heel slip comes and goes for me, and I don't think my walk was very good.
Before you suggest it, yes, I've reviewed the gait simulations, and various instructional videos.

I keep trying to figure it out, and tonight I tried just walking on my toes ... no heels on the shoes, just tennies. I felt like I was strutting ... which seemed like the thing I want to achieve. So yeah, heels would do that, get me on my toes, so why isn't it working?!
The few neurons I use seemed to click on this and say ... "**** Maybe you are supposed to be walking on your toes, even though you are in heels ... flex that calf just as hard as you do to get on your toes without the heel, but do it, with the heels on ... you dummy!!****".

Wow. So simple. You have to do the work, not the heel. I just tried it and no more slippage, and I feel the strut now. Heels comes down with that feminine CLICK that is so intoxicating and it feels better as I roll forward. I think this may be it, and it means working harder when walking in heels to get it right. In short, I was being lazy. Its why some of the videos suggest calf strengthening, I suspect.

Decades of working to emulate the female form ... still learning.
I'm open to any thoughts or similar ah-ha moments in achieving the Walk.

Best,
Val

[docrobbysherry]

The first couple years I wore 4" to 5 1/2" spikes around my house occasionally? I destroyed every heel tip and marked up my hardwood floors!:doh:

I bought a bunch of rubber replacement tips and did some serious practice walking. Do NOT land hard heel first!:thumbsdn:

It took many years, landing flat and learning how to swing my hips and put one foot in front of the other, before it became 2nd nature. Just today I re watched a 5 year old video which featured closeups of my legs and feet walking. I got it! And, so can u with practice!:thumbsup:

PS: Even my micro spike tips last for ages now!:heehee:

[Valerie Louise]

Thanks Doc for the affirmation of the theory. I've got the heel tip replacement parts and tool to fix worn tips as you relate. As you say, if you have to replace tips frequently, its probable you aren't walking right.
Now to tone up those calves!

[Helen_Highwater]

One other factor we as males need to grasp at least during the inital learning stages is to shorten your stride slightly. This will help in stopping the heel striking the ground first.

As you get better at walking in heels and if you're in a hurry you'll be able to lengthen your stride while still having the right gait.

I'm sure you're also aware women walk with their feet landing closer to the line they're walking than men. This is also important when wearing heels if you're to truly master the art.

[alwayshave]

My wife, who hates the way I walk, made me walk around in heels with a book on my head. It made me send up straight, shorten my gate, and have my shoe hit the floor evenly, not heel first.

[Heather76]

There is no way I can do anything in heels. However, I have found a combination of 3 things help me (at least in my mind) achieve a more feminine walk. In no particular order:
1) Take shorter steps
2) Slow down my pace
3) (Here's the kicker) Turn my hands about 30? - 45? outward from their normal hanging position.

The last item was something I started doing when I realized my hand position was much like that of a football player ready to clench his fists. I noticed women seem to have a much more neutral hand position. I don't know if I've explained that properly; but, turning my wrists out seems to help.

[Joanne108]

Yeah tell me about it! I finally master the magnetic eyelashes and my wife says, help me with these damn things.
I don?t ask how she knows I?ve switched to that type of eyelashes I just help her.

[petrale]

I walk with mid-heels 6cm high, and a little wide, but I feel very comfortable, and to climb stairs, you just have to use only the soles of your feet, if you lean on the heel is the sure tumble; the worst is exactly what my wife does, so I should teach her

[Genifer Teal]

Read up about pelvic tilt. Get that right and relax your abdomen muscles. The rest will kind of fall into place. It is very hard to do. We are used to clenching our core and keeping it tight. Hard to undo the muscle memory. The idea is to separate the hip movement from your upper body. I wear an id pass around my neck at work. This can be replicated. When I walk (as I used to) the pass bounces on my chest. When I disconnect my hips (relax my abdomen) it hangs steady with no movement. This was a good indicator for practice.
A further explanation is imagine having a belly or trying to fake it by extending your stomach as much as you can. That's kind of the idea to relax your abdomen. Correction: You don't want to activate your muscles to push your belly out. You just want to relax those muscles and let your belly hang there. Also lead with your stomach. Men lean forward and lead with their shoulders. Don't do that.