The Surprising Physical Discipline Behind the Perfect Pageant Walk

A pageant walk may look effortless. But sustaining elegance under pressure, and under stage lights, in five-inch heels, is a kind of endurance that deserves to be called what it is: work.

Jonas Gaffud knows this better than most. The co-founder of renowned pageant boot camp Aces & Queens and owner of Mercator Artist and Model Management, Gaffud has helped train some of the country’s most successful beauty queens. Now serving as the CEO and president of Miss Universe Philippines, he continues to shape the evolving standards of pageant performance—emphasizing presence, polish, and that elusive quality known simply as aura.

He recalls the early days of training: “I check their posture first. They have to stand for hours, then we have exercises and dances, hand and hip movements, just to warm up.”

“Some women possess a natural poise—especially those who did ballet or dancing from childhood,” continues Gaffud, known in the industry as “Mama J”. “It takes a lot of muscle memory and exercise, so it’s comparable to working out. You have to walk in heels while maintaining your smile, your gaze, your aura.”

Now try maintaining that for eight solid hours. This isn’t an Olympic workout—this is pageant queen practice.

Your walk is built step by step, not born.

Before he trained queens at Aces & Queens, Lowell Tan was first a dancer. His early career as a dance instructor gave him an eye for movement—but it wasn’t until Gaffud approached him that pasarela became part of his vocabulary.

“[Gaffud] gave me my first project. It gave me the idea that it’s possible to incorporate dance into every pasarela walk of a beauty queen, and to involve a more holistic approach,” Tan recalls.

Now, Tan is a core member and educator at the Philippine DanceSport Federation Academy, and trains beauty queens the way one might train dancers or athletes—through repetition, muscle memory, and form. 

As the coach to some of the country’s most prominent titleholders, including Miss Universe Philippines 2019 Gazini Ganados, 2022’s Celeste Cortesi, The Miss Philippines 2023 Pauline Amelincx, and Miss Supranational Philippines 2025 Tarah Valencia, he has watched the pageant walk evolve from surface-level spectacle to full-body discipline.

“It needs to be very, very physical and athletic,” says the longtime walk coach. “I had to teach [beauty queens] how to carry their body from the core, [and] from the core to lift it up all the way to the sternum, [and to] keep it up all the time.”

So, which parts of your body are actually at work?

The perineum—a diamond-shaped patch of muscle and tissue located between our front and back intimate parts—might not be top of mind in everyday conversation. But in pageant training, it plays an unexpectedly vital role. “Work on squeezing that,” Tan says. “When you squeeze the perineum, it keeps your posture up all the time.”

Such small adjustments become crucial on pageant night. “During any pageant, it isn’t easy to walk in a gown that is twice your weight. So that needs to be worked on,” he explains. 

Because of this, muscle conditioning is non-negotiable. “I tell [beauty queens] to really strengthen their calves, their hamstrings, their quads, and also how to make use of pulling up,” Tan continues. “We do core exercises. Your back also needs to be worked on, instead of just working on your abdominal workouts.”

The impact of a walk

How much does a great walk really contribute when it comes to winning a crown? According to Tan, more than you might think. But it’s not just about choreography or hitting the right angles, it’s about conviction.

“You have to be confident with what and who you are,” he says. “When you do your walk, the confidence gives you more points.”

“The most important lesson I have been teaching is confidence,” affirms Gaffud, a longtime sounding board in Philippine pageantry. “From the way you walk or stand on stage, confidence is key. When you have the aura of a winner, not even a fall can stop you.”

Gaffud has always emphasized that pasarela is about mental presence, too. “You’re trained to have a presence of mind. So when you fall, stand back up and show everyone that you are very confident. As the saying goes, ‘The show must go on.’

Another crucial tip? Confidence is in the right pair of shoes.

In pageantry, there’s an age-old saying everyone tries to live by: Never lend your heels—or try on someone else’s. There might be truth to it. The wrong shoe can throw off your entire routine.

“Consider the shoes you’re wearing,” Tan says. “Your body can’t always adapt to any shoe. You can’t just just jump in and then go. You need to walk a little bit with it, warm up, and allow your body to adapt with the shoe.” 

For long gown and national costume segments, Tan recommends platforms—they offer height and help balance the weight of elaborate garments. But for swimsuit competitions, he prefers heels without platforms for a sleeker, more natural stride.

The walk behind the walk

One specific workout he swears by? Walking slowly on an incline treadmill. “Because when it’s inclined, your body tends to lean a bit forward, and what happens is it allows your leg to work on the calves, the hamstring, and the quads.” 

Another tip is to be prepared for abrupt stops. It’s not just about your own walk—it’s also about staying attuned to the rhythm of the women ahead of you. “Always look at the person in front of you,” Tan advises. “Because if she stops, then automatically, your walk and establishing moment have to be adjusted, too.” 

In other words: anticipate. “You can’t look surprised that it happened. Give poise to your stop.” A break in formation, a last-minute halt—these can throw you off your center. “You lose composure when you get shocked. That’s why you are not able to establish your spiral, your pivots,” he explains, “because some of the transferring of weight is not happening.” 

Competitors are also taught to keep their heels flat to prevent wobbling, and to cut walk practice into sections: practice swaying your hips today, dedicate mastering your shoulder movements the next day, and try to perfect your walk technique next time you practice.

That calm under pressure is often what separates winners from everyone else. Gaffud remembers the first time he witnessed a contestant fall: “It was Miriam Quiambao during Miss Universe 1999’s preliminary evening gown competition. She was able to use that fall to her advantage in her Top 5 Q&A.” The moment didn’t break her, it made her. “[It] seemed like the audience and the judges saw her confidence through it all,” he recalls.

Now that that’s clear, how do you find your walk?

We asked Tan how long it actually takes to perfect a pageant walk, and like most things in pasarela, the answer “really depends on the girl,” he says. Some come in with prior walk training, and rather than wipe the slate clean, he works with what’s already there. “If there’s already something, I don’t erase that. I just enhance.” 

For Tan, walk training isn’t about conformity—it’s about amplifying what makes you stand out. “I don’t want you to lose your personality,” he adds. “I’m just here to polish the trademark that’s already yours.”

Gaffud agrees. “You have to assess their bodies first. Not all bodies are the same—some have long torsos, narrow shoulders, huge hips,” he explains. “I try to help present them in the best and most flattering way possible.” But technique can only take you so far. 

“In the end, it all boils down to aura. Because no matter how much you have mastered the art of walking, if you don’t have stage presence, it won’t matter.”

It also depends on the kind of pageant she’s competing in, and what that particular stage is looking for. A Miss Universe walk isn’t always a Miss International walk, and understanding those nuances is just as important as perfecting your pivots. The kind of gown you’re wearing could also heavily influence your walk, which is why Tan recommends practicing your walk with your gown ahead of time.

One last tip: Don’t forget to breathe!

“When the cameras are on, that’s when you boost your energy and then come out,” Tan says. But knowing when to pause—strategically, musically—is just as key. “At every established point, that’s when you pick up your breathing. Breathe, take time, and always count by twos or by fours depending on the music.” 

It’s a rhythm, a choreography of breath and body: pick up, pause, peak again, and glide toward your mark. A walk, after all, is only as strong as the breath that anchors it.

Fake it till you make it—then walk like you made it all along.

“When understanding all this, you need to understand that everything does not happen in an instant. It all has a process,” Tan reaffirms. Almost humorously, he adds, “I always require them to keep doing [their pageant walk] every time—like [when they’re] coming out of bed, going to the restroom, the toilet, or even the kitchen, so that it will be of second nature to them.”

For Gaffud, it’s also about emotional projection. “The judges only see what is on stage and don’t know what is going on in your life. So it’s important to smile and have fun,” he says. “Don’t show any sadness or doubts on your face because that translates to lack of confidence. Just remember your posture and project a happy persona.”

In other words, conditioning isn’t just for the stage. It’s a daily habit, a performance embedded in the mundane. With enough repetition, even the most technical pasarela becomes effortless—and we’ll all be strutting our way to the fridge until it does.