Can Toning Shoes Help You To Get Into Shape?
A healthy diet, combined with regular exercise, is the best, and most effective way to get into shape and stay in good health. However, it’s only human nature to look for shortcuts – and, in a way, it’s hardly surprising when you consider how time starved many people are nowadays.
So, the appearance of “toning shoes”, which claim to help you to tone and trim your legs and bottom just by wearing them as you walk about during the course of your daily routine, will be very welcome news for a lot of people. It’s a tantalising prospect – but how do they work? For that matter, do they work?
There’s a variety of different styles and brands of toning shoes. However, most of the major toning shoe brands seem to use a special design of sole. The design of the sole varies from one brand to another, but most of them seem to operate on the principle of generating a small element of instability in the walking process. The muscles in the lower body respond by trying to re-establish the body’s natural equilibrium. This results in the muscles working a little more than they would usually do – which is how the toning effect is achieved. Some toning shoes also claim to modify gait and/or posture – but it’s the generation of instability which seems to be the important factor.
Different styles of Toning Shoes
Skechers Shape Ups are the current toning shoe market leaders. They have a thick, chunky, rocker type sole with a kinetic insert. This replicates the mechanics of walking barefoot across soft sand and promotes a gentle rolling motion as well as introducing the required imbalance.
Masai Barefoot Technology (MBT) Shoes also use a curved sole which is similar to the Skechers approach. Karl Muller, a Swiss engineer, came up with the concept of MBT shoes after he noticed that his back pain, a recurring problem for him, was considerably better than normal whilst walking barefoot across a Korean rice field. After some further research, he discovered that Masai tribesmen of Africa, who mainly walk barefoot, are well-known for their excellent posture and, unlike Americans and Europeans, almost never suffer from lower back pain. He went on to develop MBTs, mainly to help alleviate back pain, but the toning benefits are now also being recognised.
Reebok EasyTones have a significantly different design. Easytone soles incorporate special air pads – known as balance pods – which generate the desired instability. Considering that the EasyTones sole system was designed by an ex-NASA engineer, it seems safe to assume that the science behind the balance pod system is fairly sound. They are turning out to be extremely popular and are currently in second place in the toning shoe market irrespective of their relatively late appearance.
FitFlops are slightly different, they could even be considered to be the joker in the toning shoes pack. They are certainly very colorful, fun and fashionable! FitFlops originated in the UK as a range of flip flop type sandals with a specially designed sole which uses different densities of material in different areas. This creates a “microwobbleboard” effect which generates the necessary small imbalances during walking. Clogs, sneakers, slippers and boots were later added to the FitFlop range in response to customer demand.
One of the key differences between FitFlops and many other toning shoes, is the fact that FitFlops don’t look anything like fitness footwear – and that means that they can be worn in settings where athletic style shoes might be unsuitable. FitFlop wearers can therefore wear them more often and get excellent value for money using their funky toning shoes. It’s worth noting that FitFlops are also known for their comfort. The design of the special microwobbleboard sole provides increased support and maximizes the contact area between the sole of the foot and the insole of the shoe, reducing the average pressure and making FitFlops very comfy to wear.
Do Toning Shoes Work?
The various footwear manufacturers have carried out different tests and trials to verify the effectiveness of their products. There is also a host of user feedback from satisfied customers happy to testify that toning shoes are the real deal. However, it goes without saying that there are some – including the American Council for Exercise (ACE) – who doubt these results and claim that toning shoes don’t work.
Nevertheless, toning shoes are becoming ever more popular and are a big hit with their target audience – time starved professional women and soccer moms, who want to stay in shape but struggle to fit visits to the gym into their schedule or their budget. Even if toning shoes meet all the claims made for them, they shouldn’t be considered to be a substitute for regular exercise and a healthy, balanced diet. However, they could very well prove to be a useful way of boosting the effectiveness of an existing exercise routine – and, if they encourage people to walk a little more often than normal, then that’s a good result in itself.