Toning Shoes Are The Latest Development In Exercise Footwear – But Do They Really Work?

Posted on 03. Sep, 2010 by designandfashion in Uncategorized

Toning shoes are the latest development in fitness footwear and are proving very popular. Which is not that surprising – after all, who wouldn’t like to tone their legs and trim their butt simply by pulling on a different pair of shoes? There is a variety of different brands available on the market. The majority of them work on the basis of introducing a very small degree of instability whilst walking in them.

It doesn’t sound like a very clever idea – but the theory is that the wearer’s muscles will naturally respond to the instability by attempting to regain balance, and thereby doing extra work. The extra work performed by the lower body muscles has a toning effect on your legs and butt and is more effective than normal walking in conventional shoes. In effect, you get a lower body workout without having to visit the gym – and without having to pay any monthly gym membership fees.

MBT shoes – Masai Barefoot Technology – were the first to appear. Strictly speaking they weren’t originally classed as toning shoes. They were aimed at people who wanted to reduce stress on joints, improve posture and relieve back pain. They use a specially engineered curved sole which encourages a gentle rolling motion whenever your foot comes into contact with the ground. This is intended to replicate the sensation of walking on soft sand in your bare feet. The sole is quite thick and chunky and not everyone will find it visually appealing. They are fairly expensive – but if they relieved your back pain, or toned up your lower body, you would probably consider them to be a worthwhile investment.

Skechers Shape Ups shoes also make use of a thick, curved sole – which makes use of a special kinetic foam insert – to reproduce the sensation of walking barefoot on soft sand. These are also pretty chunky in appearance, but they look much more like conventional fitness footwear than the MBT range.

Fit Flops sandals, boots and clogs were originally developed in the UK and are now being sold worldwide. Although they look nothing like conventional fitness footwear they deliver exactly the same benefits as other toning shoes – again by using a special sole which is thicker than a standard flip flop and which promotes a small degree of instability whilst walking. They cost quite a bit less than the other shoes and – important for many – there’s a wide selection of different colors and styles to choose from. Originally, they started life as a range of sandals – but boots, clogs and even slippers were added to the range in response to customer demand.

Reebok recently launched Easy Tones – their own toning shoe range. This is slightly different from the other toning shoes insofar as it uses air pods built into the sole of the shoe to create instability rather than a specially shaped sole.

All of the manufacturers previously mentioned have independent test results which back up their assertions that their shoes can give you a lower body workout just by walking around as normal. Neither is there any shortage of very positive customer testimonials. Obviously there are those who treat the claims with some scepticism.

It’s a very attractive proposition – just put on a different pair of shoes before you leave the house in the morning and tone your lower body just by walking around as you would be doing anyway. But is it too good to be true? Maybe it isn’t actually that important. Some of these shoes cost no more than traditional exercise shoes – some are even a little cheaper. Why not just try a pair the next time you need a new pair of shoes anyway. If the main improvement toning shoes provide is motivating the wearer to walk a little further every day, then that’s a very worthwhile benefit in itself.

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