What Are Toning Fitness Shoes And Do They Work?
Posted on 05. Sep, 2010 by designandfashion in Uncategorized
There’s no doubt that they can be an expensive item of equipment, but exercise shoes are one of the most important pieces of fitness equipment that you will have. It doesn’t matter what sport you play or what your fitness program is, you need a good pair of shoes in order to get the maximum enjoyment and health benefits from it. If your shoes are not well designed, or if they are not a good fit, you could give yourself blisters, perform below par and possibly even risk injury.
Certain types of sports require very specialized shoes, but most people will be happy with tennis shoes or cross trainers for general exercise – walking and jogging for example. At the moment, there seems to be new kinds of exercise shoes becoming available on the market. These are targeted mainly at people who either walk for exercise or, in certain cases, possibly don’t manage to get as much exercise as they might wish. They seem to have sprung up from nowhere, but they’re now becoming so widespread that a new term has been coined for them – “toning shoes”.
The theory is that these shoes are designed in a manner which increases the amount of work carried out by the lower body muscles whilst walking normally. There are a number of different manufacturers with their own offerings these days, and designs vary, but this is generally achieved by using a specially designed sole.
A number of brands – such as Fit flops sandals, Skechers Shape Ups and Masai Barefoot Technology (MBT) incorporate a curved sole. This is intended to encourage a gentle rolling motion whenever the foot contacts the ground. This minimizes any impact shock and is said to replicate the mechanics of walking barefoot on a soft surface such as sand.
Reebok Easy Tones are the most recent entrant to the market and these also make use of a specially engineered sole. However, instead of using a curved construction, Easy Tones use air pods in the sole to introduce a small element of instability. The theory is that the muscles of the lower body will attempt to regain balance in order to compensate for this. This requires extra effort so your lower body gets toned. Fitflops also use this principle as well as the curved sole, in the shape of something they have dubbed “microwobbleboard” technology.
Of the brands available Fitflops and MBTs look least like fitness footwear. This will appeal to many people as the shoes are marketed as giving you a “workout while you walk” and “the sandal with the gym built in”. The suggestion is clearly that you will be able to tone your lower body by wearing the shoes whilst you go about your daily business. To be fair, MBTs are aimed more at people who might want to improve posture or reduce back and joint pain than those who wish to tone up and trim down.
The Skechers Shape Ups range now includes some shoes which don’t look like exercise footwear. They have Mary Janes for example. Reebok Easy Tones are more focused on the mainstream exercise market and look exactly like what they are – high tech exercise shoes.
So, will wearing these new wonder shoes really give you a “workout while you walk”? Will pulling on a different pair of shoes each morning genuinely help you to tone your lower body? It’s definitely a very appealing proposition. There must be plenty of people who would love to get more exercise but find it difficult to schedule the time for this into their daily routine.
Currently, opinions are divided. Obviously all of the manufacturers are eager to cite the results of independent clinical tests which confirm the effectiveness of their products. Neither is there any shortage of positive feedback from wearers who swear by this type of shoe. On the other side of the coin, there are a number of doctors and health specialists who have expressed strong doubts concerning some of the claims made.
These shoes sell for prices which are comparable with those of normal exercise shoes. There’s a large choice of different brands, styles and colors – there’s bound to be something that you like. Possibly the next time you are in the market for a new pair of shoes anyway, you should consider buying a pair of toning shoes and finding out if they work for you or not.
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