What Could The Newest Advances In Fitness Footwear Technology Do For You?
Posted on 03. Sep, 2010 by designandfashion in Uncategorized
Exercise shoes can be a pricey item of fitness equipment, but they are one of the most critical items of kit that you use. 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.
Special shoes may be required for certain types of sports, but generally people will be content with tennis shoes or cross trainers for all round types of exercise – walking and jogging for instance. At the moment, there seems to be new kinds of exercise shoes becoming available on the market. These are primarily aimed at people who either already walk for exercise or who would like to walk for exercise but struggle to find time to fit it in. 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”.
These shoes are specifically designed to increase the amount of work performed by the muscles in the lower body whilst engaged in normal walking. 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 produce a rolling motion when the foot makes contact with the ground. This minimizes any impact shock and is said to replicate the mechanics of walking barefoot on a soft surface such as sand.
The Easy Tones from Reebok are the latest offering available on the market and also use a specially designed sole. However, instead of using a curved construction, Easy Tones use air pods in the sole to introduce a small element of instability. The natural reaction of the lower body muscles will be to try to regain balance. As a result, the muscles need to work harder and your lower body is being toned with every step you take. Fitflops also make use of this principle in addition to the use of a curved sole, in the shape of something they have termed “microwobbleboard” technology.
Of the brands on the market Fitflops and MBTs look least like fitness footwear. This will be an attractive proposition for many people as the shoes are claimed to be capable of providing you with a “workout while you walk”. 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 strictly accurate, the main market for MBTs may be more from people wishing to reduce back and joint pain whilst improving posture rather than getting toned.
The Skechers Shape Ups range does include some shoes which don’t look like fitness footwear. They have Mary Janes for example. Reebok Easy Tones are very definitely targeted at the mainstream fitness market segment and, consequently, they look just like what they actually are – high tech and very specialized fitness footwear.
So, is the use of these new miracle shoes really going to give you a workout while you walk? Can you really tone and trim your lower body just by pulling on a different pair of shoes in the morning? It’s certainly a very appealing thought. There will be a great many people who would like to exercise much more frequently but who find it nigh on impossible to fit it into their daily schedule.
Opinions are divided at the moment. Obviously all of the manufacturers are eager to cite the results of independent clinical tests which confirm the effectiveness of their products. There is no shortage of very positive feedback from a large number of satisfied customers who have used 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.
At the end of the day, these shoes cost around about the same as normal fitness footwear. There is a very wide range of colors and styles available – so you should find something to suit your taste. 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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