Can Footwear Technology Really Give You a Free Workout While You Walk?
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 badly designed, or if they don’t fit you properly, then you could get blisters, fail to enjoy your activity and even increase the risk of sprains and other injuries.
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 aimed primarily at people who either walk for exercise or, in some cases, maybe don’t exercise as much as they would like. 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 idea is that these shoes are designed in such a way as to increase the amount of work done by the muscles in the lower body whilst walking normally. There are now a number of different manufacturers, each with their own offerings available, and designs vary, but this is typically achieved by the use of a specially designed sole.
Many brands – such as Fit flops sandals, Skechers Shape Ups and Masai Barefoot Technology (MBT) include a curved sole. The idea behind this is to encourage a rolling motion when the foot comes into 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.
Reebok Easy Tones are probably the newest entrant to the market and also incorporate a special sole. However, instead of using a curved construction, Easy Tones use air pods in the sole to introduce a small element of instability. The lower body muscles will react and try to regain balance so as to compensate for this. This requires extra effort so your lower body gets toned. As well as the use of a curved sole, Fitflops also use this same principle by incorporating something which they call “microwobbleboard” technology in their range of footwear.
Of the brands on the market Fitflops and MBTs look least like exercise shoes. Many people will find this appealing as the shoes are promoted as being able to give you a “workout while you walk” and also “the sandal with the gym built in”. The suggestion is that you will tone your lower body by wearing the shoes as you walk around during the course of your normal daily routine. 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. Mary Janes are one of the “non-exercise” models on offer. Reebok Easy Tones are more focused on the mainstream exercise market and look exactly like what they are – high tech exercise shoes.
So – is it really possible to get a “workout while you walk” using these new miracle shoes? Can you really tone and trim your lower body just by pulling on a different pair of shoes in the morning? It would be wonderful if it was true. 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. Needless to say, all of the manufacturers are keen to cite the results of independent scientific testing which validates 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.
The retail price of these shoes is pretty much at the same sort of level as conventional exercise footwear. There’s an extensive range of styles and colors to pick from – you should find something that you like. Perhaps the next time you need a new pair of shoes anyway, you might want to consider trying a pair of toning shoes and finding out if they work for you.