Toning shoes are, without any shadow of doubt, extremely popular with women everywhere. It’s hardly surprising. After all, they promise to give the wearer with a butt reducing, leg toning, cellulite removing, posture improving lower body workout with each and every step that they take. No need to get dressed up from head to toe in Lycra – and no need to make a trip to the gym. Just pull on a different pair of shoes in the morning before you leave the house and you’ll be toned and shapely in no time. You can see how that would appeal to any busy modern mother or working professional woman.
Toning shoes are a relatively new phenomenon – but they are one of the fastest growing sectors of the footwear market. A variety of different brands and designs exist, all of which rely on a special design of sole to work. The sole is specially designed to promote extra work by the muscles of the lower body during normal walking activity. That’s how the trimming and toning results are delivered.
Skechers Shape Ups and Masai Barefoot Technology (MBT) Shoes utilise a thick, shaped sole which is intended to reproduce the mechanics of walking upon soft sand. FitFlops incorporate a sole which makes use of something called “microwobbleboard” technology. This produces small imbalances when walking and the muscles in the legs and butt try to correct for this. Reebok Easy Tones use specially designed air pods in their soles. These also produce a small amount of instability which encourages the lower body muscles to attempt to restore the body’s natural balance – which makes them work a little harder.
The majority of toning shoes look like fitness footwear – FitFlops are the exception to the rule. They have always looked nothing like fitness footwear and include bright sandals and clogs in their range. However, manufacturers such as Skechers are now making sandals, boots and shoes which don’t look anything like exercise footwear.
There is a degree of controversy surrounding the subject of toning shoes. Manufacturers have commissioned a number of studies which seem to support the claims made with respect to increased muscle activity. There’s no shortage of glowing testimonials from happy customers. Nevertheless, there are many who consider the claims to be unrealistic and doubt whether the studies performed can be considered truly independent given that they were funded by the manufacturers themselves.
There are clearly some fairly polarised opinions when it comes to toning shoes. Even so, according to health advisers, walking is one of the best ways to take exercise. If toning shoes do nothing other than to encourage users to walk a little bit further and a little more often than they would typically do then that’s a pretty good result in itself.
Tags: exercise, fitness, toning shoes, walking to lose weight, weight loss
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