Toning shoes are the latest development in fitness footwear and are proving very popular. Which is hardly surprising really – after all, who wouldn’t want to be able to tone their legs and trim their butt just 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 additional work carried out by the muscles in the lower body has the effect of trimming your butt and toning your legs more efficiently than normal walking. What you get in effect is a workout for your lower body, with no need to visit the gym and without any expensive gym membership fees.
MBT shoes – Masai Barefoot Technology – were the first to appear. They weren’t originally designed as toning shoes. They were aimed at people who wanted to reduce stress on joints, improve posture and relieve back pain. They incorporate a specially designed curved sole which promotes a gentle rolling motion when your foot makes contact with the ground. This is intended to simulate the motion of walking barefoot on soft sand. The sole is fairly thick and chunky and will not be to everyone’s taste. 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 chunky, curved sole – which makes use of a special kinetic foam insert – to simulate the sensation of walking barefoot on soft sand. These are also quite chunky and look a lot more like conventional exercise shoes than the Masai Barefoot Technology range.
Fit flops sandals, boots and clogs were originally developed in the United Kingdom and are now available 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 less than most of the other toning shoes available on the market and – just as importantly – there’s a massive selection of styles and colors 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 its own range of toning shoes – Reebok Easy Tones. This is slightly different from the othertoning 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. There are also numerous testimonials from delighted users. Needless to say there are sceptics as well.
It sounds great doesn’t it – just pull on your magic shoes and work your lower body just by walking around. Could it be that it’s too good to be true? Maybe it doesn’t matter all that much. Some of these shoes are about the same price as normal training shoes – some are actually a little bit cheaper. You could just wait until you need a new pair of shoes anyway and then try them. 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.
