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My Archnemesis: The "Toning" Shoe

9/1/2010

1 Comment

 
Bullplop
Bullplop
Have you seen all those clunky new fad sneakers out on the market recently, marketed as "toning" shoes?  They promise to get you in shape just by walking around.  Sweet!  Where can I throw about $250???  With names like "Shape-Ups" and "Easy Tones", I'm bound to get my bum looking tight, and my calves all cut and sexy.

If you buy into the whole hype that MBT's, Skechers, or Reebok are coming out with miracle products, let me sell you this magic bean I found - it promises to increase your IQ by 50 points!

These shoes will get you in no better shape than if you walk in regular sneakers, or even barefoot (if you're cool like me.)  In fact, walking around on an unstable surface all day sounds might dangerous to me.  I guess the people who are buying these things have never had a sprained ankle, or else they'd think twice before sticking them on their feet.

ACE, the American Council on Exercise, recently came out with a study finding that these shoes do nothing different than the typical walking shoe.  John Porcari, Ph.D, says, “Don’t buy these shoes because of the claims that you’re going to tone your butt more or burn more calories. That’s absolutely wrong."  ACE conducted a scientific test on two groups of women and found no substantial differences in muscle use while walking on a treadmill at different inclines (these shoes are too dangerous to go running in.)

Will this study, or any rantings by barefoot fitness professionals, do anything to sway the public into buying regular sneakers, or better yet, minimalist shoes?  My guess is probably not, though over time the fad, like any other fad, will fade away, and we'll all have a good laugh about "toning" shoes.
1 Comment
Allison link
9/3/2010 05:33:27 am

Hi Benny,
I also wrote about these horrible shoes on my blog. Here's the post: 1 Permalink
What’s Up With “Shape Ups”?
So, Sketcher’s “Shape Ups” seem the opposite of everything “minimalist” or “barefoot”, yet Sketchers claims that they do a lot of the same things as barefooting does, namely, toning muscles, improving posture, and reducing joint stress. I can see how they would discourage heel striking, but that’s about it, and I cant imagine they’d be healthy to run in. (I really do sound like the people poo pooing barefooting) Apparently they’re quite heavy, and the company tries to market that as a fitness perk, because people burn more calories moving in them. From what I’ve seen of the reviews, they do make people feel like they have better posture, but the people who gave low reviews were seriously injured because they are very unstable.

Wearing them, a person stands up much higher and when an ankle rolls to the side accidentally, it breaks easily, instead of just twisting a little. Basically you’re exercising in platform shoes, which just doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. I think one can learn to have a midfoot strike and not land on one’s heels by going minimalist and/or barefoot. You give up all connection to the ground in these “Shape Ups” and any sense of real balance is eliminated. I’d say they’re a no go. What do you think?

http://www.allisonsbigtoe.com/post/766959459/whats-up-with-shape-ups

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