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Can High Tech Shoes Really Provide You With A Free Workout?

Friday, September 3rd, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed

If there was a way to tone your legs and trim your buttocks without setting foot in a gym would you be interested? It sounds too good to be true – but there are now a whole range of shoes from a variety of different manufacturers which claim to be able to help you do exactly that. They are available in a huge range of colors and styles – most of them don’t look like fitness footwear and they are very chic.

The common thread seems to be replication of the action of walking barefoot on soft, yielding ground – such as lush grass or sand for instance. The majority of these new high technology exercise shoes achieve this by the use of specially designed soles. Use of the correct density of materials in the construction of the shoes also seems to be an important factor.

Masai Barefoot Technology Shoes (MBTs)

These are probably the forerunner of the current range of shoes on the market. Strictly speaking, they aren’t fitness shoes at all. They were developed by a Swiss engineer called Karl Muller. Whilst walking barefoot across a Korean rice field, he realised that his back pain, a long term problem for him, was very much better than usual.

After performing some research he learned that the Masai tribesmen of Africa are well known for their excellent posture and have an extremely low incidence rate of lower back pain. He specifically designed the MBT range of shoes in such a way as to produce a rolling motion when your foot comes into contact with the ground. Users certainly seem happy with he benefits.

Fitflops Sandals, Boots And Shoes

The Fit flops range of fitness footwear was developed in the UK by ex-personal fitness trainer Marcia Kilgore. These also have a specially designed curved sole to produce the effect of walking on soft ground in bare feet and incorporates something termed “microwobbleboard” technology. Independent tests, carried out at London South Bank University and Salford University in the UK, has shown that the lower body muscles do more work when walking in Fitflops, in comparison with conventional shoes. Fitflops will, according to the company website, give you a workout while you walk. They can tone your lower body just by walking around normally.

Of the different specially designed exercise shoes available, Fitflops are probably the least like fitness footwear. Their range includes sandals in a wide selection of colors and styles and slippers, clogs and boots have now been introduced. Additional to the independent testing, anecdotal feedback from Fitflops wearers suggests that a wide variety of different benefits are available as a result of wearing these shoes. Better posture, reduced heel spur pain and cellulite removal are included in the list of benefits described. Traditional flip flop type sandals can actually produce foot problems. However, the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) has approved Fitflops.

Skechers Shape Ups

Skechers Shape Ups shoes also incorporate a curved sole which uses specially selected materials in its construction. Again the idea is to reproduce the effect of walking barefoot on soft sand. Clinical studies in both the USA and Japan have confirmed that walking in Shape Ups delivers a number of benefits to wearers.

Reeboks Easy Tones

Reeboks contribution to the latest trend in fitness shoes is the most recent addition to the market. They are slightly different from the other offerings in that they do not feature a curved sole but use air filled balance pods built into the soles. These generate “natural instability” when you wear them and this makes your muscles work harder as they try to readjust to compensate for the instability.

Once again, there have been a number of independent tests which seem to concur with the claims that walking in this type of shoe encourages the lower body muscles to work a little harder. There are also a large number of favourable reviews from the wearers of Easy Tones, on the company website (of course) and elsewhere.

Intuitively, it’s just about possible to imagine how shoes that reproduce the effect of walking in soft sand might make your muscles perform some additional work. It’s probably also reasonable to assume that, if you’re trying to regain your balance on a constant basis, then that might make your muscles work a little bit harder. In any event, it’s certainly a tempting prospect – a free lower body workout just by walking around. It might be worth a try. There is now such a wide selection of these miracle shoes on the market – at prices which are comparable to standard exercise shoes – that you could probably find a style that you like the next time you need a new pair of shoes anyway.

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