If you own a pair of so-called "toning shoes," like Skechers Shape-Ups or Reebok EasyTones, my apologies, but you should have saved your money. There is no available valid evidence that these shoes perform as promised. Sure, Reebok commissioned a study, but it isn't published and was not peer-reviewed. More on this later. Let's look at the claims:
Reebok claims that their shoes are "... proven to work your hamstrings and calves up to 11% harder(than regular athletic shoes)" and "tones your butt 28% more than regular sneakers." It's interesting to note that the Advertising Standards Authority disallowed a Reebok TV ad (which I have not seen) because Reebok could not back up the commercial's claims. Hmmmm.
The Reebok test was comprised of fewer than 30 women, aged between 19 and 27 years of age.It was not randomized, and not peer-reviewed. Skechers claims that there are "4 clinical studies ... (which show) that Shape-Ups increase muscle activity and energy consumptionover standard fitness shoes." I found one Skechers study, which I'll discuss below. In the meantime, let's look at a study performed by the American Council on Exercise (ACE), a well-regarded fitness organization.
The ACE study attempted to measure "toning shoes" versus regular athletic shoes in terms of "exercise response" and "muscle activation." Like the Reebok study, there was a small (24) group of women, aged 19-27 years. The study concluded: " none of the toning shoes showed statistically significant increases in either exercise response or muscle activation." ACE states that "toning shoes" do not do more than regular running shoes.
A Skechers study (Gautreu, et al) of 80 men and women, aged between 30-55 years was performed with a control group of approximately 1/3rd wearing regular shoes.Participants were asked to walk a minimum of 30 minutes, 3 times per week.Pace was not controlled and participants self-reported their own walking times.Do you see any issues here? I thought so.
The claim: Skechers-wearers in men, there was a statistically significant change in percentage body fat, and in women, there was a statistically significant change in average weight loss. BUT, the Skechers groups also reported a statistically significant higher amount of walking ( 242 minutes overall average for Skechers and 154 minutes for control group.) The study adjusted for that variable, but I still have my doubts.
Reebok also warns "toning shoes" wearers: "due to the instability of the balance pods, activities (with)...any lateral movement... should be avoided." Nothing like not being able to really exercisein their shoes. Oh, and the anecdotal soreness that users experience? It goes away once your body adapts to the new shoe.
The manufacturers of "toning shoes" point to a website that consists of 7 published studies they claim uphold their assertions about the effectiveness of their product.But do they really? I took an exhaustive look, and conclude that they don't. In my next post, I'll detail my findings. Let the Games Begin!Jigsaw
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