How would you like to trim your butt and tone up your legs without having to visit the gym? It sounds almost too good to be true – but consumers can now choose from a wide selection of shoes, from a variety of different manufacturers, which claim to be able to help you do just that. They come in a wide variety of styles and colors – a lot of them don’t look like exercise shoes at all and are extremely fashionable.

The general approach seems to be to mimic the feeling of walking barefoot on soft ground – like sand or lush grass for example. Many of these latest high tech fitness shoes incorporate specially designed and shaped soles to achieve this. Selection of the right density of materials used in the construction of the shoes also seems to be important.

Masai Barefoot Technology Shoes (MBTs)

These are probably the forerunner of the current range of shoes on the market. In fact, they aren’t fitness shoes at all, strictly speaking. They were invented by Karl Muller, a Swiss engineer. 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.

He investigated a little further and, after some research, discovered that the Masai are well known for their good posture and have a much lower incidence rate of lower back pain than western societies. The MBT range of shoes was designed to avoid jarring by encouraging a rolling motion when the wearer’s foot contacts the ground. Users certainly seem enthusiastic about the 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. Testing at Salford University and the London South Bank University (LSBU) in the UK has shown that the muscles in the lower body are active for longer whilst walking wearing Fitflops, as compared to walking in normal shoes. According to the company website, Fit flops are the sandal with the gym built in. Just weatring them and walking around as normal will tone your lower body.

Of the different specially designed exercise shoes available, Fitflops are probably the least like fitness footwear. They have sandals available in a wide range of colors and styles and have introduced clogs, slippers and boots. In addition to the independent testing, Fit flops users have anecdotally reported a variety of different benefits available from wearing these shoes. Better posture, reduced heel spur pain and cellulite removal are included in the list of benefits described. Standard flip flop type sandals can actually cause 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. These do not use curved soles like the other shoes discussed so far but have air filled balance pods incorporated into the soles. These produce “natural instability” when you walk in them and this makes your muscles work a little harder as they try to compensate and regain balance.

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.

When you think about it, it’s not too hard to imagine how shoes that are able to produce the mechanical characteristics of walking on a soft yielding surface like sand could encourage your muscles to carry out some extra work. It’s also reasonable to assume that, if you’re constantly trying to regain your balance, then that might make your muscles do a little extra work. It’s definitely a very appealing notion – walking around as you would normally do and getting a free lower body workout. It may well 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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