Two Tone

Two Tone

Do Toning Shoes really work? The Jury is still out

Toning shoes have been somewhat of a sensation over the past three years, rapidly taking hold of the women's athletic shoe bestseller lists, as women are lured into buying toning shoes to get the perfect lower body without the effort.  The claims to tone the body during everyday exercise seem too good to be true for many, and recent research indicates that when it comes to muscle activation and increased toning, that the claims of the manufacturers are inaccurate.

The recently published ACE study has been publicised on CNN and in the Wall Street Journal, and at face value appears to totally discredit toning shoes. However a closer look at the details of the study makes its findings somewhat questionable, akin to the toning shoe manufacturers sponsored research which it criticises. ACE used an extremely small test group - just 12 fit and active young women, very short walking test times - only an hour of testing for the entire muscle activation research group, and an unrepresentative sample base.

Toning shoes claim to help tone the lower body more than standard shoes, however just donning a pair and walking for a few minutes each day is going to have minimal effect. Skechers Shapeups recommend starting off with 25 minutes to half an hour at first just to allow the feet and legs to condition to the new way of walking, and then increasing the time spent exercising to get the full benefits. Over the course of a few weeks to a few months, the effects become noticeable, although at the end of each day women notice the extra work which the muscles are required to perform.

The ACE study put this to the test, with a group of 12 physically fit women between 19-27 years old, those with lower bodies which are likely to be well toned to start with. The test was for 5 minutes of walking, which adds up to  only an hour of testing for the entire muscle activation study, which even by the manufacturer's claims is ludicrously short. When toning shoes require 30 minutes minimum per day for weeks to really notice the difference, it is not surprising that the results found only marginally increased muscle activity in some models, with no statistically significant results on toning increase.

Extending the tests for at least 30 minutes of walking would have been far more likely to show a positive result, and would have silenced many critics of the study. The target age group for most toning shoes is 18-40 year old women, with the study restricting testing to the 18-27 year old category. By selecting a narrow age range, the ACE study with short test times has unfortunately hgiven the toning shoe manufacturers plenty of room to manoeuvre, claiming that the testing was insufficient. Since the sample group was also physically fit and active, it has been said that the sample was not representative of the target market, consisting of individuals broadly speaking, not at the peak of physical fitness and therefore standing more chance to benefit from wearing toning shoes.

According to manufacturer financed case studies conducted on Skechers Shapeups, MBT shoes, Reebok Easytones, FitFlop sandals and the many other toning shoes brands, extended exercise in toning shoes does significantly increase the value of exercise, by up to 30% more than standard shoes. If this is proved to be inaccurate, it will be a considerable blow to an industry which pulled in $252 million in the first quarter of 2010 according to NPD group, in particular to Reebok, with their Easytone shoes, Runtone trainers and Traintone training shoes only offering increased toning, rather than the wide range of benefits offered by rocker sole toning shoes.

Most toning shoes offer far more benefits than toning alone, which should ensure that should the study prove to be correct, they will still continue to enjoy high sales figures. The range of benefits in addition to their alleged toning properties include: improvement to the posture, easing of the strain on the joints, an incredibly soft footbed to cushion shock waves for a highly comfortable walk, a more natural way of walking which clearly benefits the body increasing the range of movement the feet need to make, and the boosting of blood circulation. The comfort offered and fashionable styles, in particular those of toning sandals, (which were not put to the ACE test), sees many women choose the footwear as a fashion and comfort choice. Being sold at a price similar to standard brand name sneakers, the wide range of benefits in addition to style and comfort make more of a complete package than exercise footwear alone.

Until a more thorough study is completed with extensive test times, and a wider and more representative sample, the jury is still out on the toning effects of toning shoes and sandals. In the meantime, the message appears to be that toning shoes may not improve the lower body tone to the degree claimed, however they still remain a great style and comfort choice, with a much broader range of benefits to the body than toning alone. Women are likely to continue to purchase toning shoes, after all, even after a couple of weeks of use, the extra effort can really be felt in the buttocks and legs, indicating that some muscle toning is taking place, even if it proves to be somewhat elusive when it come to testing.

My guess is that this argument will run for some time, as the toning shoe manufacturers will be keen not to lose an expected annual revenue well over 1 billion USD. Since the majority of women who wear toning shoes sing the praises on their comfort and the burn which is felt in the legs and buttocks, it seems that a study of 12 girls will not be enough for them to ditch their toning shoes in favour of standard trainers.

About the Author

Susanne Wilson writes on footwear, toning shoes and foot health.

 

My computer is making a two tone beep, What does that mean?

The two tone beep that sounds like some kind of warning sound, oh and its making it while its off. It sounds like it might be the PC speaker but it's next to the hard drive, and I don't think that a hard drive can make that sound. Can it?

It's the motherboard beeper. It's used to announce serious problems with the hardware. What the problem is depends on the mb and the bios, search in the mb's manual or at the site of the manufacturer.

A Message To You Rudy