Toning Shoes

You have seen them out and about, in the malls and at the grocery store, toning shoes.   They claim to tone muscles and improve weight loss and posture while you walk or stand (not recommended for running), and they don’t come cheaply either, prices range from $100-245.

Finally there is some ACE (American Council On Exercise) research that puts claims by the manufacturers of these ridiculous looking shoes to the test.    According to the ACE study, a team of exercise scientists from the Exercise and Health Program at the University of Wisconsin, designed two studies.  In the first study researchers recruited 12 physically active female volunteers, ages 19 to 24 years to evaluate exercise responses to walking in traditional athletic shoes (a New Balance running shoe) versus the popular toning shoes. A second group of 12 physically active female volunteers, ages 21 to 27 years, was recruited for the second study, they performed a similar battery of five-minute treadmill trials rotating shoes at random.

The outcome….

”Across the board, none of the toning shoes showed statistically significant increases in either exercise response or muscle activation during any of the treadmill trials.  There is simply no evidence to support the claims that these shoes will help wearers exercise more intensely, burn more calories or improve muscle strength and tone.”

I can’t say that I am shocked, I mean really, if you want to improve muscle tone and lose weight you have got to put in the work, cardio, squats, lunges and diet.  There are no quick fixes. There were even concerns that long term wear of toning shoes could alter gait mechanics due to their instability.  I for one am going to stick to my professionally fitted athletic shoes for the gym, and when I am looking for an unstable shoe to walk in, I am going bang for my buck and pulling out my 4 inch black stilettos.