As expected from prior comments on these sneakers, they don't work, increase potential for injury, and are now being taken to court:
American Council on Exercise: Study Finds Toning Shoes Don’t Work
By Katherine Hobson
How sweeeeeet would it be if you could burn more calories, firm muscles and reduce joint stress just by putting on a pair of kicks? That’s just what Skechers says its Shape-Up shoes can help you do.
The American Council on Exercise was skeptical about that claim as well as similar assertions of muscle-toning and calorie-burning benefits made by Masai Barefoot Technology (MBT) and Reebok EasyTone shoes.
It asked a team of exercise scientists from the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, to study the shoes, which feature “an unstable sole design” that’s supposed to keep your body off balance and therefore, working harder than if you were standing around in flip-flops.
(It should be noted that ACE is a nonprofit that certifies a lot of fitness pros who would be out of a job if we could all get fit without working out. ACE says it commissioned the study but that it was independently conducted. John Porcari, one of the study’s authors, says the team consulted with ACE on its design but that data were collected, analyzed and written up with no involvement by the group.)
Researchers conducted two studies, with two different groups of 12 physically active female volunteers in the 19-27 age range. One had the women doing a dozen five-minute stints in which they walked on a treadmill set at different grades wearing each kind of toning shoe, as well as a control pair of regular running sneakers. Researchers measured the study participants’ oxygen consumption, heart rate, perceived exertion and calorie burn. A similarly conducted study measured activity in six different back and lower-body muscle groups.
You can see all the charts detailing their findings in ACE’s report. The gist: “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,” ACE says. “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.”
Just because the shoes may initially produce sore muscles doesn’t mean they work, one of the researchers tells ACE. The differently shaped sole and cushioning will definitely use different muscles than your regular shoes, but that doesn’t mean you’re working any harder, overall, or that you’re going to get toned. “Some people do find these shoes very comfortable,” Porcari says. “If that encourages people to get out and walk more or exercise more — fantastic.”
Reebok, Skechers and MBT all cite research on the beneficial effects of wearing the shoes, but dig into it and there’s not much robust, statistically significant, independent data to support their claims, ACE says.
Skechers disagrees. The company sent us a statement asking why we “have not reported on the many other larger scale published clinical studies that have found exactly the opposite results … This competent and reliable scientific evidence supports the benefits, particularly relating to increased muscle activation, greater energy consumption, increased metabolic rates, and the strengthening and toning of certain muscles.” Here is a link to the studies listed on their site.
Reebok, too, finds fault with the study, saying “the bold conclusions made in the article are not supported by the actual data presented” and that the company “has never claimed that by wearing EasyTone a person will burn more calories or that EasyTone is a ‘magic bullet’ that will replace exercise.” The company says the shoe is “a great way to get more muscle activity from your daily routine.”
Finally, we spoke with MBT’s Lori Yarrow, a chiropractor who acts as a medical liaison for the company and coordinates research on its products. She questions the validity of the ACE-sponsored research, given the nature of the study and the small sample size.
Yarrow also says the new study can’t be directly compared to MBT’s own research, which focuses on physiological benefits like joint pain relief, neck pain and posture among the over-40 crowd. Indeed, she says the company’s shoes aren’t really in this “toning” category because muscle appearance changes and weight loss are not its primary aims. “There are people who wear MBTs who will notice they have a difference in muscle tone, but our positioning is not as toning footwear,” she says. “It’s the same with calorie burn.”
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2010/07/...oes-dont-work/
New Balance faces class-action lawsuit alleging its shoes do not tone
January 4, 2011 02:04 PM
By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff
Boston sneaker maker New Balance is facing charges in a new class-action lawsuit that it falsely represented the physical benefit of its popular toning shoes that promise consumers a tighter butt and legs.
The lawsuit, filed yesterday in US District Court in Boston, is seeking damages in excess of $5 million on behalf of a California woman, Bistra Pashamova, and other people who have allegedly been harmed by New Balance.
"[Pashamova] was exposed to and saw New Balance's advertising claims, purchased New Balance toning shoes in reliance on these claims, and suffered injury in fact and lost money as a result," the lawsuit said.
Pashamova and her attorney did not return messages seeking comment. New Balance also could not be reached today.
New Balance, which last year launched a multi-million dollar toning shoe campaign, is one of several major sneaker companies that are facing class action lawsuits from consumers in recent months. Toning shoes are designed with an unstable sole so leg muscles have to work harder to maintain balance during everyday activities.
They are the fastest growing segment in the footwear industry and sales were expected to soar last year to roughly $1.5 billion.
But a growing number of consumer complaints and a study last summer by the nonprofit American Council on Exercise found that toning shoes failed to live up to claims made by manufacturers. Some reports of injuries have also raised concerns that the shoes, which costs roughly $100 a pair, could be doing more harm than good.
New Balance has promoted its toning shoes with claims that they increase muscle activation by at least 27 percent and increase calorie burn by up to 10 percent with each step using either a rounded of flexible spring sole. Pashamova, in the lawsuit, is demanding that New Balance "halt the dissemination of this false and misleading advertising message, correct the false and misleading perception New Balance has created in the minds of consumers, and to obtain redress for those who have purchased any New Balance toning shoes."
New Balance spokeswoman Amy Dow, in a previous interview with the Globe, defended the company's sneakers.
"Having tested our products with hundreds of consumers in the lab and field combined, we are confident that increased muscle activation occurs when wearing our toning footwear," Dow said.
http://www.boston.com/business/ticke...lance_fac.html
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