Do Toning Shoes Work?

You might have seen TV adverts claiming that so-called "toning shoes" will tone your legs and bum more than regular trainers and give you "better legs and a better bum with every step."

Do toning shoes work? Are they worth the money? And should you be wearing them?

Take a look at a pair of Reebok EasyTone, for example, and you'll see that they have a curved sole. Walking in them is supposed to be a little like exercising on a wobble board in the gym or barefoot along a sandy beach.

"We looked at stability balls from the gym and incorporated that same thinking into a shoe," sayshead of advanced innovation for Reebok,Bill McInnis, who created the technology used in Reebok's EasyTone line.

"The idea was that introducing soft, micro-instability in the shoe would cause you to have to rebalance a bit with every single step and cause your muscles to work a little harder all day long," he adds.

This instability is designed to increase muscle activation in the legs and bum, which in turn is supposed to "tone up" those areas.

To support their claims, Reebok commissioned a study designed to test the effectiveness of EasyTone shoes. Unfortunately, the study hasn't been published anywhere, so I haven't been able to review it.

But following a complaint from two viewers about whether the claims for the product were misleading and could be substantiated, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has taken a look at it.

They identified three flaws in the research that led to the adverts being banned in their current form on the basis that the ASA consider them misleading.

I'll explain why the ASA banned the adverts in a moment. First, here's a brief summary of what happened in the study.

Surface electrodes, which were used to measure muscle activity, were placed on the skin over the bum and leg muscles of a group of female participants. The women then walked at their own pace on a treadmill, barefoot, wearing Reebok EasyTone toning shoes and wearing regular trainers for five minutes each time.

Muscle activity was measured for the first 30 seconds of each minute during each five-minute test period, and for 30 seconds standing.

At first glance, the results appeared to support the claims made in the TV advert that you can get up to "28% more of a workout for your bum" and "up to 11% more for your hamstrings and calves."

However, the ASA points out that "the very small sample size of participants on which the EasyTone study was based was not adequate to support the absolute claims made in the [TV adverts] that consumers would achieve an improvement in muscle tone."

In other words, there were only a small number of women taking part in the study, which makes it difficult to apply the results to larger sections of the population.

Second, although the study shows an increase in muscle activity in the bum and legs, this DOESN'T mean that you'll experience an actual, noticeable increase in muscle tone.

What most people think of as a "toned" body is simply one where the muscles are not hidden underneath a thick layer of fat.

Even if the underlying muscles in the legs and bum are activated to a greater degree with toning shoes, there's no guarantee that this will lead to an increase in muscle tone. Simply "activating" a muscle is not enough to get rid of the fat that's covering it up.

Finally, the ASA considered that "the five, 30-second measurements taken during the EasyTone study were not suitable to demonstrate that that muscle activity, or any corresponding effect on muscle tone, would be maintained over time, or as consumers adapted to wearing the EasyTone trainer."

What they're saying is that an increase in muscle activity during the first 5 minutes of exercise doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be seeing the same effect after 30 or 40 minutes.

Based on their assessment of the research presented to them by Reebok, the ASA banned both the TV and magazine adverts for EasyTone, ruling that both "must not appear again" in their current form.

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) has also enlisted a team of exercise scientists from the University of Wisconsin to put several toning shoes to the test .

In contrast to the research commissioned by Reebok, they found no significant increase in muscle activation in the calves, quads, hamstrings, buttocks, back or abs.

All three toning shoes tested (Skechers Shape-Ups, MBT and Reebok’s EasyTone) showed no statistically significant increases in muscle activation during the treadmill trials, when compared to the normal New Balance running shoes.

The figure below shows the level of muscle activation in gluteus maximus (the bum) with running shoes compared to the three toning shoes.

As you can see, there were only small differences between the groups, none of which were statistically significant.

"Looking at the EMG data, we saw nothing there," says lead author Dr. John Porcari.

"There were some subtle differences — sometimes they favored the regular running shoe and other times they favored the toning shoes — but it was nothing statistically significant."

In short, there was no evidence to indicate that the toning shoes offer any enhanced fitness benefits, despite studies cited by manufacturers seemingly “proving” the toning shoes’ effectiveness.

What about muscle soreness?

So how do the researchers account for the anecdotal evidence (found on Blogs, etc.) from those who wear the shoes and claim their muscles get sore, which must mean the shoes are working?

"Do you feel different when you’re wearing these shoes? Of course you do because you’re walking on probably an inch worth of cushioning," explains Porcari.

"They feel different, and that’s why when people first wear them they’re probably going to be sore because you’re using different muscles. But if you wear any sort of abnormal shoes that you’re not used to wearing, your muscles are going to get sore."

"Is that going to translate into toning your butt, hamstrings and calves? Nope. Your body is just going to get used to it."

To be fair, the ACE study suffers from many of the same weaknesses as the study submitted by Reebok to the ASA — muscle activation was only measured for five minutes in a relatively small number of subjects.

I should also point out that there is some research to show that Masai Barefoot Technology (MBT) shoes may be useful for strengthening some of the muscles in the leg and foot [1, 2, 3], which could give them a role in injury prevention or rehabilitation.

But that's a long way from claiming that they're going to give you a bum that looks better in a pair of tight shorts.

What's more, all of this completely ignores the fact that an exercise like the squat will activate your leg and bum muscles to a far greater degree than any form of walking, be it in toning shoes, regular shoes or whatever else.

In fact, a single-leg squat has been shown to raise muscle activity in gluteus maximus (the butt) to 60% of its maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) [4]. That's TWICE as much as the 30% of MVIC shown in the ACE study for Reebok EasyTone.

If you really want to tone up your thighs and bum, you're far better off lifting weights 2-3 times a week, doing 1-2 hours of cardio and eating a decent diet than you are spending your money on so-called "toning" shoes.

UPDATE: Reebok has reached a deal with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US to offer a partial refund to customers who purchased their toning shoes. The company has agreed to refund $25 million to consumers, but it's unclear whether you'll get a full refund, as the FTC first must determine how many customers want their money back.To request a refund, go to ftc.gov/reebok.

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About the Author

Christian Finn holds a master's degree in exercise science, is a certified personal trainer and has been featured on BBC TV and radio, as well as in Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Fit Pro, Zest and other popular fitness magazines.

If you want better, faster results from the time you spend in the gym, click here now for instant access to his step-by-step muscle-building and fat-burning workout routines.

References
1. Romkes J, Rudmann C, Brunner R. (2006). Changes in gait and EMG when walking with the Masai Barefoot Technique. Clinical Biomechanics, 21, 75-81
2. Nigg B, Hintzen S, Ferber R. (2006). Effect of an unstable shoe construction on lower extremity gait characteristics. Clinical Biomechanics, 21, 82-88
3. Landry SC, Nigg BM, Tecante KE (2010). Standing in an unstable shoe increases postural sway and muscle activity of selected smaller extrinsic foot muscles. Gait Posture, 32, 215-219
4. Distefano LJ, Blackburn JT, Marshall SW, Padua DA. (2009). Gluteal muscle activation during common therapeutic exercises. Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy, 39, 532-540