Do Toning Shoes Work?
We have all seen someone wearing those toning shoes around and wonder if they really do anything at all.
Well first let's see what exactly these shoes say that they will provide for us.
They are suppose to make tight tone calves, firm thighs, along with a nice butt.
These toning shoes are meant to do all this along with increase our metabolic rate (metabolism) to burn more calories and help lose weight.
Sure sounds great, but how can a shoe do all that? Now that we know what these shoes are meant to do let's look at how this is supposed to happen.
It is all because of the design of the shoe which is a rocker style in the sense that it rocks your weight back and forth causing instability which then causes you to recruit more muscles along with different muscles than when walking normal.
Some places that extra muscles are suppose to be recruited from are specifically the calves, thighs, and butt.
As far as if these shoe really produce the results there has only been one study done by an independent company (not a maker of a type of toning shoe) and it was by the American Council on Exercise (ACE).
In this study they compare women's metabolic rate (metabolism) while wearing these shoes and performing exercise on a treadmill to women who were wearing normal athletic shoes.
What they found is that there is no difference created from wearing these fitness shoes.
Now just because this one study found that there was no difference in metabolism from exercise in these fitness shoes doesn't mean that you should go throw yours out or not buy them either.
Some positives to the fitness shoes are that because of the rocking style they can actually stretch you foot out preventing Achilles tendonitis or plantar fasciitis.
Also because of the instability created by these shoes they could help strengthen weaker foot muscles while also possibly helping to improve your balance.
Lastly by just wearing these special toning shoes it may cause you to be more aware about your health and in turn cause you to workout and eat healthier.
So at this moment in time toning shoes may not directly help you lose weight and tone your body; however, these shoe companies are always doing new research and perhaps sometime soon they will produce a shoe that actually does help tone your legs.
Well first let's see what exactly these shoes say that they will provide for us.
They are suppose to make tight tone calves, firm thighs, along with a nice butt.
These toning shoes are meant to do all this along with increase our metabolic rate (metabolism) to burn more calories and help lose weight.
Sure sounds great, but how can a shoe do all that? Now that we know what these shoes are meant to do let's look at how this is supposed to happen.
It is all because of the design of the shoe which is a rocker style in the sense that it rocks your weight back and forth causing instability which then causes you to recruit more muscles along with different muscles than when walking normal.
Some places that extra muscles are suppose to be recruited from are specifically the calves, thighs, and butt.
As far as if these shoe really produce the results there has only been one study done by an independent company (not a maker of a type of toning shoe) and it was by the American Council on Exercise (ACE).
In this study they compare women's metabolic rate (metabolism) while wearing these shoes and performing exercise on a treadmill to women who were wearing normal athletic shoes.
What they found is that there is no difference created from wearing these fitness shoes.
Now just because this one study found that there was no difference in metabolism from exercise in these fitness shoes doesn't mean that you should go throw yours out or not buy them either.
Some positives to the fitness shoes are that because of the rocking style they can actually stretch you foot out preventing Achilles tendonitis or plantar fasciitis.
Also because of the instability created by these shoes they could help strengthen weaker foot muscles while also possibly helping to improve your balance.
Lastly by just wearing these special toning shoes it may cause you to be more aware about your health and in turn cause you to workout and eat healthier.
So at this moment in time toning shoes may not directly help you lose weight and tone your body; however, these shoe companies are always doing new research and perhaps sometime soon they will produce a shoe that actually does help tone your legs.
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