What’s the Deal with Toning Shoes?

A recent publication released by the American Council on Exercise (ACE) studies the effect of toning shoes on exercise and fitness. Such toning shoes include the Reebok EasyTone, Skechers Shape-Up, and MBT Masai shoes. The marketing surrounding these shoes focuses on faster and better results to fitness training. The aim of the study was to debunk these claims, and was funded by the ACE. The Council serves as the certification board for athletic trainers. The study comes from the University of Wisconson in LaCrosse.

The study design involved two sets of physically active females ages 19-27, and compared the two groups in five-minute intervals on a treadmill. Several different settings were used at random, and the shoes assigned to the volunteers were randomized.

To quantify the results, measurements of heart rate, oxygen consumption, calories burned per minute, and the subjects’ perceived exertion rate were taken during the time spent on the treadmill. In another group, electromyography (EMG) was used to measure the output of specific muscle groups. Muscles measured included the gastrocnemius (calf), rectus femoris (quadriceps), biceps femoris (hamstrings), erector spinae (back), and rectus abdominis (abdomen).

After having each of the subjects walk in all four pairs of the shoes (one regular pair of running shoes and the three toning shoes), the researchers came to the conclusion that there was no significant difference between the results of the group wearing regular shoes and the group wearing toning shoes.

These results, however, are questionable. For one, the time interval of five minutes is probably too short of an interval to truly notice any difference between groups. A more appropriate way of measuring this may be to have the subjects wear the shoes during their normal activities of daily life, or perhaps through what each individual considers a “normal” workout.

Also, the muscles studied with electromyography may be the wrong muscle groups to show a difference between regular running shoes and toning shoes. In a study by Scott C. Landry, published in the journal Gait & Posture in 2010, it was found that patients wearing MBT Masai shoes for one week during their normal activities had an increase in the activity of the flexor digitorum longus muscle (the muscle that controls toe flexion) as well as the muscles of the anterior and peroneal compartments of the leg. This study shows that the muscles used when wearing toning shoes were in fact different, but did not measure heart rate, oxygen consumption, calories burned, or perceived energy expenditures.

Conflicting evidence like this begs the question for more research into the area. An appropriate study would be one conducted by a group that does not have any conflicts of interest in the subject, and whose research could remain completely unbiased. It should involve a systematic approach, perhaps involving a comparison of subjects wearing the different types of shoes in both their normal daily activities as well as during exercise. Measuring vital signs such as heart rate and oxygen consumption, particularly during exercise would be an important parameter of the study, as well as expanding the measurement of specific muscle activity to include more of the extrinsic muscles of the foot.

To read the ACE study, please click here.

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