What Do Scientists Say About Toning Shoes?

The New York Times recently ran a story about Dr. John Mercer, a professor of biomechanics at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Dr. Mercer had a friend who ran a sporting goods store.

Dr. Mercer's friend wanted to cash in on the toning shoes boom, but he felt uncomfortable recommending toning shoes without knowing for sure that they really did what their advertisers claimed for them. When one campaign stated that "your boobs will be jealous" of the great shape of your thighs and hips, Dr. Mercer decided to conduct a test.

The University of Nevada researcher recruited 10 healthy young female student to walk for 10 minutes on a treadmill, alternate wearing either a walking shoe or Skechers Shape-Ups. Dr. Mercer and his colleagues attached electrodes to the volunteers' legs to measure muscle activity, and also measured oxygen consumption to see if the women worked harder and burned more calories while wearing one kind of shoe compared to the other.

As Mercer later reported to the American Academy of Sports Medicine, he found no significant differences between exercise while wearing toning shoes and exercise while wearing ordinary shoes. The volunteers reported that the shoes felt different, but their exercise performance was no different.

Mercer's findings are in line with the findings of other investigators. Dr. Heidi Orloff of the University of Puget Sound confirmed that muscle action in sports shoes is different, but not that more calories are burned. Scientists at the University of Calgary in Canada found that wearing toning shoes every day strengthened the foot muscles involved in stabilizing the rocking action of the shoes, but those benefits maxed out after six weeks. No changes were found in the bigger, more noticeable muscles in the hips and thighs.

So if toning shoes don't tone, are they any use at all?

The answer seems to be that when toning shoes work, they work by helping our bodies become lazier. Excessive tension on the heels, for example, causes not just heel pain but usually also lower back pain. Wearing toning shoes strengthens muscles around the heel, allowing the heel to relax, and also relieving pain.

It does not take very long to build up foot muscles to their maximum strength, so if you are going to enjoy any benefits from wearing toning shoes for pain reduction, you will probably experience them right away or not at all.  However, some people will feel better after wearing toning shoes or after using toning inset soles, within the 30 days most retailers allow for returns.

It is unfortunately completely unrealistic to expect toning shoes to firm up the buttocks or to melt away cellulite, especially cellulite, since it is a matter of excess fluid, not lack of muscle tone or excess fat. However, if you suffer ongoing orthopedic pain, well-fitted toning shoes may just provide you with drug-free relief, and help you feel better starting the very first day you put them on.