There are any number of different types of sports shoes to choose from – general trainers, tennis shoes, running shoes, squash shoes – there’s pretty much something for everyone. Obviously it’s important to make the right choice in order to maximise your sporting enjoyment and also to avoid injury.
One of the latest developments are shoes which increase the efficiency of your workout – or which even give you a lower body workout just by wearing them. As a rule these work by utilising a specially designed sole, usually with a curved shape and using carefully chosen materials in their construction.
Fitflops exercise sandals, Masai Barefoot Technology (MBT) shoes and Skechers Shape Ups are all examples of the latest innovation in exercise footwear. They are all based upon the principle of extending the duration for which the lower body muscles are active when walking – something which will help to trim and tone both the legs and buttock muscles of the wearer. Considering that the average person takes around 15,000 steps daily, you can see how a small increase in lower body muscle activity when walking would be beneficial.
It’s often said that this type of shoe replicates the sensation of walking barefoot in soft sand. If you’ve ever done this for any length of time then you’ll know that it is more tiring than walking on a firm surface – so it does kind of make sense that this might help to maximise the effectiveness of your walking exercise routine. In addition to “making sense” intuitively, there have been a number of scientific studies which have shown that such shoes can genuinely increase muscle activity. Anecdotal testimony from wearers also seems to confirm that the benefits are, for some users at least, real.
The latest super efficient exercise shoes to hit the market are Reebok Easy Tones. These don’t use the curved sole seen on most of the other shoes in this range. They operate on the principle of keeping you very slightly off balance – which increases your muscle activity as you constantly make small adjustments to retain your equilibrium. Fitflops also make use of this imbalance theory – by way of their gloriously titled “microwobbleboard” technology – but they also use the curved sole design.
These shoes generally cost no more than normal exercise shoes and are available in a wide range of colors and styles. Many of them don’t even look like training shoes but are styled like normal boots, clogs and flip flops. Whether you decide to wear them in order to increase the efficiency of your exercise routine or if you just want to wear them whilst walking around normally, there’s probably going to be a style to suit you. If you haven’t taken exercise for a while then it’s probably wise to break your new shoes in gradually. Wear them for just a couple of hours a day, even if you’re just walking around normally. You can gradually increase the time you wear them for over a couple of weeks.
Shape up with Fitflops shoes, sandals and boots – get a free lower body while you walk.