To anyone wearing those hideous toning shoes, some relief.
You don’t have to embarrass yourself in public anymore.
According to several studies — including a recent one, the results presented last month at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine — muscle activation and oxygen consumption were almost identical whether the women wore toning or normal walking shoes.
Meaning, those rocker-shaped soles that promise to tighten your calves, thighs and butt don’t do anything ordinary shoes would. Yes, even if they “feel” different.
I’ll admit: I’ve been tempted to spend the $100 or so to buy one of these miracle shoes and walk my way to a fitter body. But like anything that sounds too good to be true, it is.
It’s amazing, though, how companies are able to get away with what essentially is misleading (not necessarily false) advertising. On the SKECHERS website, it says its Shape-ups will “tone your muscles, promote healthy weight loss and make it easy to get in shape.”
While the claims may not be entirely true, if people — namely, women — buy these shoes and actually start walking, that’s a good thing. And I’m guessing some women have used these shoes to get back into shape — and may not have even attempted it had it not been for the convincing sales pitch.
If that’s enough to get people out there and moving, I suppose the shoes have done their job.
I’m just glad I didn’t buy into it. Otherwise, I would have an ugly pair of useless shoes.
15 Comments
hmmm, i dunno about this one. i’d definately like to talk to someone who has actually used them first,before i believe “several studies” who say nay. i would buy them myself before believing the studies,based solely on Joe Montana’s pitch. way more credible than the thigh master or any ab-cruncher machine. The thigh master is actually really great when used as a pilates back strengthener,and now they are only like $5 at any second hand store! But i digress. Yes,any good running shoes and a hill or set of stairs will do the same as the “rocker’ claim.But if one is a flat-lander i’d give it a try.Still better than a pet rock…
Thigh Master! Do they still make those???
PT Barnum was right… if you walk 4 or 5 miles daily… an hour to hour and a half out of your life you will have plenty of tone. My question is to my mind a little more important. When is it going to sink in that the space between your ears is likely the best place to attempt to tone things up? Golf is a great illustrator of this. Name a single professional golfer that thinks anything other than the mental game is the most important aspect of their success. Yet people spend a God awful amount of money buying the latest equipment and working out to play a sport that most strokes are lost because of what is happening between your ears. So maybe someone should make a ‘get you act together’ hat. I’d buy one
I need a “get your act together” hat. Imagine what I could accomplish!
About walking, on a side note, I’m a big believer that that’s all you need. Serious walking, though. When I injured my back a few years ago, I wasn’t allowed to do anything BUT walk. (I couldn’t even drive.) So I walked for 45 minutes twice a day. Lost more weight doing that than anything else.
Hello Cat, I never believed those shoes ever worked when it appeared on the market.
I desperately wanted to believe in those shoes! Looked like such an easy way to lose weight. But like the old saying goes, “If it’s too good to be true….”
The next thing you know, I’m going to find that this shampoo I have been using doesn’t really leave my hair 5-times silkier. At least I haven’t been strapping the bottle to my head. Ugly shoes? Yeah, I guess they are kind of clunky.
LOL!
I asked my chiropractor about them and she said that she loves them. they bring in a lot of business to her from people who use them then screw up their lower backs.
It’s all about job security!
Reminds me of my old vet and how they used to push “Science Diet” on me!
Cat, did you ever see the movie “Elizabethtown” written/directed by Cameron Crowe? The main character (Orlando Bloom) hides away in shame after his pet project “Späsmodica” shoes were a flop and lost his company a billion dollars! Life imitates art here!
As for product advertisement, as long as any fraction of their claim is true, they can make that claim. I remember a former FDA honcho citing in an interview that the “Dreamaway” product that promoted weight loss while you slept could get away with those claims, even though in their tests, it didn’t work at all. That is because as humans, we ALL loss weight when we sleep as a natural process.
Gotta watch them snake oil salesmen!
The FDA ruled years ago that packaging that said new and improved were legal even if there was no difference in the internal product. Indeed the package itself was ‘new and improved’ because it created a ‘new and improved’ impression. It was a landmark ruling!
No, I didn’t. I’ll put it on my Netflix!
Interesting about the ruling, though. (See below) Snake oil is next!
You know what else is crazy? When you go to Famous Footwear, there are three rows of ugly shaping shoes by a bunch of different makers and just one row of running shoes now. Does that mean nobody is running and everyone is just using platform sneakers?
Platform sneakers! Maybe they can repackage these shoes as that! I bet folks would still buy ’em!