The latest development in fitness footwear is toning shoes – and they are proving very popular. Which is hardly surprising really – after all, who wouldn’t want to be able to tone their legs and trim their butt just by pulling on a different pair of shoes? There is a variety of different brands available on the market. The majority of them work on the basis of introducing a very small degree of instability whilst walking in them.

It doesn’t sound like a very clever idea – but the theory is that the wearer’s muscles will naturally respond to the instability by attempting to regain balance, and thereby doing extra work. The additional work carried out by the muscles in the lower body has the effect of trimming your butt and toning your legs more efficiently than normal walking. You get a lower body workout with no need to make a trip to the gym – and with no expensive monthly membership fees.

MBT (Masai Barefoot Technology) shoes were the first to appear. They were not originally designed to be toning shoes. They were targeted at people who wanted to relieve lower back pain, reduce stress on joints and improve posture. They use a specially engineered curved sole which encourages a gentle rolling motion whenever your foot comes into contact with the ground. This is supposed to reproduce the sensation of walking barefoot in soft sand. The sole is pretty thick and quite chunky and not everyone will find it aesthetically pleasing. They certainly aren’t cheap – but if they helped to ease your back pain or toned up your lower body, you may well think that it was money well spent.

Skechers Shape Ups shoes also make use of a thick, curved sole – which includes a special kinetic foam insert – to replicate the feeling of walking barefoot on soft sand. These are also fairly chunky and look much more like traditional exercise shoes than the MBT range.

Fit flops sandals, boots and clogs were originally developed in the UK and are now being sold worldwide. Although they look nothing like conventional fitness footwear they deliver exactly the same benefits as other toning shoes – again by using a special sole which is thicker than a standard flip flop and which promotes a small degree of instability whilst walking. They cost quite a bit less than the other shoes and – important for many – there’s a wide selection of different colors and styles to choose from. Originally, they started life as a range of sandals – but boots, clogs and even slippers were added to the range in response to customer demand.

Reebok has recently launched its own toning shoe – the Reebok Easy Tone range. This is slightly different from the other toning shoes insofar as it uses air pods built into the sole of the shoe to create instability rather than a specially shaped sole.

All of the manufacturers previously mentioned have independent test results which back up their assertions that their shoes can give you a lower body workout just by walking around as normal. There are also plenty of glowing testimonials from very satisfied users. Obviously there are those who treat the claims with some scepticism.

It sounds great doesn’t it – just pull on your magic shoes and work your lower body just by walking around. But is it too good to be true? Quite possibly it doesn’t matter that very much. Some of these shoes cost no more than traditional exercise shoes – some are even a little cheaper. The next time you fancy a new pair of shoes why not try a pair of these toning shoes. If the chief improvement derived from toning shoes is to encourage the wearer to walk further, then that’s a worthwhile benefit in itself.

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