Last fall while my father-in-law was in town, we were out shopping and he decided to look for a new pair of shoes. I tried to contain my giggles when he starting trying on toning shoes. I am not a fan.
He ended up buying a pair and I had pretty much forgotten about them until I was walking up the stairs at Falcon Stadium behind him. The rocking-style toning shoes had him balancing and teetering on each step so much that I thought surely we were going to end up in a heap at the bottom of the stadium.
Turns out, his instability on the shoes is not uncommon. Consumer Reports Health reports a rise in injuries as the shoes become more popular. The shoes are created with a natural instability to force your muscles to work against the shoes, and in turn, tone your leg muscles and rear end.
Anyone with balance problems should not wear the shoes because it makes injuries more prevalent. Rolling the ankle or knees is also a possibility.
Some of the shoe companies report studies that show a significant increase in toning wearing the shoes, but an independent study by the American Council on Exercise found that there was no significant difference between exercising in regular sneakers or toning sneakers.
Do you wear or have you worn the toning shoes? Did you have any issues with them?
