Can Switching Shoes Boost Your Workout?

Posted on December 17, 2009 in Consumer Goods, Health & Medicine

Reebok’s EasyTone walking shoe is the most successful new product in five years, according to company officials. Consumers are eager to buy the product that leaves leg and buttock muscles better toned than regular walking shoes—but do the shoes really work?

Reebok says it has collected 15,000 hours’ worth of wear-test data from shoe users who say they notice a difference. However, the claim that the shoes tone muscles is supported by one study involving just five people, not published in a peer-reviewed academic journal. Reebok’s head of advanced innovation, Bill McInnis, told the New York Times that the size of the study was adequate to determine the effect of the shoe.

The EasyTone is designed with “balance pods” in the toe and heel of each shoe. Walking should require more muscle engagement and balance, like crossing the surface of a sandy beach. Wearers are discouraged from running, jumping or engaging in athletic activities other than walking.

Reviews among consumers have been mainly positive.Wearing the shoe might prompt awareness of health, but the jury’s still out on its claim to tone.