Do toning shoes work?

The buzz
The claims made about toning and wellness shoes are enticing: improve your leg and butt muscles simply by wearing them. On the Masai Barefoot Technology website, it says the Masai "sensor and balancing area" induces instability that your body instinctively tries to correct. "This correct action can help add more movement into everyday life and also lead to increased muscle activation and can help improve posture and balance."

Advertising for Fitflops features the slogan: "Firm up. Feel good."

A picture of Kim Kardashian advertises Skechers Shape-ups with the words: "The newest move in fitness ... is tying your shoelaces."

Toning-shoe sales in the US rose from $US17 million in 2008 to almost $US1 billion last year. But is firming up really as easy as putting on a pair of wobbly shoes?

What we know
In September, Reebok agreed to pay $US25 million to settle false-advertising charges after US consumer watchdog the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ruled that claims its EasyTone or RunTone shoes could strengthen hamstrings, calves and buttocks "just by walking" were unsubstantiated.

The ads claimed the shoes strengthened hamstrings and calves by up to 11 per cent more than regular trainers and toned the buttocks by up to 28 per cent more.

"There is no such thing as a no-work, no-sweat way to a fit and healthy body," FTC head of consumer protection David Vladeck said.

Reebok pulled advertisements during the investigation and is barred from repeating the claims.
Meanwhile, American publication Footwear News recently reported that the FTC and agencies in other countries were investigating claims made by Skechers about its Shape-ups.

The experts' verdict
Sydney podiatrist Brenden Brown, a spokesman for the Australian Podiatry Association, says claims made about these shoes are exaggerated.

"I have had half-a-dozen patients who have gone on to have injuries because these shoes are based on being unstable.

"I think they are an expensive fad."

Physiotherapist Holly Brasher, a spokeswoman for the Australian Physiotherapy Association, says research shows these shoes do change muscle activation during walking but the clinical relevance of this has not been determined.