Fashion Police Meets Fitness Police

A combination of a crime against fashion and a huge freaking fitness scam! Sketchers and Reebok continue to make claims that wearing Shape-Ups or EasyTone shoes can replace the need to set foot in a gym, while magically giving you long, lean legs, and a perfectly round rump. Sadly, this is not the case.

These monstrosities work the fine muscles in the calf area, which normally don't receive much attention. This causes the muscles to feel sore, because they truly have been worked, unfortunately, these muscle groups are small. Think of it like this: after writing for a long period of time, your forearm may feel sore, you have worked out several small muscles, but this is in no way considered to be a workout nor did this burn many calories.

Some info of note:

Although there have been small studies showing increases in muscular activity with the use of curved soles, Dr. Bruce Williams, a podiatrist and a past president of the American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine, said: "My point is that it's not necessarily beneficial even though there's an increase in muscular activity."

"Their primary complaint at the end of the day after walking around the mall is that they hurt," Williams said. "So is that necessarily beneficial to them? No, not at all. ... I'm not a big fan of people relearning how to walk."

-CNN

The study, by the American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit fitness organization, draws similar conclusions. The San Diego-based group tested the physiological reactions of 12 healthy women who wore regular fitness shoes and compared them with those of 12 others who wore Shape-Ups, Reebok's EasyTone Reeinspire shoes, and a model by Masai Barefoot Technology, a Swiss brand that pioneered the trend in the '90s. The report found that none of the latter models toned users' muscles or helped them burn calories.

"The messaging around these shoes and the notion that they can tone the body are appealing to the general consumer," Cedric Bryant, chief science officer at the council, told Consumer Ally . "But the toning shoes appear to produce the same results as regular sneakers. We want to educate consumers as to what's reasonable and realistic in terms of exercise and outcomes."

Bryant pointed out that any benefits of wearing Shape-Ups are more likely to come from the fact that they resemble orthopedic shoes and may indeed be good for people with foot abnormalities.

-WALLETPOP

For the love of God, stop lying to the public! Public, stop wasting your money and believing everything the TV tells you!



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/09/shape-ups-easytones-dont_n_675821.html
http://www.geardiary.com/2010/11/14/shape-up-shoes-shocker-they-dont-work/
http://www.walletpop.com/2010/09/01/skechers-shape-ups-ad-claims-said-to-be-misleading-consumers/
http://naturalbias.com/dont-let-reebok-fool-you-shoes-wont-tone-your-butt/
http://www.businesspundit.com/reebok-easytone-shoes-promise-to-tone-your-butt-fad-alert/
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/08/12/shoes.fitness/index.html