Re-think the “workout” in Workout Shoes

A recent article in CNNHealth talks about the recent surge in so called “Toning” shoes that make claims to burn calories and tone muscles in the lower body.  The article cites quotes by a podiatrist who states that he purchased a pair to try to see if he was able to get a workout and notice results from wearing them for a day.  He did say that at the end of the day his legs did seem much more tired than they normally would but just that his legs are getting a “workout” doesn’t exactly mean that you are toning or doing good.  I think this is an extremely accurate statement. If you walk around with a broken shoe that doesn’t exactly mean that you are doing yourself a favor and don’t have to go to the gym for the day.  I haven’t see any of the quotations from some of the manufactures but if they claim that you don’t have to go to the gym or can use these shoes in place of an exercise facility then I believe that they are doing more harm than good.  Jump it…

These shoes are primarily aimed at women and lets face it, SOME women are looking for any excuse to not have to go in to a gym and workout.  This is actually not a good thing because, like my previous post states, you can burn calories by doing random movements during basic activities, but to get true benifits from exercise you need to actually elevate your heart rate.  These shoes will not be doing that for sure.  If you can eleavate your heart rate then you can also add in the extra cardiovascular benefits that go hand in hand with exercise as well as include the calcium sparing benefit that is afforded by using free weights that many women neglect to do.  Another benefit that exercising gives is called post-exercise thermogenesis in which the basal body temperature stays elevated for a period of time post-workout where it continues to burn excess calores while not actually performing exercise.  All of these benefits are not things that one should glance over in a rush to purchase these shoes.

Shoes’ Toning Claim Draws Experts Doubts via CNNHealth.com

This entry was posted on 17. August 2009 at 11:27 and is filed under Exercise. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.