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wellness shoes
Don't Hurt Yourself Wearing Wellness Shoes
Wellness and toning shoes are marketed as an easy way to look great, but some experts believe they're also leading to more injuries.
By Leah Zerbe
Topics: walking and hiking, fitness trends
Prep your body to avoid injury and soreness from toning shoes. Or use safer, more affordable, tried-and-true methods for toning your legs and butt.
Odd-looking footwear isn't something to clown around with.
RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Shoemakers have found a valuable marketing niche, and they're running with it. Wellness shoes, sometimes referred to as toning shoes or shaping shoes, are raking in millions for shoe companies. But are they actually firming thighs and butts, and making people fitter, as promised? The answer is yes and no. And what you don't know about them could leave you in a lot of pain, physically and financially.
THE DETAILS: At the end of last year, Sporting Goods Business reported that wellness footwear, including brands like MBT, Skechers Shape-Ups, and Reebok EasyTones, and the more casual FitFlops and Earth Shoes, would reel in $100 to $200 million in 2009. The projection for 2010 is even healthier and could reach $800 million to $1 billion. The earnings add up fast, considering MBT styles run about $240 a pair. Other wellness shoe prices hover around $100, but with public interest high, expect to see other shoemakers hopping into the game in the next few months. Women, especially, are opening their wallets wide for these types of shoes. In October 2009, toning shoes accounted for 20 percent of the female pure-performance footwear market.
WHAT IT MEANS: So the big question is, "Do they work?" According to podiatrist Jeffrey Ross, MD, spokesman for the American College of Sports Medicine and assistant clinical professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, the answer is yes—sometimes. "They work, but what you have to remember, because they have a rocker bottom and negative heal, if you have a tight heel cord or Achilles tendon, it can put tremendous strain on muscles," explains Dr. Ross. "You have to be really flexible, or do stretching, when you wear these types of shoes." He also warns that people should take care to avoid the infomercial knockoffs that are springing up, since there's virtually no research on their effectiveness. Many wellness shoes, such as those made by MBT, are known as rocker-style shoes because the negative heel (lower than the toe) and curved bottom results in a gait that, the companies claim, improves posture and creates a natural instability that forces your buttocks and thighs to work harder.
Published on January 6th, 2010
Last updated on January 20th, 2012
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It’s good to know the wellness industry
It’s good to know the wellness industry is doing well and wellness shoes are getting a good chunk of the pie. I think what most people may forget is with wellness shoes, the risk of muscle injury is higher. With the amount of walking many need to do, such shoes heighten the risk of injury even more! Long term injury to core muscles could backfire on any exercise plans aimed at weight loss! Do take note!
Sketchers
I just started wearing these and going to work in them. I do like how they help my posture and back. I purchased the shoes because of this and didn't give much thought about my legs strengthening. I can see a difference in how I am using my legs since I wear these sneakers. The more important thing is knowing they are safe to wear.
If there was a problem with these shoes I don't think they would of been approved for selling.
Problem with five-fingers
The problem with the barefoot vibram five fingers shoes is that they use antimicrobial chemicals in the footbed. These chemicals, and even silver-nanoparticles used for the same purpose are dangerous for our health, and the health of the environment. I wish they'd ditch the antimicrobial angle.
A nation of stupid feet
The smarter the shoes, the dumber the feet that wear them.
Funny how Mary noted that Rocker shoes help her with arthritis because the bones in her feet don't move. That is not a good sign for feet! It IS good for Mary's, but not for healthy feet, which, thanks to Running shoes and now Rocker shoes, don't have to use their many bones and muscles in the way they were meant to be used!
Yes, barefoot is best (http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/) but like the Rocker shoe craze, people with stupid feet are flocking to barefoot shoes and getting injured for the same reasons: you can't just switch. The feet must be RE-TRAINED to use their natural musculature, which we have been blunting since our first pair of Adidas/Nikes/over-constructed shoes.
MBT shoes - why they work for me
I have rheumatoid arthritis and as it progressed I lost most of the cartilage between the little bones in my feet. I was in a lot of pain and could hardly walk at all in any kind of shoe (I even tried specially made orthopedic insoles). I had already had bilateral knee replacement because all of my cartilage was gone and I was rubbing bone on bone - I had to use a walker for a year before I had the knee replacement. The doctor x-rayed my feet and said they were just as bad as my knees but the only thing they could do would be to fuse some of the bones so they would not rub.
I got the MBT shoes instead because my bones don't have to move and rub since the shoe rocks. I now often work at a hospital on my feet ~12 hours with these shoes - when I try other regular shoes, I can not tolerate the pain. Not there intended use but a God send for me ! I have been wearing MBT shoes since July 2006.