Toning or exercise shoes became a popular category of footwear a few years ago, but they seem to be losing some of that initial interest. The best known shoes in this category are MBT shoes, Skechers Shape Ups, Reebok Easy Tone, Chung Shi, and New Balance Rock ‘n Tone. This class of shoe is deliberately made unstable by the use of design features such as a rocker sole or “rocker board.” The purpose of this instability is to make the muscles work harder. This is claimed to give you an ‘extra tone’ when wearing these shoes, hence the name ‘toning shoes’. Since shoes also alter the way we walk, shoes alter posture alignment, so they have the potential to help with some postural issues. However, there is some disparity between the marketing claims for these shoes and the actual scientific research supporting the claims. It has reached a point where several of the companies have had to settle for large sums of money for the claims they have been making in their marketing. Many also face client litigation for injuries that occurred while wearing the shoes.

The scientific evidence is pretty clear on many of the biomechanical effects of these shoes. They have been shown to increase muscle activity and have been shown to alter the biomechanics of gait in people who use them. While these changes are clear, what the evidence is not clear is whether the results associated with changes are actually only theoretical. For example, there is no question that muscles tend to work harder when wearing these shoes, but there is no evidence that this leads to increased tone. There is also no doubt that these shoes alter gait, but there is no evidence that this change is positive or negative. Marketers have taken lab-based biomechanical research and speculated a change in theoretical results to exaggerate what these shoes can do. In extreme cases, it has been claimed that they can cure cellulite and improve circulation. It was this jump that got companies in trouble with regulatory authorities.

So where does that leave the toning shoe niche now? There is no doubt that many people have been helped with the use of these shoes and the testimonials confirm this. There is also no doubt that several people have been injured by these shoes. What is missing are clear guidelines to help decide who will benefit and who will not benefit from wearing toning shoes. For example, some doctors recommend them for back pain; Others do not. Some podiatrists like them for painful arthritis of the big toe joint. It is clear that there is a good future for these shoes. That future must be devoid of hype and backed by more good scientific evidence and clear guidelines on who should and who shouldn’t use it.