Adam’s journal
We’ve all heard it said that clothes make the man. But can one specific item of clothing — shoes — make the man (or woman) fitter?
That’s the claim I’ve been seeing and hearing for “muscle-activating” walking shoes.
These shoes, many of which sport oversize soles, are engineered to create a sense of instability.
Design elements such as curved soles on the shoes supposedly force the wearer of the shoes to use stabilizing muscles more than usual, thus toning calf, butt and hamstring muscles.
Do you think these shoes really work? Or should I expect to find them soon in the forgotten-fitness-fad bin alongside vinyl sauna suits and grapefruit diets?
Dr. Prescott prescribes
The companies that make these shoes point to research supporting their claims. But the studies they cite were — surprise! — financed by the companies themselves, so I’d take them with a grain of salt. For instance, one manufacturer says its shoes cause gluteal (butt) muscles to work an average of 28 percent more than regular walking shoes. The company also says that its shoes cause calf and hamstring muscles to work 11 percent harder.
Those figures, though, are backed by a single study that involved only five people. In it, the company researchers used sensors to measure muscle activity as subjects walked on a treadmill for 500 steps wearing either muscle-activating shoes or another shoe, and then barefoot. The results were not published in a peer-reviewed academic journal.
This is hardly the kind of rigorous data that would make me run out and buy a pair of those goofy-looking shoes (which can sell for upward of $200). But it doesn’t mean they don’t have some benefit.
Many who use the shoes report that they deliver a more effective workout. This anecdotal evidence also finds support from workouts relying on the Bosu ball, a half- sphere that exercisers stand on during workouts to better engage leg and core muscles.
Still, there have been no studies looking at whether greater muscle engagement leads to meaningful changes over time. In fact, a Canadian study found that among experienced exercisers, moderate instability balls such as the Bosu had little effect on muscle activation. So it may be that leg muscles adapt to the instability over time.
Science aside, though, buying a new pair of fitness-specific shoes may cause you to get out and walk more often. And when you do, you’re more likely to move briskly and with a purpose. If that’s the case, I’d say the shoes aren’t a bad investment.
[ask-drp]
