Muscle-Toning Shoes

Coming off an injury that basically destroyed my calf-muscle (yeah, tearing it plus a fractured tibia can do that), I've been on physical therapy since mid-soccer season. This started right after the injury occured, and was mostly massages and stretching with no actual work involved. This of course led to my muscle becoming a wet noodle, and me freaking out over the fact that I couldn't run or play sports the rest of junior year. Now I'm doing more work with it in physical therapy, but I still don't think I can get it back to how it was after hell week of soccer in August.

Now, there are all these advertisements, of shoes that will tone and do all this cool stuff for your body, by just walking in them. Not running, just walking. To me, this sounds rediculous, because there are always shoes that are said to be great fro running and working out, and then aren't. (Ahem Nike Shox) (Yes I own a pair but leave me alone they match my gym clothes) These new shoes, such as EasyTone from Adidas, Shape-Ups from Sketchers, and "Fit Flops" from who knows where, are being introduced the consumers and well, Consumers are buying them.

Officials from Reebok, a unit of Adidas, say the EasyTone is the company’s most successful new product in at least five years.Shape-Ups from Skechers USA are designed to improve posture and muscle tone and promote weight loss. The FitFlop brand has been engineered to increase leg, calf and gluteal muscle activity, giving the wearer “a workout while you walk.”

These shoes have all different sorts of developments such as "balance pods" and curved soles that "make" posture better, and tone all sorts of leg muscles. But the biggest attraction of these shoes is of course, the fact that they'll shape your butt.

When in fact, a lot of this research has been put out there, only to be proven by a small number of people. Most of it is psychological, because when people think they're getting a better work out when they walk, they'll walk more, therefore they'll be more in shape.

I just think it's funny, America ever being in shape.