Sports giants Reebok have claimed that their Reebok Easytone trainers can improve the tone of your hamstrings, calves and bum by nearly 30% more than regular trainers just by walking. They claim the trainers can “train muscles your trainers never knew you had.”
They seem too good to be true; you can exercise the same amount or simply walk around and your legs and behind get a workout that would usually take hours a day at the gym. But do they actually work or is this all just some marketing campaign? A team of scientists with backgrounds in exercise, sport and physiology at the University of Wisconsin conducted a study to test the claims on each of the shoes.
Heading up the test was John Porcari PhD who agrees that in theory the trainers should work the muscles harder because it creates instability that the body attempts to counteract. The shoes are based on a curved sole which creates an unstable surface which forces the wearer’s body to constantly struggle to find equilibrium.
The team tested the Reetone range on a group of females aged between 19 and 24. The subjects were tested through exercise trials and measured by muscle activation, heart rate and caloric expenditure.
The second group, aged 21 to 27 also went through similar tests and both groups were tested with regular trainers to compare. The initial results were not impressive, using the Reetone trainers did not increase caloric expenditure or heart rate, and the only effects were aching of the muscles.
The group did however survey users of the shoes over a period of several months and found that the general consensus was an overall toning of the legs and bum. What the team failed to determine was whether the toning was entirely due to the trainers or just down to people walking more to get their value for money out of the trainers.
The Reebok Easytone campaign has promoted the Easytone trainers by emphasising the positive effects on the toning and shaping of women’s legs and bums.