ShopCrazy

If you’re like most people, you probably have a standing resolution to work out more often. However, like many working women, you may not have the time—or the discipline—to go to the gym.

With this in mind, sportswear brand Reebok has launched the EasyTone sneaker, a shoe that tones your legs and butt with no more effort than it takes to walk (as a matter of fact, a page on their website claims that you get benefits from just standing in place). The EasyTone makes use of balance pods, which are designed to create natural instability that increases the activation of key muscles, resulting in 11% more activity in your calves and thighs, and 28% more activity for your glutes.

With the promise of toned legs to drive me, I took the shoes out for a test drive—er, walk—over the course of a week.

The first thing you notice is the way the balance pods feel—it’s like walking around with really huge wads of gum stuck to your soles. The sensation throws your normal stride off balance, and your leg muscles compensate for the change. I could actually feel unfamiliar muscles in my legs and butt being worked as I walked around. Standing in the shoes, you tend to rock to and fro, which lends credence to the claim that you can work your muscles while standing still.

On the first day I wore them, I went for a serious walk—the kind that counts as exercise even if you just used normal shoes. This might have been too much, too soon for my muscles—after a thirty minute walk, even my lower back and abs felt slightly strained. I was convinced, though, that the shoes did engage more muscles than usual, perhaps more so since it had been a while since I last exercised.

The next day I tried them out at the office, which posed the challenge of making athletic shoes work-worthy. I settled on an outfit with jeans and a proper white shirt peeking out of a sweater, which made me feel like I was back in college. Luckily, I work in a creative environment—I can’t imagine anyone in a bank or at a law firm wearing these shoes to work, which means no extra toning for them during the day.

At some point I gave the shoes a break and went back to wearing heels, with the result that a whole new set of leg muscles got into gear; the following day my legs felt like I had subjected them to a 10k run without any training. When I went back to wearing my EasyTones, I found that I had adjusted to them to some degree, but if I was mindful, I could still feel my muscles working slightly more than usual; in particular, I felt my bum muscles constantly clenching.

After a week of (thoroughly unscientific) testing, my legs feel noticeably tighter and (to my imagination, at least) look firmer. Of course, it could be the fact that I’ve been walking a lot to and from my office parking space, but in general, I feel convinced that the shoes do what they claim to do (if you’re pretty fit to begin with, you probably won’t notice the results as quickly).

As for “taking the gym with you,” you can’t always do that, since sneakers are inappropriate for most jobs, where we spend most of our time. (If you have to wait until the end of your daily routine to wear them, then you sort of miss the point of “taking the gym with you.”) It would be great if the thong version (easier to wear but still not office-worthy) was available in the country (not yet here, but you can see them online), and if there were more colors and styles to choose from. The price (P4,595 for the Express and P5,495 for the Go Outside and Rush models) is reasonable for an athletic shoe, but it would go a long way if the shoe could be worn every day, everywhere.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 18th, 2009 at 4:42 pm and is filed under Fashion Files, Fashion for Women. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.