The Hype About Toning Sneakers

Toning sneakers came on the scene big last summer.  I know you've seen commercials for these shoes, they're the ones with the rounded bottoms?  ...the shoes...not... well, the commercials aren't shy with the round bottoms either, so I guess that could really apply to both.  and I doubt the guys are checking out the footwear when those commercials come on.  but I meant the shoes. 

When the toning sneakers first came out they weren't cheap.  Some cost over $200 and that's more money than I'd like to pay for a fancy walking shoe if I'm being honest.  So I coveted the shoes from afar and went on walking around in my beat up old regular sneakers.  The only thing interesting about the bottoms of those is the green grass stains from when I wear them to mow the lawn.

But now enough time has passed for the copycat toning shoes to have made their debut.  So, instead of spending $245 plus shipping and handling for the über high tech, schmancy, original toning shoes you can skip on over to Payless and pick up a pair of perfectly fine, unoriginal toning shoes on sale for $19.99. 

I wondered if there was a difference.  I wondered if the kind that cost literally TEN TIMES more money are more effective than the lesser priced ones.  I know someone has to have done the legwork on this for me already.

Thanks to Google, I found out that they certainly have researched this and blah, blah freakin' blah...it's boring.  Sneaker research is BORING.  I just wanted to know which shoe is going to give me the ass of an Olympic speed skater in the least amount of time.  Which shoes do THAT?  Google hasn't answered that question but I noticed that all these people are walking around a hell of a lot in these new shoes to see which one works best, right?  This led me to hatch a theory.  It's pretty revolutionary.  Brace yourselves...

I submit: If you exercise more then you'll start to tone up.

CRAZY, right?!  Seriously, if you walk your way through seven time zones trying to figure out if the fancy shoes are toning your ass?  Your ass is getting toned.  It has nothing to do with the shoe. 

If you're concerned enough about your health or posture or muscle tone to go out and buy special shoes to improve that and then use them, it has way more to do with your attitude and focus than the shoe.  Does that make sense?

Not to rain on the fitness parade, but my official opinion is that the toning sneakers are kind of bullshit.  I only say "kind of" because went out I got the $20 Champions from Payless.  So when it comes to hype, I guess this means I only believe about 10% of it.