Toning shoes are a recent development in fitness footwear – and they are proving to be extremely popular. Which is not that surprising – after all, who wouldn’t like to tone their legs and trim their butt simply by pulling on a different pair of shoes? There’s a wide selection of different brands on the market. Most of them work on the principle of introducing a small element of instability when walking in them.

It sounds like a crazy idea – but the theory is that the wearer’s muscles will naturally respond to the instability by trying to regain balance, and thereby doing doing work. The additional work performed by the lower body muscles has the effect of toning your legs and trimming your butt more effectively than normal walking would do. What you get in effect is a workout for your lower body, with no need to visit the gym and without any expensive gym membership fees.

MBT shoes – Masai Barefoot Technology – were the first to appear. They weren’t originally designed as toning shoes. They were aimed at people who wanted to reduce stress on joints, improve posture and relieve back pain. They incorporate a specially designed curved sole which promotes a gentle rolling motion when your foot makes contact with the ground. This is intended to replicate the sensation of walking on soft sand in your bare feet. The sole is quite thick and chunky and not everyone will find it visually appealing. They are fairly expensive – but if they relieved your back pain, or toned up your lower body, you would probably consider them to be a worthwhile investment.

Skechers Shape Ups shoes also make use of a thick, curved sole – which makes use of a special kinetic foam insert – to replicate the feeling of walking barefoot on soft sand. These are also pretty chunky in appearance, but they look much more like conventional fitness footwear than the MBT range.

Fit Flops sandals, boots and clogs were originally developed in the UK and are now available worldwide. Although they look nothing like conventional fitness footwear they deliver exactly the same benefits as other toning shoes – again by using a special sole which is thicker than a standard flip flop and which promotes a small degree of instability whilst walking. They cost quite a bit less than the other shoes and – important for many – there’s a wide selection of different colors and styles to choose from. They started life as a range of sandals but, acting on feedback from customers, the range was expanded to include clogs, slippers and boots.

Reebok recently launched its own range of toning shoes – Reebok Easy Tones. This is slightly different from the other toning shoes insofar as it uses air pods built into the sole of the shoe to create instability rather than a specially shaped sole.

All of the manufacturers previously mentioned have independent test results which back up their assertions that their shoes can give you a lower body workout just by walking around as normal. There are also numerous testimonials from delighted users. Obviously there are those who treat the claims with some scepticism.

It sounds great doesn’t it – just pull on your magic shoes and work your lower body just by walking around. Maybe it’s too good to be true? Quite possibly it doesn’t matter that very much. Some of these shoes cost no more than traditional exercise shoes – some are even a little cheaper. Why not just try a pair the next time you need a new pair of shoes anyway. If the main improvement toning shoes provide is motivating the wearer to walk a little further every day, then that’s a very worthwhile benefit in itself.