Booty Buildiing Sneakers?!

[Will Brink]

The Facts About Building the Perfect Booty!

I don't usually write about a specific bodypart, but I was inspired to by the recent development of companies selling booty building sneakers claiming to "help make your legs and butt look great..." The Reebok "EasyTone" sneaker probably being the best known, but there are others. The Reebok version claiming to be based on "balance ball technology" and* "tones your butt up to 28% more just by walking." I'm sure many of you have seen the commercial, but if not, here it is:

YouTube Video

Now before I even continue on about this booty shaping shoe, I just have to take a moment to rant a bit about this specific commercial. If you are going sell a shoe that (supposedly...)* shapes up your gluteus maximus, shouldn't you use a model that has one?! Holy Flat Backsides Batman! This gal has virtually no butt. Now I'm not hating on her; she's a very pretty girl - and* for a typical TV model type - in great shape, but she has no ass! I mean really, is that the behind most women really want today? Or put more succinctly, is that what the general non-athletic public* considers* a well developed booty?!

I see that commercial on TV* and I want her to ditch those goofy sneakers and find the nearest squat rack! So back to reality: if you want a well developed shapely athletic butt and legs, no pair of sneakers is going to give it to you. Like any muscle, you will have to develop it the old fashioned way via exercises such as squats, lunges, split squats, and straight leg deadlifts.

As with any bodypart, some are more genetically gifted in that area then others, but make no mistake, anyone can develop a firm well shaped booty with the right choice of exercises, consistency, and other factors (i.e., good nutrition so said booty is not just made of muscle blurring blubber!).

Sorry, no sneaker is gonna do that for you...What's a great booty look like as a result of proper training, nutrition, and consistency? Here's an oldie but goodie video of well known fitness/figure model Monica Brant doing Straight leg deadlifts, and to paraphrase the classic line from the 80's movie Crocodile Dundee, "That's not an ass.. now THAT's an ass!"

YouTube Video

If you want to see more exercise vids, some of which will also help with your backside, see my video section as well as youtube page.

 

[danzik17]

Damn, I'd be scared to go near that ass. It's like putting it into a beartrap!

 

[Will Brink]

Damn, I'd be scared to go near that ass. It's like putting it into a beartrap!

Never fear the booty....

 

[Rucker]

Never fear the booty....

This

 

[Will Brink]

Shocking developments....NOT!


American Council on Exercise: Study Finds Toning Shoes Don???t Work
By Katherine Hobson

How sweeeeeet would it be if you could burn more calories, firm muscles and reduce joint stress just by putting on a pair of kicks? That???s just what Skechers says its Shape-Up shoes can help you do.

The American Council on Exercise was skeptical about that claim as well as similar assertions of muscle-toning and calorie-burning benefits made by Masai Barefoot Technology (MBT) and Reebok EasyTone shoes. It asked a team of exercise scientists from the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, to study the shoes, which feature ???an unstable sole design??? that???s supposed to keep your body off balance and therefore, working harder than if you were standing around in flip-flops.
(It should be noted that ACE is a nonprofit that certifies a lot of fitness pros who would be out of a job if we could all get fit without working out. ACE says it commissioned the study but that it was independently conducted. John Porcari, one of the study???s authors, says the team consulted with ACE on its design but that data were collected, analyzed and written up with no involvement by the group.)

Researchers conducted two studies, with two different groups of 12 physically active female volunteers in the 19-27 age range. One had the women doing a dozen five-minute stints in which they walked on a treadmill set at different grades wearing each kind of toning shoe, as well as a control pair of regular running sneakers. Researchers measured the study participants??? oxygen consumption, heart rate, perceived exertion and calorie burn. A similarly conducted study measured activity in six different back and lower-body muscle groups.
You can see all the charts detailing their findings in ACE???s report. The gist: ???Across the board, none of the toning shoes showed statistically significant increases in either exercise response or muscle activation during any of the treadmill trials,??? ACE says.

???There is simply no evidence to support the claims that these shoes will help wearers exercise more intensely, burn more calories or improve muscle strength and tone.???
Just because the shoes may initially produce sore muscles doesn???t mean they work, one of the researchers tells ACE. The differently shaped sole and cushioning will definitely use different muscles than your regular shoes, but that doesn???t mean you???re working any harder, overall, or that you???re going to get toned. ???Some people do find these shoes very comfortable,??? Porcari says. ???If that encourages people to get out and walk more or exercise more ??? fantastic.???

Reebok, Skechers and MBT all cite research on the beneficial effects of wearing the shoes, but dig into it and there???s not much robust, statistically significant, independent data to support their claims, ACE says.

Skechers disagrees. The company sent us a statement asking why we ???have not reported on the many other larger scale published clinical studies that have found exactly the opposite results ??? This competent and reliable scientific evidence supports the benefits, particularly relating to increased muscle activation, greater energy consumption, increased metabolic rates, and the strengthening and toning of certain muscles.??? Here is a link to the studies listed on their site.

Reebok, too, finds fault with the study, saying ???the bold conclusions made in the article are not supported by the actual data presented??? and that the company ???has never claimed that by wearing EasyTone a person will burn more calories or that EasyTone is a ???magic bullet??? that will replace exercise.??? The company says the shoe is ???a great way to get more muscle activity from your daily routine.??? Here???s a link to its informational page.

Finally, we spoke with MBT???s Lori Yarrow, a chiropractor who acts as a medical liaison for the company and coordinates research on its products. She questions the validity of the ACE-sponsored research, given the nature of the study and the small sample size.

Yarrow also says the new study can???t be directly compared to MBT???s own research, which focuses on physiological benefits like joint pain relief, neck pain and posture among the over-40 crowd. Indeed, she says the company???s shoes aren???t really in this ???toning??? category because muscle appearance changes and weight loss are not its primary aims. ???There are people who wear MBTs who will notice they have a difference in muscle tone, but our positioning is not as toning footwear,??? she says. ???It???s the same with calorie burn.???

American Council on Exercise: Study Finds Toning Shoes Don’t Work - Health Blog - WSJ




New Balance faces class-action lawsuit alleging its shoes do not tone
January 4, 2011 02:04 PM


By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff
Boston sneaker maker New Balance is facing charges in a new class-action lawsuit that it falsely represented the physical benefit of its popular toning shoes that promise consumers a tighter butt and legs.

The lawsuit, filed yesterday in US District Court in Boston, is seeking damages in excess of $5 million on behalf of a California woman, Bistra Pashamova, and other people who have allegedly been harmed by New Balance.

"[Pashamova] was exposed to and saw New Balance's advertising claims, purchased New Balance toning shoes in reliance on these claims, and suffered injury in fact and lost money as a result," the lawsuit said.
Pashamova and her attorney did not return messages seeking comment. New Balance also could not be reached today.

New Balance, which last year launched a multi-million dollar toning shoe campaign, is one of several major sneaker companies that are facing class action lawsuits from consumers in recent months. Toning shoes are designed with an unstable sole so leg muscles have to work harder to maintain balance during everyday activities.

They are the fastest growing segment in the footwear industry and sales were expected to soar last year to roughly $1.5 billion.
But a growing number of consumer complaints and a study last summer by the nonprofit American Council on Exercise found that toning shoes failed to live up to claims made by manufacturers. Some reports of injuries have also raised concerns that the shoes, which costs roughly $100 a pair, could be doing more harm than good.

New Balance has promoted its toning shoes with claims that they increase muscle activation by at least 27 percent and increase calorie burn by up to 10 percent with each step using either a rounded of flexible spring sole. Pashamova, in the lawsuit, is demanding that New Balance "halt the dissemination of this false and misleading advertising message, correct the false and misleading perception New Balance has created in the minds of consumers, and to obtain redress for those who have purchased any New Balance toning shoes."

New Balance spokeswoman Amy Dow, in a previous interview with the Globe, defended the company's sneakers.
"Having tested our products with hundreds of consumers in the lab and field combined, we are confident that increased muscle activation occurs when wearing our toning footwear," Dow said.

New Balance faces class-action lawsuit alleging its shoes do not tone
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[LAM]

lol @ walking and building the glutes with such a short ROM. to exercise the glutes effectively you have to use the full range of motion in the legs in an explosive manner such as sprinting, jumping, etc. the ground reaction force and short gait from walking barely stimulates the glutes.

I wonder what would happen if a person used a shake weight while walking wearing booty building sneakers?

 

[Will Brink]

lol @ walking and building the glutes with such a short ROM. to exercise the glutes effectively you have to use the full range of motion in the legs in an explosive manner such as sprinting, jumping, etc. the ground reaction force and short gait from walking barely stimulates the glutes.

I wonder what would happen if a person used a shake weight while walking wearing booty building sneakers?

Sorry, I draw the line there. I aint testing that combo.

 

[BIGBLUECHEVELLE]

I love that article about how toning shoes don't do anything. When it comes down to it anything that is marketed to the consumer for losing weight fast by just using it for 15min 2 times a week or whatever is bs obviously. The moment people start realizing that theirs no substitution for hard work, and eating healthy that's when people will stop getting fat. Other than that people keep using your shakeweight, ab belt cruncher, And your easy tone shoes.

 

[ANIMALHAUS]

I love that article about how toning shoes don't do anything. When it comes down to it anything that is marketed to the consumer for losing weight fast by just using it for 15min 2 times a week or whatever is bs obviously. The moment people start realizing that theirs no substitution for hard work, and eating healthy that's when people will stop getting fat. Other than that people keep using your shakeweight, ab belt cruncher, And your easy tone shoes.

HAHAHAHA. You hit the nail on the head!