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Reebok Easytone shoes: Another gimmick to keep you from doing real exercise
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Reebok is the next shoe manufacturer to join a long marketing tradition of asserting that the only thing between you and what you want is your shoes. Reebok Easytone sneakers promise to tone your butt, thighs, and calves without you ever having to do any actual exercise! The concept behind Easytone is based on the same idea as Bosu balls and balance boards at the gym: by putting tiny, squishy air pods in the soles of the shoes, your muscles have to work harder to keep you upright. “Air travels between the forefoot and heel pod, creating super soft cushioning. The moving air creates a natural instability and forces your muscles to adapt to the air volume within the pods,” Reebok explains. In theory, this instability should give you the same toning effect as walking in deep sand. Reebok boasts that in a study (sponsored by Reebok), Easytones activate gluteal muscles 28% more, and your calves and hamstrings 11% more than walking in a normal athletic shoe. However, the study did not take the training response into account in this study. It is unclear whether the shoes would have the same 11 and 28% benefit after six weeks of consistently wearing the shoes.
If it's muscle activation you're after, why not just try some running?
Consumers' reviews of the Easytones tend to be positive, as long as those women don't happen to be the active type to begin with. In fact, Reebok (an "athletic wear" company) recommends that you don't actually use these $110 shoes for any actual sports at all. "Due to the instability of the balance pods, activities with unplanned side-to-side movement and/or any lateral-movement-sports such as tennis or basketball should be avoided,” Reebok warns. (Ummm, okay...) Instead, Reebok recommends a series of toning exercises to be done with the shoes on their web site. What they fail to mention, however, is that you could just as easily do these exercises with a Bosu ball, without buying a $110 pair of shoes.
The advertisements for the Easytones–which feature puerile close-ups of shapely buttocks–do little to enhance the shoes' credibility. In one, a woman's breasts talk to each other as they spill out of a bra inches from the camera. In another, the camera refuses to leave the near-naked protagonist's rump as she attempts to explain how the shoes make you sexier. In a third, a narrator spouts off improbable statistics as a woman writhes sumptuously on a bed, naked but for her shoes.
Triathletes are not exempt from this kind of scam, however. Even we believe that we can buy speed. The success of Newtons is predicated on the idea that your shoes can change your stride, making you fast without the extra work. Nike Frees offer injury prevention by strengthening your feet in the same way as if you just took off the $85 kicks and ran around in bare feet. Whether Easytones go the same way as replacing your office chair with a Bosu ball or not, these shoes are not recommended for serious athletes. If you want to strengthen the stabilizing muscles in your butt and legs, try trail running.
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