Lyndsay Moss: One giant step on the path to total fitness – but not sideways

Published on Monday 14 September 2009 19:02

IT IS A truth universally acknowledged that if someone can invent something that means we don't have to go to the gym quite so often, we will snap their hand off to get hold of it.

This was certainly my reaction when I became aware of a new generation of shoes that offer a workout just by wearing them. They first came to my attention when, sitting on a train, I noticed someone looking at an advert in a glossy magazine for Skechers Shape-Ups that promise to help you "get in shape without setting foot in a gym".

My next encounter with magic shoes came on a visit home when my sister emerged, towering over us in a set of trainers with impressively high and chunky heels. This only increased my hunger to try them out myself, so when the opportunity came to try another brand of shoes with the tagline "Take the gym with you", I did not need asking twice.

The shoes, made by Reebok and called EasyTone, promise to increase "muscle activation" with every step you take, from a rise of 11 per cent in your calves to 28 per cent in your gluteus maximus.

If you're wondering how this works, the blurb with the shoes explains that built-in "balance pods" in the trainers create "natural instability" that forces the muscles to "adapt and encourage toning". It's not often you get a product that appears to suggest it makes walking more difficult.

Another quirk is the list of exercises you are not supposed to do in the EasyTone shoes: "Due to the instability of the balance pods, activities with unplanned side-to-side movement or any lateral-movement-sports such as tennis, basketball or running should be avoided," the instructions informed me.

Shoes you can't run in? That certainly is different, I thought, wondering whether that excluded my common habit of having to run for the train.

They are, apparently, suitable for everyday activities – as long as these don't involve you unexpectedly having to move from side to side.

With this in mind, I put the shoes on, wondering how long it would take before the rather ordinary legs of Lyndsay Moss were turned into the shapely, catwalk legs of Kate Moss.

They certainly felt different – a bit bouncy – and I could definitely feel an element of instability to start with. After a few hours of day-to-day activities, and being careful to avoid any dastardly and unexpected sidesteps, the muscles in my legs and bum – sorry, gluteus maximus – did feel a bit more worked-out, or "activated" as the manufacturers would call it.

But I don't imagine that any of these type of shoes are really a replacement for the gym. If they were, clubs across the country would already have closed, perhaps turned into hi-tech shoe shops.

And some will, no doubt, dismiss these shoes as a gimmick, regardless of the research carried out to back up the claims they make.

When it comes to staying fit and healthy, we should all know by now that there are no easy solutions. Technology may help us perform at our best and science will inform where best to direct our efforts.

But unless you're willing to put in the effort and sweat it out in the gym, pound the streets in your running gear, or take up a team sport, it's unlikely you'll get all the results you are after.

Me, I'll persevere with my shoes in the search for catwalk-quality legs, remembering to avoid unexpected sideways movements.