(Updated) Sketchers Shape Up Shoes and Other Negative Heal Footwear
Via: Medicalinsurance.org
You may have noticed the latest in footwear technology hitting the streets, the negative heal shoe. Forbes Magazine recently included them in an article on 20 Ways You are Getting Ripped Off. You have seem them, they are big and bulky, resembling orthopedic or moon shoes. I have been getting a lot of questions from clients about these shoes and if they are worthwhile. Common brands include Sketchers – Shape Ups, Reebok’s - Reetone, Fit Flops, and MBT, among others. These shoes are ergonomically designed with a soft, depressed heal, and rocker bottom, to promote greater lower limb muscle recruitment. They claim to tone leg muscles and abdominals, improve posture, and burn more calories. The marketing campaign, targeting mostly women, are a goldmine. Who wouldn’t want to reap these great health benefits. Unfortunately, a lot of these claims are unfounded or based on company financed research and anecdotal evidence. They are the latest foray of quick fix fitness gimmicks. While they may serve some purpose in the realm of balance training and simulating a hyper-proprioceptive environment, there is little research to support efficacy of instability training anyway. With the exception of your lips and genitalia, your hands and feet contain more nerves than any place in your body. Wearing these shoes, pads and dulls vital sensory input from the ground and up through your sensory rich feet, via proprioceptors to your brain. Intentionally placing yourself in such a precarious position may expose you to injury, ankle sprains, falls, etc. I would not allow a client to do anything beyond moderately walking in them. They are definitely not conducive to resistance training, which will yield greater health and weight management results than a change in footwear; $100+ footwear! Yes, you may initially feel an increase in muscle activity. Any change in your footwear and or posture will elicit a similar effect until your body adapts and realigns itself. Better to reinforce a natural, healthy gait pattern, strengthen the muscle in your feet, and improve your posture with proper alignment, then to reinforce a negative pattern, shifting your weight onto your forefoot, stressing your knees, and anteriorly rolling your pelvis, crunching your sacrum.
So what can you do to improve leg and abdominal toning, improve your posture, and burn more calories? Stand up from your desk and take your shoes off. Turn your feet parallel to each other, toes spread, big toes straight ahead, slightly tuck your tailbone and engage your abdominals, take a deep breath, pull your shoulders back, tuck your chin, and lift the crown of your head towards the ceiling. Now stand and be mindful of your renewed sense of posture and alignment. Maintain this mindset and walk around the room. Feel your feet in contact with the floor and the transfer of energy up through your feet, into your legs, through your core, and up to your neck, shoulders, and head. Continue to be mindful of this posture with each and every step you take and notice the immediate benefits in muscle activity. Remind yourself of this postural ideal tomorrow as you go about your day and start reaping the benefits. Because you can’t walk around barefoot all the time, consider a flatter soled shoe that keeps your foot closer to the ground. Stay tuned for my next blog where I will delve into choosing proper footwear, the latest in barefoot training theories, and why yoga practitioners may know something we don’t.
Dan Daly, CSCSTags: fit flops, footwear, Forbes, lower back pain, MBT, negative heal shoes, negative heel, posture, Reetone, Shape Ups, sketchers, yoga, zero support shoes
Posted on Saturday, May 15th, 2010
at 10:23 am.
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12 comments already!
Great blog. I had not thought about taking this one on, but glad you did.
I’m happy you decided to write about these. Joe Montana wears them, so they must be great, right??
Taylor Jackson, a competitive athlete, Certified Personal Trainer, and good friend of mine said something to me that is both simple, and genius: “You’re only as strong as your hands and feet.” The foot and ankle contain 26 bones, (1/4 of all the bones in the human body,) 33 joints, and 20 muscles which, for the majority of the population, are weak and lead to dysfunctional movement throughout the entire body. While I’m yet to try on a pair of these rockered sneakers, it’s clear looking at them that they limit the mobility of the foot and toes. In my opinion, to disrupt the natural mechanics can only perpetuate the movement problems most people already have.
I look forward to your post on foot wear you advocate!
Thanks for commenting Frank! Yes, the feet are the first link in the kinetic chain. Dysfunction there causes dysfunction up and through the entire body. Stay tuned for more after I attend a workshop next week on foot function and proper footwear at Equinox in Manhattan with Biomechanist, Lenny Parracino from Kinetic Conditioning “Whatever you do, take care of your shoes!” – Trey Anastasio
Hey Dan
Couldn’t agree with you more, especially coming from my background in yoga! It’s all about building strength and alignment starting with the foot! What do you think of the Vibram 5 finger toe shoes?
Jill, I think footwear needs to be considered case by case. Some people have a structural predisposition, and Im beginning to think all the yoga, barefoot running, etc may not change that. While yoga, barefoot running, five finger shoes are a tool, its not the entire answer. I went to a very interesting talk by Lenny Paraccino, a foot specialist from http://www.kineticconditioning.com out in Cali. I went there thinking he was going to tell us all to throw out our shoes. He left me questioning some of the philosophies I have adopted over the past year or two. My thinking on it now, is I may weight train, and practice yoga in barefeet or with no support, but im still going to run (however infrequently) with a motion control shoe to correct my arch. Needless to say, nobody needs a rocker bottom shoe! Heres another really interesting article posted in the nytimes this week, check it out. http://nyti.ms/cwH45b
You are absolutely correct! I bought two knock-off pairs of these shoes. I was using one pair for work. I have mild to moderate back pain, so I thought they would work well for this lunch room lady. Boy, was I wrong. My back pain went from mild/moderate to severe over night. I couldn’t hardly move. My 8 year old had to help me move. Throw them out NOW!
I have knee replacements, and have worn the Avia Rocker shoes since last summer. I’m noticing a lot of discomfort in my ankles lately and now my knees are starting to hurt. Are these shoes bad for people with replacement knees? I have arthritis in my feet and the rockers are the only thing that make my feet feel better and also, my back.
Joyce,
I wouldnt recommend those shoes for anybody, healthy knees or bad. Many of the claimed health benefits are unfounded, or supported by biased company financed research. They may provide some foot relief due to their soft cushioning. Consider getting fitted for a running or tennis shoe at a local running store, where many of the employees are trained to fit shoes for specific foot profiles. The rocker bottom shoes provide additional instability which may be stressing your knees and ankles. I would go for a shoe with greater support and look into a fitness program to address strengthen your ankles, knees and lower back.
I recently purchased a pair of the Sketchers (on sale for $59.99) shape-up sneakers. I wore them at home first, then two days in a row. I am 57 years old, do not normally have any problems with my back at all. It seems like while wearing these shoes, I pulled a muscle in my back. I’m not very happy right now and will give these shoes to my daughter to try out. I would not recommend these shoes for anyone!!!
MaryAnn, thanks for sharing. Your going to give them to your daughter though?! I do not recommend these shoes for anyone. Waiting for a class action lawsuit again the claims of these shoes and the injuries they may cause.
I am a massage therapist and just had a client leave the office who was wearing a pair of these horrible shoes!! Got on-line to print somethings off for her next appointment! She has been having low back, hip, leg, calf pain for two weeks or better. Her condition had improved after a couple massages till guess what…. she put these shoes on and had them on ALL day walking! I tell everyone i see wearing these shoes just how bad they are!!
Thanks for commenting, Sandy. False advertising continues to promote unhealthy footwear. Sounds like they re keeping you in business