Summer Foot Safety Tips with Podiatrist Dr. Robert Klein
It used to be nobody talked about foot care! How wonderful to see this Fox News Headline Health interview with Podiatrist Dr. Robert Klein as he provides some great tips to help maintain healthy feet.
I whole-heartedly agree with Dr. Klein on his recommendations, but I also have to encourage people to not only care for their feet by wearing good shoes and maintaining healthy skin and toenails, but also take the time to learn some quick and easy foot-fitness exercises to help maintain healthy feet.
Each foot contains 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments, and 19 muscles. (one quarter of the bones in our entire body are in our feet! )
It’s important that we maintain strength and flexibility through the toes, feet, and ankles to assist with balance, body control and pain-free movement. Just putting our feet in a pair of shoes and going out for a walk, isn’t enough to maintain excellent foot fitness! Especially as we get older… Which is why I wrote the book Fantastic Feet! Lots of great foot specific exercises that are simple to do, and extremely effective for helping to stretch and strengthen the ankles, arches, and toes.
Our feet shouldn’t hurt! If you have foot pain, go see your podiatrist to address any medical concerns, then consider getting a copy of Fantastic Feet, so you can blend foot-care, with foot fitness for optimal foot health.
Toning Shoes – Do They Really Work?
Do Specialized Shoes Like MBT’s and Sketchers Shape Ups Really Help Tone your Legs and Give You a Better Workout? The American Council on Exercise, ACE Fitness research results are in on the benefits of “Toning Shoes” MBT’s, Sketchers Shape Ups and Reebok Easytone Shoes compared to a regular pair of running shoes.
This question about the difference between toning shoes vs. a regular pair of running or walking shoes always comes up when I teach my Fantastic Feet Workshop!
Everybody’s looking for the best option to get the most bang for their buck for a workout. But lots of bucks it takes to buy these fancy “toning” shoes! Is the cost for the claims of burning more calories, solving joint pain, working your hamstrings, butt and calves harder really worth it?
According to the ACE study – there is no statistically significant increases or evidence to support the advertising claims. A regular pair of tennis shoes can provide the same benefits as your MBT’s or other Shape-Up shoes, based on the ACE research study which measured fitness and wellness benefits.
Do I own a pair of Toning Shoes – YES. Do I wear them often – NO.
Why did I buy them? Because I had so many clients asking if they should buy a pair that I wanted to experience what it felt like to wear them so I could give a more educated opinion on what these shoes felt like during a workout and how they affected my gait and stride.
What’s my opinion?
Since so many people are running around in flip-flops and other strapless or backless shoes – in general, for most of the population – stride length has been compromised. If you watch people walk, the legs swing more to the front of the body than behind the body. (We’ve made this adaptation to keep our flip-flops from falling off our feet!) Because of this the hips, hamstrings, and glutes don’t get a chance to work like they should because the legs are never in extension (behind the body) far enough for these muscles to fire.
Our strength to propel the body forward when we walk and run comes from the back of the legs – hamstrings, glutes, ankle and foot. Without a long enough stride, hip, knee, and ankle mechanics are compromised. And if you take a look at most of the cardio equipment on the market (with the exception of a treadmill) the stride/swing for the legs is primarily to the front of the body which continues to enhance the imbalance that has been created by our poor shoe choices and shortened stride!
So accepting by the research that you’re not going to burn more calories, or work harder by wearing toning shoes what might be the value of wearing toning shoes for a workout? For me, the rocker-bottom helps free up the swing of the leg and makes it a bit easier to increase stride length to feel what I should be doing all day long (in any pair of shoes) to get the legs behind the body for better stride length.
I wear my MBT’s every once in a blue moon! The rest of the time I prefer to focus my attention on making my body do things right (rather than rely on my shoes to do the work.)
What Do YOU Think About Toning Shoes?
- Do you own a pair of toning shoes?
- Why did you buy them?
- How much do you wear them?
- What’s your overall opinion of toning shoes?
If you want to read the research, click here for the ACE Fitness article.
