Abstract
Background
The Reebok Easy Tone shoe concept was developed to induce instability during walking
and standing with the primary purpose of increasing muscle activity of the lower extremity
muscles. To the authors' knowledge, no scientific work has been published, which analyzed
neuromuscular and biomechanical effects when walking and standing with Reebok Easy
Tone shoes. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the immediate
effects of using such footwear on gait biomechanics for the lower extremity in healthy
participants.
Methods
Five healthy female and seven healthy male participants volunteered to participate
in this study. During quiet standing, centre of pressure excursion was determined.
3D gait analyses were performed with simultaneously collecting surface electromyography
data of the leg muscles when walking with regular shoes and with Reebok Easy Tone
shoes.
Findings
Centre of pressure excursion did not show any significant differences. For walking,
only slight differences were found in kinematics and kinetics. When walking with Reebok
Easy Tone shoes, the first vertical peak of the ground reaction force was significantly
increased as well as the maximum plantarflexion moment during initial contact and
loading response. Mean muscle activation for vastus medialis and lateralis showed
an increase during the second half of stance, but failed to reach significance.
Interpretation
Results of this study did not show any increased instability during standing and only
a slight increase of vastii activity during stance. Thus, the marketing claims that
“toning shoes” could serve as a sort of training devices for lower limb muscles during
walking, cannot be supported.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 14, 2013
Accepted:
January 15,
2013
Received:
October 31,
2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Elsevier Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
