Makers of the increasingly popular physiological footwear dispute the findings of a U.S. study that determined that the shoes, with their unstable soles, don’t provide any special additional benefits in terms of exercise response, muscle building or calorie burning as compared to regular athletic shoes.
The study was conducted by the American Council on Exercise, a non-profit group that certifies fitness professionals, promotes the benefits of physical exercise and warns consumers about unsafe or ineffective fitness products. It enlisted several researchers from the Exercise and Health Program at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. They used two groups of 12 physically active young women to test exercise response and muscle activation when wearing toning shoes, including Skechers’ ShapeUps, Reebok’s EasyTones and MBTs.
The researchers found that there was no significant statistical difference in the subjects’ exercise response or muscle activation compared with when they wore regular New Balance running shoes. The American Council on Exercise says, then, that there is no evidence that toning shoes provide any kind of enhanced fitness benefits. As for studies that have shown otherwise, ACE argues that they were sponsored by the makers of toning shoes, were not peer-reviewed, and could have been questionably designed. The one possible benefit the shoes may offer is psychological: The shoes may motivate consumers to exercise more.
Some of the manufacturers in question, however, have blasted the study. Skechers USA called the study “deeply flawed” and “virtually worthless,” noting that only a few women were tested wearing the shoes for five minutes alone. Skechers also points out that ACE sells fitness training courses and materials, and since the shoes provide exercise without a personal trainer, the institute could be losing money from them, and would therefore oppose their use. Skechers notes that more than a dozen much larger studies have been conducted that contradict ACE’s findings.
Reebok also disagrees with the findings of the study, saying that the conclusions are not supported by the data presented, and that there were material inaccuracies. One argument of ACE was that muscle soreness reported by new wearers of the toning shoes was just the result of using new muscle groups, and that the soreness goes away as the muscles adjust to the new gait forced by the shoes. Reebok says that the mere presence of muscle soreness proves increased muscle activity. The eventual disappearance of the soreness is found in every type of exercise, and is the reason that active people must increase their resistance, distance or intensity to continue to get results.
Reebok says it never claimed that wearing EasyTones burns more calories, or is a “magic bullet” that will replace exercise. It holds, though, that wearing EasyTones helps you get more muscle activity during your daily routine.
MBT, which invented the category, weighed in as well, saying that it stands by the conclusions of numerous previous studies that show the benefits of its footwear. MBT is uniquely positioned to make its claims as it has conducted no less than 40 scientific studies, in cooperation with various universities.
The brand is gearing up to launch a major international marketing campaign around its physiological footwear, using the words “Step into a stronger body” as its slogan. It will make ample use of red and other visual elements to encourage people to adopt its physiological footwear.
The campaign follows a market study, conducted by Kunde & Co. in Europe and the U.S., which shows that customers decide to buy MBT shoes on the strength of three main factors: comfort, the fitness aspect and the information on the scientific studies that prove its medical effects.
Adidas Group, parent company of Reebok, will no doubt discuss the effect of the toning shoe boom on its results and the outlook for the category when it lays out its financial results for the second quarter next week. We shall address that in the next issue of Sporting Goods Intelligence Europe, but the company has already reported net income of €126 million for the quarter, up sharply from €9 million in the same period of 2009, on 19 percent higher sales of €2.9 billion, up 11 percent in local currencies. Besides Reebok’s EasyTone shoes, the football World Cup in South Africa certainly contributed to the group’s exceptional performance.
Skechers reported very good results for the second quarter. Its sales reached more than $500 million for the first quarter in the company’s history. Revenues jumped by 68.9 percent to $504.9 million for the three months ended June 30. Earnings from operations were $58.8 million, a huge turnaround from the loss of $7.7 million for the same period last year. The gross profit margin climbed by 6.1 percentage points to 47.1 percent (more on this in Shoe Intelligence).
Prior to the earnings release, the widely publicized American study on toning, combined with reports on heavy discounting of Skechers shoes, contributed to a temporary drop of 20 percent in the company’s share price between mid-June and mid-July.
