Choosing The Right Footwear And Get A Stress Free Workout
Nov 4, 2009 Fitness Weight Loss
Whilst walking barefoot through a rice field in Korea, Swiss engineer Karl Muller noticed that his back pain, which he suffered with, was quite a bit better. He did some further research and found that the Masai tribesmen of Africa did not experience bad backs. They are also famous for their good posture.
Muller concluded that walking barefoot on soft, yielding ground was significantly better for your back and joints than walking on hard surfaces. He decided to try to come up with a shoe which would mimic the effects of walking in this manner on a soft surface such as sand or grass.
The end result was the Masai Barefoot Technology (MBT) shoe. According to the company website, it is so different to conventional footwear that it merits the name of “anti-shoe”.
MBT shoes feature a specially designed curved sole which has no heel. This produces a gentle rolling action when your foot makes contact with the ground. In fact, it’s just like walking on grass. Different densities of material are used in different areas of the sole which helps further by minimizing jarring and impact shock.
Scientific testing has demonstrated that this is better for both joints and back. There are also other additional benefits. For example, wearing MBT shoes means that the wearer uses their muscles for about 16% longer (compared to when walking in conventional footwear). There is also a tendency to reduce the stride length slightly. Both of these effects mean that a little extra work is carried out.
What this means is that each and every step you take when wearing MBT shoes provides you with extra exercise. It’s like a lower body workout – but without the need to visit the gym. As well as reducing backache and improving posture, MBT shoes can also help you to tone your legs and reduce the size of your buttocks.
You would imagine that would be sufficient wouldn’t you? However, despite all of these benefits some people find MBT shoes a little chunky and not very pleasing to the eye. MBTs are also a little more expensive than conventional shoes (but the benefits may make them great value for money). Fortunately there are now other, more cosmetically appealing, offerings available which utilise the same basic theory. Both Skechers Shape Ups and Fitflops have similar curved soles which are specially engineered to increase the muscle activity duration and tone your legs and buttocks whilst engaged in normal, everyday walking activity.
Whatever footwear you opt for, the possibility of reducing backache and joint pain whilst toning and trimming your lower body – just by walking – seems extremely attractive.
Find out more about Skechers Shape Ups and MBT Shoes
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Tags: Back Pain, exercise, Fitness Weight Loss, health, lose weight, walking, Workout
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