Toning Shoes at the Office – Yay or Nay?
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Reader and blogger Siouxsie Law wrote in with a suggestion for a poll about Shape-Up Shoes — as she wrote about the topic here, these things supposedly a) help you exercise muscles you wouldn't normally, giving you a great lower body, and b) they help your posture by engaging your core. But… are they professional? Are they appropriate for the office? We haven't had a poll in a while, so we thought this seemed like a perfect topic for one. (Pictured: MBT Women's Nama Casual Patent Shoe, on sale at Endless.com for $145 (were $265).)
We haven't tried any of these shoes, so we're going purely on looks. For our $.02, though, we would venture that they're fine for commuting to and from the office — particularly with pants that might otherwise drag on the ground with lower flats. That said, though, we probably would raise an eyebrow if we saw someone wearing it around an office unless that person had some kind of foot ailment that required them to wear it.
Readers, tell us your thoughts:
, it seems like the following brands make similar shoes: Reebok Easytone, Sketchers Shape Ups, Avia iTone, New Balance Rock & Tone, and Mephisto Sano Evasion. (Are we missing any biggies? Please let us know.)
Fail to see what’s so ugly. That in black and with a sufficiently long pant leg to cover the velcro lockings would be totally appropriate for commuting.
hate these! we have people that DO where them to the office, we have even nicknamed one “shape-up guy”… ughhh
I’ve had heel spurs for YEARS and without my rounded sole shoes from Curves (Avon) or TheraShoes (K-Mart) I can hardly wear shoes without pain. Sure, the shoes took a few hours to get used to in the beginning, but now I wear them everyday. They do help a little with toning my legs, but I swear by them for everyday walking. I don’t give a flying fig what anyone says at work about them. I wear several styles, including sandals. I would love to be able to wear high heels again, but the pain is too much to bear.
Years ago, I fell and injured my knee. No big deal at the time, but add a few years, and I was in trouble. I started wearing the Sketchers variety for my commute as a last resort. Well, in a few weeks, I could go for a hike, and now, have many days where my knee doesn’t bother me at all.
So, yeah, they’re ugly, but I can wear heels again.
Y’all are being way too obsessed with this particular version of the ‘toning’ shoes. What’s interesting is the -concept-. Now let’s get the basics straight: if you think you’re going to get JLo’s behind while sitting on yours wearing these shoes, it’s not going to work :-). But they -are- good, they do exercise muscles atrophied in business shoes over flat pavement. I think they’re absolutely excellent to improve balance, something which all of us should be working on starting at a young age. And they’re also great for strengthening ankles, they’re like wearing portable wobble boards (only more subtly). They allow you to get as much benefit from walking pavement as you’d get hiking (as long as you wear them to walk).
As to look, Crocs just came out with a series of really good ones, not so exaggerated looking but enough to really work you. The only shame is that they felt they had to put a bright stripe in the black ones (to show how they’re more expensive, and you’re working more??), otherwise they’d be just like the ones I wear for spring/summer rains. Hopefully they’ll correct that. But meanwhile you can still wear cute flats that don’t look like weird sneakers.
If I couldn’t wear MBT shoes to work, I couldn’t work. Period. I work in an office, wear suits to work with long pants, and get the most professional looking versions that are on the market. I keep them in good condition. I do try to give my co-workers the respect they deserve by maintaining a professional appearance. I’ve encountered people who ridicule my shoes, who point at them and ask loudly why I wear such ugly shoes. A brief description of my foot surgeries and an offer to procure a Dr.’s note if the shoes really are a work/office problem generally turns the conversation to more appropriate topics.