MBT stands for Masai Barefoot Technology which is the leading brand of shoes marketed as having health and fitness benefits. According to About.com, the shoes are designed to simulate walking in sand.
Standard characteristics on these shoes (also sold as boots, sandals and sneakers) are layered, curved soles which create an uneven walking surface. This technology is meant to make the core strengthening muscles more active, creating better posture and increasing shock absorption for joints.
About.com also reports an interesting endorsement that the shoes have been used to train Olympians and other athletes.
Do they work?
Similar to working on a stability ball, these shoes very likely do force you to engage more stabilizing muscles in the body therefore working muscles you wouldn't normally work.
Similar to working with ankle weights, if your shoes are heavier you have to work harder (burn more calories) and use more muscles when walking in them. So do they force you to burn more calories? Probably more calories are burned but perhaps not in any significant way.
Maybe all of these benefits combined are valuable though. I wouldn't recommend these as a singular way to improve your fitness level or if you are on a budget but I really like the idea of using them as a tool during normal activities to increase the intensity of these activities.
You may have heard these shoes cost upward of $200 but in following the links on About.com to Footwear etc, there were offerings for around $150 or less, still a lot of money for a sneaker. Sketchers similar offerings are priced closer to $100 but look for the same quality in the sole as in other higher priced offerings.
According to walking.org, “Shape Ups make sense”, referring to the new sketchers line of “fitness shoes” because they, “make sure that the wearer is working their foot the way nature intended, but all while working the supporting muscles further up the body. So by optimizing the way we walk, Shape Ups also enhance the benefits of walking.” Walking.org also mentions that sketchers, like MBT “are recreating the effect of walking on soft sand.” We can assume that walking.org would also find the same benefits in similar shoes.
Want to try these out without the big expense? www.harrietcarter.com offers “exercise slippers” for only $15 and www.peltzshoes.com sells flip flops with a, “micro-wobbleboard effect” for $50 a pair.
www.about.com
www.footwearetc.com
www.walking.org
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