Those Weirdly Shaped Toning Sneakers – Don’t Bother

Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana, Kim Kardashian and Karl Malone swear by them, at least in the television commercials. They wear those oddly shaped shoes that are supposed to tone your lower body and make you feel better. Now some people are filing personal injury lawsuits against the makers of the shoes alleging they caused sprained ankles and torn ligaments, among other injuries.

In a report at digitaljournal.com, the American Council on Exercise and Consumer Reports magazine found that the shoes provide no added fitness benefit and can cause injuries in some cases. Reported injuries include stress fractures, slip and falls, inflamed Achilles tendons and broken bones.

The combination of injuries associated with the shoes and the overly hyped fitness benefits have cut the price of the shoes from around $200 to $50 or less. Reebok, Skechers and Avia are now suffering a big financial loss on the shoes. Skechers reported a loss of $21 million on the shoes in the second quarter of this year.

I think a doctor at Johns Hopkins summed it up best when asked about the sneakers. Consumers would be better off if they “bought one less bagel a day and walked an extra block,” said the physician.

Colson Hicks Eidson – Florida injury attorneys