Which Trainer ?
Faced with the huge number of 'health and technology' trainers now on the market, it's an almost impossible job to compare and decide. How to know which trainer !!?
We've sold in excess of half a million pairs of healthy shoes including most of these brands, and have made it our business to extensively test the rest. But mostly, we've gathered an enormous amount of comment and feedback from our customers.
We've collated all this information into a simple to read and compare chart between all these brands - hopefully to make your life easier.
We welcome your opinion on any of the brands on the market today - please send your experiences to shula@lovethoseshoes.com so we can incorporate it into our comparisons.
If there is something specific you're looking for from a Health and Wellness shoe then please visit the LoveThoseShoes Health and Wellness Area for more advice
Earth - Skechers Shape Ups - Power Diet - Tonewalker - Chung Shi - Spring Boost - Airun - ASGI - MBT - Fit-flop
Earth Shoes
  Earth Footwear features Kalso Negative Heel Technology and an anotomic arch support and a cushioned footbed with Gelron2000 memory gel. This is a high performance material that molds to the shape of your foot and lasts for the life of the shoe, making them very comfortable. Earth offer a complete lifestyle change as they are available in shoes, sandals, flip-flops, trainers and boots so you can have a pair of Earth shoes for all occasions.
The Technology Explained
 Kalso Negative Heel Technology works by positioning the heel slightly lower than the ball of the foot as it lies in the footbed. This adjustment to the way our feet are normally positioned helps to shift the wearers body weight back subtly which makes a huge difference – unlocking a wide range of whole-body health benefits. Unlike other health trainers, the incline in the footbed is only 3.7 degrees and so, in addition to being invisible to onlookers, you also get all the benefits of Negative Heel without finding them any different to walk in. Earth’s Negative Heel re-aligns the pelvis and corrects posture, encouraging a natural stance and a positive walking action. The incline of the footbed also burns more calories as you’re walking at a slight incline – simliar to increasing the incline on a treadmill.
Benefits
- Better leg, calf and thigh toning
- Burns more calories with every step
- Stronger core muscles
- Straighter posture
- Better breathing
- Video explaining technology
Appearance:  |
Quality: |
Effectiveness: |
Overall: |
Where to Buy
Skechers Shape Ups
.jpg) Skechers are such a renowned brand. They first started way back in 1992 so they’ve got years of experience in manufacturing and developing footwear, which has clearly been put to good use in Shape Ups. Skechers are known for their quality and comfort and having worn them, I feel like they’ve surpassed all previous levels of comfort because Shape Ups actually feel like you’re walking on clouds!
 The design of Skechers Shape Ups has lead them to be compared to MBT. However there are  differences between the two. One of the main differences is the availability. Skechers Shape Ups are available online and in stores in comparison to MBT’s which cannot be bought on the internet at all because they need specially fitting. Skechers also come at a much more affordable price than the MBT’s, if you shop around you can find that the difference in the price can be £35+
Although MBT’s do work pretty well the problem is that you have to watch a long and boring DVD before you even bother trying to take a step. They are quite a harsh shoe that takes a lot of getting used to.
In comparison, Skechers feel really comfy and it is very easy to begin to walk in them straight away. The feeling you get from them isn’t harsh but you can definitely feel them work. They do also come with a DVD but watching it isn't as vital as it is with the MBT’s, it’s just a nice accompaniment- useful to watch but not a necessity to before you make one step. 
Shoes with a curved sole like Skechers have been known to lack durability as the sole can wear down quite quickly. This is a bit of a contentious issue, as the problems MBT have had with their durability is pretty well known thanks to the web and blogging. Skechers have obviously taken the need for strength in the rocking sole in to account and the outsole feels rather robust and able to protect the soft part of the heel that turns hard surfaces in to easy soft ones. It isn't apparent if MBT have worked on the sole deterioration problem they had, but hopefully they’ve done something as £100+ is a lot to pay for shoes that will need fixing in less than a year.
Benefits of Skechers ShapeUps:
- Improves Posture
- Strengthens the back
- Firms buttocks muscles
- Reduces cellulite and tones thighs
- Firms calf muscles
- Improves blood circulation
- Tightens abdominal muscles
| Appearance: |
Quality: |
Effectiveness: |
Overall: |
Where to Buy
Power Diet
  Power Diet Sports Shoes are an innovative new development in footwear technology, designed as a solution to the age old struggle between juggling busy lifestyles and health and fitness. By offering increased exercise value and intensity, they compensate for a lack of time, meaning wearers can get the same value from a 30 minute exercise as they would from an hour long exercise using normal footwear. They are perfect for people who want to exercise and to increase their intensity levels and fitness.
Unlike other options on the market, Power Diet have an understated, sleek design and a neutral colour palate with contrasting accents, meaning they can be worn without making a statement.
Benefits
- Burn 300 calories in 30 minutes
- Supplied with two different weighted insoles
- Increase muscle strength
- Increase toning
- Impact shock absorbtion
| Appearance: |
Quality: |
Effectiveness: |
Overall: |
Where to Buy
Asgi
  Asgi have a unique foot-centrc design that has pioneered a totally new way to support your foot, called Soleplex technology. Asgi have teamed this technology with fashionable designs, and so the decision between fashion and comfort no longer has to be a compromise.
The Technology – Explained
Asgi’s Soleplex Technology is one of the most advanced comfort systems to be found in footwear. Split into 3 tiers of technology, all Asgi footwear begins with the Stabilizer. This a two part molded and anatomical support created with special contouring in the arch and metatarsal area for long lasting comfort. The second tier, named the Chassis, is a molded thermal plastic urethane chassis anatomically shaped to cradle the heel and support the metatrasal region. The final part comprises of two rubber pods on the outsole. Placed to provide impact absorbing cushioning at key strike points, the Pods suspend the orthotic, helping to support the foot and create a lighter more flexible foundation.
The Benefits
* Moulded to the shape of your foot
* Supreme comfort
* Specialist shock absorbtion
* Prevent foot pronation
* Fashion inspired designs
| Appearance: |
Quality: |
Effectiveness: |
Overall: |
Where to Buy
Tonewalker
 Based on traditional yoga principles, Tonewalker are designed to work and strengthen the core as well as improve flexibility and balance. Specifically targetting the lower extremities and the torso, Tonewalker provide up to 5 times more exercise value when walking or standing and boost the lymphatic system, helping to combat cellulite and poor muscle tone. Due to the increased intensity of workout, wearing Tonewalker cuts down the time you have to exercise.
The Technology – Explained
 Yoga’s focus is on the importance of balance and the strengthening of the core. The Pivot Technology found in the curved platform sole of Tonewalker maximises the focus on balance and helps to strenghten the core by constantly encouraging you to correct your balance when standing on the middle area of the sole. The thinner heel platform promotes good posture and stretches the calf, while the front region of the sole increases muscle strength in the legs and abdomen.
Benefits
* Increased exercise value
* Focus on common problem areas such as thighs, bottom and abdomen
* Targets cellulite
* Improve posture
* Improve flexibility
* Boost lymphatic system
Appearance: |
Quality: |
Effectiveness: |
Overall: |
Where to Buy
Airun
.jpg)  Great for those who fail to maintain exercise plans and don’t acheive their optimum fitness and weight because they lack goals, guidance and motivation. Airun breaks down the statistics used by professional trainers to recommend exercise regimes and make it easy for all levels, up to athlete level, to understand their current fitness levels and know what their targets should be. Airun calculates your Body Mass Index (BMI), and the Smart Technology Controller then projects the figures for your daily recommended exercise amount and keeps you updated and on target with your progression and calorie burn. Featuring Interchangeable Weighted Technology, Airun also increases your exercise value in this way, helping you to get fitter faster.
The Technology – Explained
 Airun features a Smart Technology Controller. The LCD of the controller is positioned in a pod at the front of the trainer and calculates and displays the following data:
* Body Mass Index (BMI)
* Recommended calorie burn
* Actual calories burnt during exercise
* Percentage of recommended exercise achieved
* Recommended weight
* Paces taken
* Distance travelled
* Time spent exercising
Airun can measure these statistics accurately due to its weight and speed measuring sensor situated in the sole of the trainer, which is a world first in footwear technology. These are a good tool to kick start your exercise regime or to add extra focus to your current routines.
Benefits
* Focused exercise sessions
* Planned goals to reach optimum weight and fitness
* Real-time results displayed immediately on screen
* Supplied with two interchangable weighted insoles
* Increased exercise intensity
| Appearance: |
Quality: |
Effectiveness: |
Overall: |
Where to Buy
MBT (Masai Barefoot Technology)
MBT incorporate curved Masai Barefoot technology. This uses a metal pivot rod across the centre of shoe and features a soft collapsible heel. The curved structure of the heel is designed to unbalance the wearer’s foot and to make the muscles of the legs work harder during walking and exercising. The thinner sole around the heel area of the trainer helps to stretch the calf muscles and correct posture when leaning back on it. Although these are designed to improve all round health and enhance exercise, their styling and thick, chunky sole mean that they can’t be worn without making a statement that you are trying to lose weight and because of their look, they do get confused with a gimmick style trainer. We understand there have been issues with their quality control and along with excess rubbing, the lifetime of the trainer has been found to be less than satisfactory and this email was recently sent out from a major retailer of MBT.
The Technology – Explained
 The technology behind MBT is in the curved sole which is designed to counteract the way conventional shoes support and lead the foot. By forcing the body to balance itself and by creating a natural instability the shoes make wearers constantly compensate for a lack of balance by putting extra pressure on the body’s supporting muscle system. The intensity of the technology means that they can only be worn for shot periods of time, and MBT recommend new wearers use the shoes for only 30-45 minutes per day. An often mentioned drawback of the technology is that because they are so different to standard shoes, time is needed to ‘learn’ to walk in them. Only available from a MBT professional which is often highly inconvenient and expensive. This is because it is vital that these trainers are correctly fitted as problems eg heel blisters can result if not used properly. Not waterproof and need special care and drying attention if they do get wet. Complaints that once wet they develop a very bad smell.
Benefits
- Aids body alignment
- Increased back muscle activity
- Challenges the whole body
- Lessens stress on hips and joints
- Increases work out rates
| Appearance: |
Quality: |
Effectiveness: |
Overall: |
Fit-Flop
 Marcia Kilgore the inventor of Fit-Flop set out wanting to create a range of flip-flops that would fight the onset of cellulite whilst walking. What she ended up creating was a flip-flop with what is referred to as a 'wobble board' in the middle, which Fit-Flop claim makes your legs work 15% harder than normal.
This wobble board is designed to make your muscles work harder by getting them to use more energy to balance, rest, and spring off when walking. Although this technology has been proven in University studies to use more energy by making the muscles work harder - unfortunately it does destabilize your natural gait, which can cause problems with pronation and supernation, problems that are known to effect the joints and posture (see here for more info)
When walking in Fit-Flop you do notice the comfort that is created by the spongy/ wobble board sole. Originally designed to make the muscles work harder, depending on your level of fitness it will either do this, or just act as a shock absorber. In other words, if the muscles tone/ strength in your legs is average, you'll find you can feel your calves working in Fit-Flops. However, if you are moderately fit, the wobble board isn't enough to challenge you to work harder, and it's just relegated in to a bit of spongy comfort instead.
| Appearance: |
Quality: |
Effectiveness: |
Overall: |
Springboost
 Featuring "Dorsiflexion Technology", Springboost are a range of trainers that claim to improve exercise value and help posture. Dorsiflexion Technology™ is composed of four elements that are tailored to the needs of each sport: Dorsiflexion position, rolling action, Energy Plate™ and U-Control Insole System ™. The four elements are meant to improve sports training and increase power during calf muscle exercises, running and jumping activities.
The Technology – Explained
 Springboost have based their technology on the Negative Heel technology originally developed by Earth Footwear. The technology, which positions the heel lower than ball of the foot has been fitted into 5 different trainers targeted at different exercises, such as walking and running. The shoes also incorporate a roll plate designed to add power to walking or running. They seem to be a product made up of the technologies available in existing brands which makes it confusing to pick the right style for the type of exercise you want to do and does limit you to one type of trainer per exercise – i.e. B-walk is designed for walking only, so if you like to mix your exercise routine and run (which is recommended by the majority of fitness trainers) then you would have to invest also in the B-Fit or B-Train versions of the product.
Benefits
* Aids posture
* Increases power of the calves
* Specific product for intense training
* Impoves muscle strength in the lower extremities
* Cusioned sole
| Appearance: |
Quality: |
Effectiveness: |
Overall: |
Chung Shi
 Chung Shi shoes are designed to encourage healthy walking and standing all day long. Very similar to MBT, these shoes force the wearer to stand upright by using a curved sole. Unlike MBT, the sole on Chung Shi inclines quite dramatically at the heel area, and so really does take some getting used to. They are designed to increase the intensity of exercise and claim to work your legs twice as hard as normal, as well as helping improve posture and aid the back and feet. They do have cushioning to the sole and ventilation to let the foot breathe as it perspires during exercise.
The Technology – Explained
 Equipped with an AutoBioMO sole system, the ergonomically shaped sole structure forces the wearer to put more focus into correcting their balance while walking as the uneven sole de-stabilises the body. Built on a Pilates system, the curved sole angles at 20 degrees at the toe and heel which leads the wearer to straighten their back and re-adjust their core balance. The degree of incline does mean that the shoes take some getting used to and do rather stand out in appearance. They also make you walk in a very different manner – when moving on to your toes while walking you have to get used to the drop back to the heel due to the incline of the sole as there is quite a difference in height.
The Benefits
* Improves balance
* Increases exercise intensity
* Tones the calfs
* Cushions the foot
* Flat lace system lessens pressure on the foot
| Appearance: |
Quality: |
Effectiveness: |
Overall: |
Earth - Skechers Shape Ups - Power Diet - Tonewalker - Chung Shi - Spring Boost - Airun - ASGI - MBT - Fit-flop
|
BRANDS
