Standing Up for Shoes That Give Your Feet a Hand

Since the invention in the late 1950s of what came to be known as the Earth Shoe, a number of footwear designs have come along claiming to mimic the state of nature -- walking barefoot.

The Earth Shoe did it with a "negative heel" that gave wearers a slightly backward tilt and, according to the company's claims, made them burn more calories and engage more muscle in standing and walking.

More recently, shoes such as those from Masai Barefoot Technology and Chung Shi have made similar claims for footwear the companies say mimics the natural health of African tribesmen or the "natural massage" Chinese peasants enjoy by walking barefoot on bamboo mats. Both use rounded soles that create a slight imbalance and force a different sort of stride that -- again, according to the companies -- tones muscles, eases pressure on joints and improves balance.

Studies of the MBT have shown that the shoes do increase muscle activation, and some therapists will prescribe them for patients who need to rehabilitate muscles or joints stiffened or weakened by disease or injury.

A colleague in my aikido class swears by her Chung Shis (which I believe were recommended to help with a problem that began with flip-flops . . . hmmm).

"It definitely helps the feet if there are certain weaknesses," Stephen Paulseth, a physical therapist in Los Angeles and head of the American Physical Therapy Association's foot and ankle group, said of the MBTs and similar shoes.

The MBTs definitely change the way you walk. I have been using a trial pair for the past two weeks, and they are bouncy and fun to wobble around on. I am not sure how much difference they would make, day to day, to anyone in reasonable shape. My sense is that you'd adapt to them pretty quickly.

MBT marketing executive Monica Riehl said the company is working on more-aggressive uses for the shoe: exercises and applications for athletes and others that would add that same bit of rocking and instability to running or other workouts. And, she noted, there are plenty of people in sedentary jobs for whom a bit of extra muscle activation (and a bit less stress on the joints) would be beneficial.

For me, I am thinking high heels on the treadmill.

Now that might make a difference.