Tone Up: Reebok TrainTone Runners

I like to consider myself a bit of a gym-aholic.  I go to the gym five days a week and if I miss a day I’m all out of whack.  Fitness is very important to me, not only for the physical benefits, but also for the mental ones.  I love the feeling you get fresh out of a workout.  Knowing that you did something good for yourself is the best high you can get in my opinion.  So the right equipment, to me, is very important. Between my Lululemon and Joe Fresh workout gear I have to have good runners.  For the longest time I had these Lacoste runners that had one huge velcro strap instead of laces; I didn’t know the importance of good workout shoes.  Well, the Lacoste runners were a bit narrow at the ends and it caused my toes to hurt after a while so I invested in a pair of Adidas runners.

About half a year ago I made a day trip down to the states and I went to T.J. Maxx.  Whenever I’m at a discount department store (whether it’s Winners or T.J. Maxx) I always check out the handbags, accessories, makeup/hair products, then shoes (usually in that order).  You can find some real gems at discount department stores with some items close to 70 per cent off the retail price. So, imagine my surprise when I stumbled across a pair of Reebok TrainTone runners, which retail for close to $100 Canadian, and they were $40 USD.  I didn’t really need another pair of runners because I had my Adidas ones but I had heard a lot of things about these and really wanted to try them.  Needless to say, I snatched them.

I’ve always been skeptical about these ‘training’ runners. Reebok claims that the runners will help tone your butt and legs from the “balance ball-inspired pods with moving air technology”. I just didn’t get how these runners could possibly help you get a toned pair of stems and backside simply from walking.  Well, neither did the FTC who says that Reebok’s 2009 ads for the product didn’t have scientific research to back up their claims.

It was announced today that Reebok has agreed to pay back $25 million to settle charges that it made in advertisements from 2009 that claimed that the shoes strengthened hamstrings and calves by up to 11 per cent and toned your butt by 28 per cent more than regular runners.  Who will get that money you ask?  The consumers who bought the products.  The Tone line of shoes come in a variety of different ‘styles’ which are designed for different activities.  There is RunTone, EasyTone, EasyTone Flip (don’t ask me what the difference is), JumpTone, SimplyTone,  and SlimTone.  There is also a variety of different clothing items that are in the Tone line as well (I’ve seen the pants and were interested in them but I just didn’t get how they could tone you up).  If you bought any item from the Tone line of products, visit their refund website here to get your money back.  I filled out the form, but I’m really hoping that you don’t have to send them the shoes because despite all made-up claims, I really do like them. Like the Sketchers Shape-Ups (which I hate the style of by the way, they look like orthopedic shoes), I just didn’t believe that they did what they said. But for the $40 that I paid of them, I figured why not give them a try.  Well, I have to say, scientific research or not, these things work.  As skeptical as I was, after a good run I felt some pain in my glutes and inside upper thighs. Like I mentioned at the beginning, I work out a lot and I don’t really get too sore anymore, but wow, I could feel that these things actually work.   I also brought the runners along to Vegas with me this past August because I knew I was going to do a lot of walking and nothing is worse than having sore feet on vacation.  After a full day of walking, my calves were burning and it had to be from the runners.  As much as I didn’t believe these shoes could work, you really do feel some results.

Now of course you can’t use them for every activity.  I made the mistake of wearing them to a Group Power class (weight lifting) and they are not good for balance at all.  Because you are basically walking on two mini half balance balls per foot, doing dynamic lunges is a bad idea.  I was falling all over the place.  If you are going to invest in these runners make sure you are using them properly to get the most effect.  I would recommend either walking with them or running, I felt the most pain the next day from those two activites.  Also, with that being said, I mean you are going to have to do a lot more than just wear these shoes to get a body like the model’s in the advertisements, but hey, sex sells right?

It’s a shame that Reebok got into hot water for claims that they couldn’t back up, however, I’m not complaining, if I can get a refund on them (and hopefully keep them) then that would be awesome.  Either way, they are totally worth it.  They seem like one of those things that are too good to be true, but with enough wear you could probably get some pretty toned-up legs.

Have you tried Reebok’s Tone line of sneakers?  What were your thoughts? Did they work for you?