Lose weight step by step
It sounds too good to be true: You lose weight and do nothing for it except buy a pair of new shoes. A sales trick? For six months Fitness.com has tested the "Muscletrainer" shoe by Miyata, a Japanese firm. The promise: you wear them and lose weight!
The Muscletrainer looks like an 80's style sneaker. Ankle-high and round shaped, it reminds you of the legendary Addidas Trophy shoes, which had been worn by an entire generation, walking to school or at a rock concert. Yet, the Muscletrainer is no shoe to be worn all day long. Each one weighs between 1 and 1.4 kg. And this weight is its strength. Walking in this shoe for 30 minutes, burns 300 cal more than what you would burn walking the same distance in the same time wearing ordinary shoes.
And 300 cal is quite a bit. To burn this amount you would otherwise have to ride a bicycle for two hours or go for a walk for three hours and 20 minutes. This is the great advantage of this shoe. Although you feel the weight when walking at no time do you get the impression of having lead-feet. This rugged shoe even has anti-slip properties and the ankle protection encourages a solid step, so it is no problem to wear these on irregular surfaces.
The short time span you work out is ideal. Anybody can take a 30 minute walk during the day. A short walk during lunch break or temporary use during the weekend is easy to do and is absolutely fit for every day use. However, apart from an optional reduction of weight (which only happens if the increased energy consumption is not combined with an increased food intake), walking under "aggravated" conditions supports health as well. A study conducted by Prof. Mitsuhiko Masuhara from the Osaka university showed that regular use of the heavy shoes, "increases oxygen intake by 25 per cent". At Gakugei University in the Japanese capital, scientists under the direction of Prof. Yoshinori Miyazaki showed in extensive tests, that walking exercises with the Muscletrainer increased the average fat burning by the body, which prevents diabetes and high blood pressure.
The shoe is well-accepted in Japan and has been sold over one million pairs. An exercise device which achieves high effectiveness in a short period of time is especially popular in a country where the working population has little leisure time. Supposedly people with little time can be found in Germany as well, and not only among our editorial staff.
