Totally amazing shoes

I am about to do a product endorsement. Actually, this is the first of two product endorsement posts, both about products I'd never heard of before I got them, and both of which amazed me by their wonderful-ness.

I should preface this post by saying that I haven't watched commercials in years and, to the extent I still read print media, I manage to whisk by the advertisements without any sense of what they say. This explains why, three weeks ago, I found myself in an athletic shoe store, having bought running shoes for my daughter, staring at the most bizarre shoes I'd ever seen. They looked like a cross between geriatric shoes, athletic shoes and those silly shoes that used to be spoofed in old TV shows, when a short actor wanted to appear taller.

I asked the clerk, "What are they?"

"MBTs," he said. "You should try them on, because we have a great sale going on now." (I subsequently discovered that he was, in fact, correct about the sale, because I haven't found these very expensive shoes for a cheaper price anywhere, on land or on the internet.)

I tried the shoes on, feeling somewhat foolish, only to discover myself instantly standing straighter. The shoes have a convex sole, with the thickest part of the sole under the arch of your foot. This means that, when he walk you use your entire foot, rolling from heel to toe (and, incidentally, working both the back and front muscles of your leg). It also means that, when you stand, you have to balance gracefully or tip over backwards.

The clerk assured me that people with joint problems love the shoes. Since I have chronic, low-grade knee and hip problems, which have seemed resistant to exercise or rest, I was willing to take a plunge and at least bring them home.

Once I got the MBTs home, I went to work. First, I checked out the company's website, which explains the philosophy behind the shoes. It seems a bit silly to me, but the engineer who came up with the design wanted to have people mimic the way in which Masai warriors walk. (The full name for the shoe is "Masai Barefoot Technology.")

Although product websites have useful information, I never fully trust them (they are, after all, trying to sell me something), so I next went on a hunt for real people reviews about MBT shoes. That led me into a world of extraordinarily happy MBT users, writing reviews both at their own blogs and at shoe selling websites. Most of them discounted the claims that it makes cellulite vanish, but all acknowledged that, because exercise is less painful, people may simply exercise more when they wear them, with a concurrent decrease in cellulite.

Here, for example, is a review at About.com, commenting not only on the high price, which is a definite downside, but also about the very real benefits in terms of diminished pain. Here's another blogger who makes exactly the same point. Exercise programs are springing up that revolve around the shoes (see here and here).

People who are on their feet a lot are attracted to the shoe. A nurse wrote a review about the shoe noting that it helped lessen a lot of the pain she experiences at work. Her review is actually pretty funny considering an experience I had recently. I had to pick up a friend from an out-patient surgical ward. My friend was pretty zonked so, instead of just waiting into the lobby, I went into the back area where the nurses work. I was instantly swarmed, with all the nurses wanting to know what kind of shoes I was wearing and if they were comfortable. "MBTs," I answered, "and, yes, they are very comfortable."

While I personally doubt whether the shoe's functionality, on its own, has anything to do with any cellulite decrease, I find myself in the camp of people claiming that they definitely help me tone up. Why? Because I can finally walk again. I'm exercising for the first time in years because I'm not having the negative feedback loop of pain. It's wonderful!