Every step taken with MBT shoes is like a fitness exercise

One of the human body’s most complex tasks is to keep itself upright and balanced when walking and standing. A multitude of supporting muscles throughout the whole body is responsible for this - the body’s supporting muscle system.

Conventional shoes support and lead the foot, stabilizing the body in an unnatural way. This means that these important muscles lose their function. With the special sole construction the MBT shoes creates a natural, soft surface. The natural instability underneath the feet ensures that neglected muscle groups automatically make the balancing movements that nature intended. These activated muscles relieve the pressure on joints and discs while walking, and make a passive gait, such as in conventional shoes, impossible. Every step taken with MBT shoes is like a tiny fitness exercise. Even standing has a training effect on muscles, relieves joint strain and stabilizes the whole muscle-skeletal system.

Wearing MBT shoe increasingly activates muscle groups needed to coordinate and stabilize the body both when walking and standing. The muscular system is exercised all the way up to the neck, stretched and relaxed again, the body balanced – with every step. Hundreds of thousands of consumers and scientists worldwide have experienced the many positive effects of MBT shoe:
Masai Barefoot Technology- activates neglected muscles
- improves posture and gait
- tones and shapes the body
- can help with back, hip, leg and foot problems
- can help with joint, muscle, ligament and tendon injuries
- reduces stress on knee and hip joints

MBT shoes activate the whole body.
RESULTS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDIES*

Stresses on knee and hip joints ........................– 19 %
Improved posture and more upright gait
Increased muscle activity when walking:
Lower limbs .....................................................+ 18 %
Rear thigh muscles ..........................................+ 19 %
Buttock muscles ..............................................+ 9 %
Oxygen intake .................................................+ 2, 5 %
Increased muscle activity when standing:
Lower limbs ....................................................... + 38 %
Rear thigh muscles ............................................+ 37 %
Buttock muscles .................................................+ 28 %

* at the University of Calgary, CAN; Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK; Rennbahnklinik, Basle, CH etc.; in comparison to conventional shoes.

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Hollywood casual, down to their toes

LOS ANGELES - New York Times News Service

It was only recently that Donald De Line, a leading Hollywood producer and a keen observer of local trends, noted the onslaught of nearly naked feet, and not just on women.

Suddenly, flip-flops - those slabs of rubber with V-shaped slivers between the toes - are ubiquitous in what were once dressed-up settings.

"I was meeting with a director and a writer on a project, and they both were wearing flip-flops," said De Line, parking his pristine Mustang at the recent premiere party for "Superman Returns" at a Westwood theater. "I noticed, because that is definitely a new level of casual."

In a city that for decades has been leading America toward a more relaxed personal style, Los Angeles is once again resetting the standard for dressing down.

"I've seen guys on the red carpet wearing flip-flops," said Vivian Turner, a celebrity stylist who has helped dress famous names like Sharon Stone, Lionel Richie and Geena Davis. "It's the first thing in the summertime: put on a great skinny suit with the shirt open and a pair of thongs. I totally approve."

Well, they are here, anyway. It may still be difficult to imagine a pair of flip-flops, even expensive ones, at a Wall Street investment house, or thwacking their way through a congressional hearing room. Last summer, the Northwestern University national championship women's lacrosse team caused a furor in the capital when team members were photographed wearing flip-flops on a White House visit. The trend seems to baffle, if not offend, some people from other parts of the country.

"Where I work, at a medical foundation, there's a dress code - you couldn't wear them," said David Rothner, a shopper on the fourth floor of Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills, as he looked over the sale table of men's shoes. The Dolce & Gabbana flip-flops, with hard plastic soles and two small strips of white leather, were marked down to $135. Rothner, visiting from Cleveland, said he couldn't see himself in a pair.

But Marv Lotz, a 61-year-old real estate developer from Los Angeles, was shopping nearby in blue jeans, a white T-shirt and a pair of Oakleys, flip-flops from a local surf shop. "I have these in green," he said, picking up a pair of $280 leather Prada thongs. "For me, it's weather-related. When it's hot, these are comfortable."

In a world where people bring work along to the beach and other leisure spots, perhaps it is only natural that they start bringing beachwear into the work environment. And in some sense, flip-flops are just a strap away from being a sandal, which women, at least, have always worn in summertime.

The most popular flip-flops in Los Angeles remain Havaianas, $16 rubber shoes available at department stores and hip shopping spots like Fred Segal or Flight 001, a travel store. They look like the kind of shoes you might wear in the shower, and come in patterns like cherries and camouflage. They can be bought with a rhinestone between the toes for $50.

Ricky Sancion, the manager at Flight 001, keeps selling out of his stock of Havaianas. "They talk about flip-flops like it's part of our uniform here in Los Angeles," he said. "It's all everybody wears. There's a girl who works here who wears flip-flops for everything. She never wears shoes. Even if it's raining, she wears flip-flops."

by Sharon Waxman,Jul.14,2006,The Sun Herald

Men's Beach Shoe Trends 2006

I hope you don’t think of lugging heavy sneakers to the beach, so of course sandals are a must. But not any sandals, the newest styles are easily portable and won’t put a gap in your wallet. The rubber and plastic flip flops or thong sandals are preferable to leader or suede sandals. They’re the perfect beach wear accessory, and with a wide range of colors and styles you’re guaranteed to find one to fit your own unique personality.

You can find great mens sandals and flip-flops at :

Merrell Shoes
Timberland
Teva
Kenneth Cole