I was visiting Somni in the states last month, when I stumbled upon the Sketchers Shape Ups. I was rather hesitant at first, wondering if they were just a weird gimmick/fad, but after seeing them, we went home and looked up a bunch of reviews on them, and found that all of the reviews seemed pretty glowing. So, before I left, I went ahead and bought a pair.
I have to say that so far, I'm enjoying them a lot. They are very cushy to wear, comfy and give LOTS of padding when you walk. You do have to walk in a certain way in order to get the work out side of them, but I can walk naturally in them as well without any sort of problem, if I'm not looking for the muscle workout.
In fact, I spent 2.5 hours walking around in them yesterday as a friend and I went shopping and walking, and though I did quite often forget to walk in a manner that would work the muscles, when I did remember, I got a very nice calf workout. I didn't feel it so much in the butt, which they say in the ads the shoes are also supposed to work, but, I definitely felt it in my calves.
They don't make you walk funny or anything, or even inefficiently, its just a different motion with your foot, you kinda roll from the heel to the toe when you walk, which actually feels quite nice once you are used to it.
So, I am enjoying them so far!
(And as a side note, they are perfect when you want to bounce a baby on your knee. hehehe. Makes it kinda fun and much easier on the muscles. lol )
One thing I will say though, if you are thinking about buying them, you need to know that they run small. I normally where an 8.5 shoe, and my Sketcher Shape Ups are 9.5 and a tiny bit snug.
I'd love to hear about other people's experiences with these shoes!!