After a while, I still have stiff muscles around my knee after last Octobers knee replacement. I can loosen them on the exercise bike, but while away from home I have a few problems. I saw the sketchers MBT shoes on offer and wondered if they would help when I am out walking. I know they are pig ugly, but I could loose a bit of street cred if they help.
Do any of you own a pair, and what do you reckon? Just a gimmick or are they as good as the supposed revues.
(http://www.skechers-shapeups.co.uk/images/A00200251.jpg)
One of my friends has a pair, mostly to help with dodgy knees. I know she swears by them. Think they're quite heavy mind.
My Sketchers aren't MBT but they are heavy. Very comfortable though.
I asked my chiropractor about them. She spoke highly about them, she new someone could barely walk but in the MBTs she was fine. I couldn't bring myself to spend £120 on a pair for me just in case they didn't work.
The gadget show tested them...I think last week. MBT, sketchers and fitflops they wired up the leg muscles to see which were being exercised and the result was the trainers weren't doing much. Both testers preferred the sketchers.
Try Pilates for the knee, I've been doing pilates now for 18 months and for the money is much better than a chiropractor. I spent huge amounts on the chiropractor and didn't have any improvement and was still taking the full dose of 3 types of painkiller a day. Two visits to the physio and 3 months of pilates and no more painkillers.
Quote from: grannyjanny on May 09, 2011, 13:40:50
I asked my chiropractor about them. She spoke highly about them, she new someone could barely walk but in the MBTs she was fine. I couldn't bring myself to spend £120 on a pair for me just in case they didn't work.
Lots of used ones on ebay :)
ACE
There are quite afew reviews on Amazon.
I have 3 pairs.
I bought them when I had backache and plantar fascitus....I think that's how it's spelt. I really love them [even bought a reduced pair just for the lottie] and they help with back pain no end. And the Plant. Fac. went in a matter of days.
They aren't the funkiest of footwear though!!!
I have about 5 pairs although 2 are fake ones from China!!
I love them but I used them for walking my dogs and I had to run after a dog (it was chasing a sheep at the time) and really hurt my back as you are not supposed to run in them just a quick walk type of gait!
They are heavy but I bought a waterproof pair for walking and the others are white "trainer style" but they are a bit "too white" if you see what I mean.
Anyway the long and the short of it is that they are brilliant for town and pottering work. i would probably not wear them on the lottie as you need to balance in them! I would probably end up falling into my beds!
I certainly walk "straighter" and I think they are helpful but remember "DO NOT RUN in them!
O B
:D
Quote from: Kea on May 09, 2011, 14:01:49
Try Pilates for the knee,
Now, it is not very often I ask a serious question so I suppose I deserved that. I don't think me leaping about in a leotard is on the cards. In fact it does not even bear thinking about.
Quote from: lillian on May 09, 2011, 14:32:17
Lots of used ones on ebay
They can stay there, I'm all for recycling, but other peoples shoes is nearly as bad as second hand undercrackers.
Quote from: grannyjanny on May 09, 2011, 13:40:50
I asked my chiropractor about them. She spoke highly about them, she new someone could barely walk but in the MBTs she was fine. I couldn't bring myself to spend £120 on a pair for me just in case they didn't work.
£65 now so I think they are worth a punt, but not white, skechers do a pair that look mor like shoes.
Thanks for all your answers
Ace,
Personally I don't like the look of those soles to round,
If you are looking for something to give you some support why not try looking at some of the top end running/trainers with the heels that you can set to give you a nice cushion depending on your weight and running/walking style, In the past I have run miles on roads and found them to give great support to all the joints from the ankle up to the hip,
:)
Quote from: Mr Smith on May 09, 2011, 18:50:05
Ace,
Personally I don't like the look of those soles to round,
If you are looking for something to give you some support why not try looking at some of the top end running/trainers with the heels that you can set to give you a nice cushion depending on your weight and running/walking style, In the past I have run miles on roads and found them to give great support to all the joints from the ankle up to the hip,
:)
I did think about them but I do not like trainers however good they are, these MBT shoes are supposed replicate walking barefoot on soft uneven ground. I often wondered why I can scrabble around the garden on uneven ground all day long, but half an hour on the pavement gives me jip
In fairness Ace, pilates doesn't involve leaping around! It's possibly the easiest & most effective exercise I ever found. Most of it's done lying down & you'd look a bit silly doing it in a leotard!
If you carry on having problems it might be worth investigating. Sorted my back out a treat when I was doing it regularly & in fact it's on the list of things to restart now the baby's getting big enough for me to run off & leave every now & again.
I've just just got back after my 6 month check up. I got a bit of a rollicking for doing too much too early. But at the same time the Doc said 'he wished everyone healed as quick as me'. I never told him I am doing a 7 week stint building gardens at 15 hours a day soon. Met one of the other old boys who had the op at the same time, he is still doing physio. So I shall have to stop being too impatient. But the shoes are now on order to get me fit enough to hopefully go and build some communial gardens in Hiati next Oct for a month.
Quote from: Mrs Gumboot on May 10, 2011, 09:21:12
Most of it's done lying down
I done quite a bit of exercising lying down over the years ;) and can highly recommend it. But nowadays I'd rather have a good gravy dinner. ;D
Quote from: ACE on May 10, 2011, 12:48:03
I done quite a bit of exercising lying down over the years ;) and can highly recommend it. But nowadays I'd rather have a good gravy dinner. ;D
Burns more calories, but there's a lot to be said for a good gravy dinner ;D
There are several men in my Pilates class!
I recommended it to my friend who runs marathons and is constantly injured. It has been great for his hip.
If you get the MBTs, I haven't tried them, but my daughter's physio warned they are dangerous if you have any balance problems??
Ace will only have balance problems after one too many ales........ ;)
I want to see a photo when you get your fab new shoes.... ;D ...know what it's like to have to wear something on your feet that is not your usual style though. I wear the professional form of crocs at work (no holes), superlightweight and the only shoes that don't make your feet ache after a 12 hour shift! ;D
Quote from: Deb P on May 14, 2011, 07:43:06
Ace will only have balance problems after one too many ales........ ;)
I'll have you know, I don't drink no more. Well no more than I used too ;)
My daughter in law is a qualified physio. She reckons they will be ideal for my situation. I tried a pair on in Lewis's yesterday, just to see if they were as difficult to wear as some people say. I did not have them on very long, but they will take some peseverance, an hour a day should be alright and I felt the muscles working which is what I need. The trouble I have at the moment is the fixed leg has more muscle than the good one as I should have been doing the exercise on both legs at the same time. These shoes will give both legs a good workout. By the way I did not part with any beer tokens in Lewis's, not at £180 a pair.
While I am on can anybody explain why I went out to try some shoes and came back with a top hat ??? Am I changing sex?
Have you tried Lidl Gel insoles I have found they are great. Their sports ones are even better but they do not have them very often. But they also have not gel ones which are not very good. Anyway worth at try at £2.49.
Quote from: Digeroo on May 14, 2011, 08:08:30
Have you tried Lidl Gel insoles I have found they are great. Their sports ones are even better but they do not have them very often. But they also have not gel ones which are not very good. Anyway worth at try at £2.49.
It is not my feet that need treatment but the muscles in my legs that need a work out which is what these shoes should do. I don't do lidls, they are tax dodgers, bad employers and they always lock the ways out if you do not buy anything, unless you can squeeze through the narrow checkouts. It just shows the contempt they hold on shoppers if they treat us all as potential shoplifters. They don't do personal shoppers either, I'll stick to Waitrose.
I was going to put you right on Pilates but don't need to as everyone else has. Men seem to think it's a woman's exercise class. There are a number that go to classes where I go and the one man in my class really enjoys Pilates.
To say it's easy is a lie, or maybe our teacher works us really hard we often come out of class in a sweat.
Your DIL should be recommending Pilates to you...my physio insisted i go and she was right.
Nothing in this world would get me prancing around in an exercise class. I have the discipline to workout on my own. These shoes will help me much more than a muscular sporty slippityjig giving me routines in front of a load of sweaty old biddys.
In my yoof I used to do circuit training daily, trained for boxing, was in the Royal navy field gun crew, taken part in triathalons, rowed old wooden cutters and whalers in races. So I know how to keep fit. Old age has caught up and bits of me are wearing out and all my vital organs have dropped to my waistline. But I rode a bicycle today for a 10 mile round trip. Not bad for an old codger with a recent knee replacement.
Pilates! give me a real workout.
I love Pilates I was always asked to walk the plank, but I really wanted to be the captain.
Quote from: ACE on May 17, 2011, 21:38:18
I have the discipline to workout on my own.
Pilates! give me a real workout.
Obviously your mind is made up, ACE!
But for the sake of correct information, it is nothing to do with self-discipline whether or not a pilates class would help. Pilates is a specific technique - which is recommended and used by physiotherapists. Some of the exercises, such as the plank mentioned by Ben Acre, have become widely used outside of pilates classes. Pilates is excellent for your back and core (helping with those vital organs dropping to the waistline???!!). But it strengthens and balances the whole body. It targets and works small and deep muscle groups that aren't touched by other exercises. There are books and DVDs but you can't really learn it properly on your own.
My friend (male) who is massively fit and runs several marathons a year eventually tried Pilates (after persistent injuries to his back and hip needing constant sports massage and physio) and now wouldn't be without it. As I wouldn't.
This is just to make sure Pilates is properly represented - I don't think there is any point in trying to persuade you ACE! You would have to be Ok with a female-dominated class, that's for sure - though of course the women might well be young and attractive, especially in an evening class ... ;)
Good luck with the shoes.
PS You do also need a good teacher (not all are) and the right class at a challenging enough level.