Reebok attempts to give women what they’ve always wanted: a yummy bummy

The butt is a sensitive subject for most women. It’s never perfect. There’s always going to be a line here or bump there that we all agonize over. But we don’t give up.

We do hundreds of lunges, squats and repetitive motions in all sorts of ungodly positions.

So I’m sure most women are as intrigued as I am by the Reebok EasyTone commercials that flaunt an unknown woman with the perfect bum. Even though I’ve seen these shoes hundreds of times before by other brands and heard the better butt promise millions of times from various places, I dashed to the store to purchase this pricey piece  of footwear.

Ranging from about $99-$110, the shoe has “take the gym with you” inscribed on its sole. The idea is that women replace their plain old sneaker with EasyTone, wear EasyTone for daily activities and workout their legs and butt throughout the day, because of balance pods in the sole of the shoe, which Reebok says “increases leg-muscle activity.”

Photo courtesy of What's Haute

This idea has been used before, but it’s never looked so good. The most memorable sneaker like this I can remember was on “The Jimmy” episode on Seinfeld. Kramer purchased a sneaker with similar promises (he wanted to improve leg muscles for a basketball game), but the sneaker was unflattering. Between the unusual footwear, losing control of his mouth due to Novocaine and referring to himself in the third person, people thought Kramer was “special.”

Reebok surpassed that problem with its EasyTone. The design looks like regular sneakers you would wear to the gym or… That’s the problem. I personally don’t wear sneakers anywhere other than the gym and I find that to be the case with a lot of women I know.

“A sneaker is not a shoe,” Clinton Kelly, co-host of “What Not to Wear” on TLC, said while hosting Make Over America at Macy’s in Cherry Hill. “It’s a piece of athletic equipment.”

Maybe if Reebok placed their patented technology in a pair of boots or flats this “take the gym with you” modo would work. But honestly women can probably get quite the leg workout from wearing heals and look way cuter.

On top of that, it seems only some of the Reebok EasyTone styles are suggested for outside use. On the Reebok website, people will find several different EasyTone styles, but only the designs titled EasyTone Go Outside, which cost $109.58, are suggested for outdoor use in the product detail. I purchased EasyTone Inspire, which cost $99.58. The details about this style (Inspire) on Reebok’s website don’t mention whether or not people can wear the sneaker outside. Maybe it’s fine, but if a sneaker’s modo is “take the gym with you,” then I would assume all the sneakers under that collection can be worn just about everywhere, not just in the gym or around the house.

Since I didn’t plan on wearing sneakers throughout the day, this didn’t bother me too much. So I thought about incorporating the sneakers into my regular gym routine, which is running, weight training and group fitness.

The only problem is the sneaker may make its wearer a bit unbalanced, which can be a problem when using a step or BOSU ball in a gym class. Also, coming from someone who suffered severe shin splints, I probably wouldn’t recommend people use these sneakers while running, because it may not be supportive enough.

So why did I buy a pair of $100 sneakers that I refuse to wear in public and can’t wear in the gym?

I want a better butt and I’m easily persuaded.

I’ve decided instead of implementing the sneaker somewhere in my routine, I’ll create a time in my schedule to wear it.

Luckily, I go to a gym with TVs attached to the treadmills. So instead of sitting on my couch and watching my usual TV programs, I’m heading to the gym with Reebok EasyTone and walking on the treadmill for at least 20 minutes each day on top of my regular fitness routine (which I will be wearing regular sneakers for.)

I tested the shoes out yesterday and today. Yesterday, I walked in the shoes for about 45 minutes while watching Oprah. It wasn’t strenuous and I did feel my leg muscles working a bit harder. But I also felt a pain in my left heel and my feet were burning after just 30 minutes.

Then I woke up this morning with the pain in my bum that only comes from a fantastic workout.

Today I took advantage of this oddly warm November weather in NJ and walked for 20 minutes around the neighborhood. I didn’t feel any pain and my feet were not burning at the end.

While the sneakers are expensive and not completely practical, it will be well worth the money and 20 extra minutes at the gym if my butt looks like the girl’s in Reebok’s ad.

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