Rocker shoes – those with chunky, curved soles – can help alleviate back pain and strengthen back muscles just by walking in them, according to a new study.
New research from the CEU Cardenal Herrera university in Valencia shows these ‘unstable shoes’ require the body to work to maintain balance and stability, and provide a low-stress workout for your lower back.
A further advantage, say scientists, is that they help deal with chronic lower back pain, which can be debilitating for those that suffer from it.
Pictured left: model and presenter Nieves Alvarez wears rocker shoes at the Cibeles Madrid Fashion Week A/W in February 21, 2011 in Spain. Right: actress Tiffany Haddish shows off MBT ‘rocker’ shoes at Melanie Segal’s ‘Be The Change’ Oscar Lounge, February 20, 2009 in Los Angeles, California
Walk it off
One of the study’s authors, Pablo Salvador, said this result could be especially helpful for sufferers of back pain who find it hard to keep up a strict exercise regime.
‘Patients with chronic low back pain are usually advised to perform exercises to strengthen the muscles in their back, which improve stability of the spine in the lower back area, although it is always hard to make sure they comply with this type of exercises.
What this new study shows is that the use of unstable shoes for several hours during a patient’s day-to-day life, without any other specific exercises, effectively contributes to the muscular strengthening of their back and improves the degree of curvature of the spine in the lumbar area, thus helping to reduce chronic pain.’
In order to conduct their study, doctoral researcher Salvador and his teacher, Juan Francisco Lisón, divided forty patients into two groups, all of whom were suffering from low-intensity chronic lower back pain.
Half of these were given shoes with normal flat soles, and the other half given shoes with curved soles, also known as ‘rocker shoes’. These shoes have a thicker sole and are curved upward at the heel and toe. They were made popular by sports brands in the 90s because it was said walking in them worked the thighs and core muscles.
New research from the CEU Cardenal Herrera university in Valencia shows these ‘unstable shoes’ require the body to work to maintain balance and stability, and provide a low-stress workout for the lower back
As simple as tying your laces
To test how effective the new shoes were, at the end of a four week period the researchers used electromyography to test the degree to which the back muscles were being used as well as the curvature of the spine.
Patients were also tested on their degree of lower back pain. The results show that those who wore the shoes were significantly more comfortable than those with the flat soles.
‘[This study has] allowed us to confirm that everyday use of rocker bottom shoes for several hours a day reduces the disability suffered by patients with chronic low back pain,’ Salvador said.
‘The next step is to increase the number of participants and confirm these effects over a longer period of time in future studies within this same line of research of the Master of Sports Physiotherapy degree of the CEU UCH.’