Campus Connection

Skechers toning shoes may not be the secret to a slimmer body and a better butt. The company is now paying for advertisements that suggest this, thanks, in part, to a UW-La Crosse study. Skechers recently agreed to pay $40 million to settle complaints that the company had made unfounded claims regarding some of its sneakers — Shape-Ups, Resistance Runner, Toners and Tone-Ups lines. The company said they could deliver toned legs, a better buttocks and a slimmer body “without setting a foot in a gym,” according to a New York Times report. The American Council on Exercise (ACE), the largest non-profit fitness certification, education and training organization in the world, enlisted UW-L researchers to complete a study. Released in July 2010, researchers in UW-L’s Exercise and Sports Science department, found no evidence that the shoes help wearers exercise more intensely, burn more calories or improve muscle strength or tone. Leading the study were John Porcari, John Greany, Stephanie Tepper, Brian Edmonson and Carl Foster. Read the full New York Times report.