Collaboration involving LSBU's Sports and Exercise Research Centre
LSBU's involvement with the product began when cosmetics guru Marcia Kilgore, former CEO of successful beauty company Bliss, contacted Dr David Cook of our Sports Exercise Research Centre. She’d heard that David and postgraduate student, Darren James, were really interested in feet!
Working with a prototype which looked nothing more than a big flipflop, their challenge was to think of a way to develop it into something very different to anything currently on the market. “Most people, even when they take their shoes off, still walk as if they're shod”, explains David. “Darren and I are interested in training feet. By walking around barefoot for 30 minutes each day and doing simple exercises, like using your toes to pick things up. We wanted to create a shoe that stimulates the foot in a similar way.
The secret of the shoe's success lies in its sole. Where most soles are built in layers the FitFlop™ uses micro-wobbleboard technology to change the stimulus given to the foot’s plantar surface. It's firm at the heel and softer in its mid-sole, a combination that helps hold the foot (and the rest of the body) in correct alignment. The variable density means the muscles, particularly in the legs and bottom, have to work harder to stay balanced.
Their product was independently evaluated by Salford University who confirmed that wearing the FitFlop™ increases muscle activity by up to 12%.
Find out more at http://www.fitflop.com/Connect with LSBU
