“Burn more calories, tone muscles, improve posture, reduce joint stress.”

—Well, who wouldn’t want all that?

“Train muscles your trainers never knew you had.”

—Sign me up.

“It’s the shoe proven to work your hamstrings and calves up to 11 percent harder. And tones your butt up to 28 percent more than regular sneakers just by walking.”

—A better body without putting in any extra effort? That sounds good.

Or maybe too good to be true? All of the above are publicized claims marketing the latest toning shoes from Skechers Shape-Ups, MBT (Masai Barefoot Technology) and Reebok EasyTone. The shoes, each of which uses uniquely shaped rounded soles and extra cushioning to alter the wearer’s normal walking gait, are currently all the rage in footwear. A quick Web search reveals many blogs touting the shoes and NFL great Joe Montana has even been hired as a pitchman for one of the brands.

With all this buzz about toning shoes, it was time to put their claims to the test. So we enlisted a team