The client

Swiss Masai AG, producers of Masai Barefoot Technology (MBT) trainers

The challenge

MBT trainers aim to simulate the natural gait of the Masai tribe, who walk barefoot on soft surfaces like sand. Since they went on sale in 1996, it had been claimed they alleviate back pain and muscular tension while strengthening and toning muscles in the legs and feet. But despite over a million pairs being sold every year, the health benefits had never been tested clinically.

What we did

Swiss Masai AG commissioned the Centre for Sport and Exercise Science (CSES) to put the shoes through their paces in a two-month programme of laboratory testing. The study used a 3D motion analysis computer system to analyse the effects of walking on people wearing MBTs compared with those wearing conventional footwear.

The results

The results of the study showed that wearing MBTs is better for hips, knees and ankles than wearing conventional shoes. It indicated that the trainers put less stress on the body.

The findings were revealed at the first International MBT Conference, where more than 50 national distributors and MBT academy directors were present to hear the findings and later visited the CSES sports science labs where testing took place.

They say

'This is a professional clinical study, done under controlled circumstances and it shows people who suffer from back and joint problems can benefit from using MBTs. MBTs were launched years ago, but before this all the information we had was anecdotal evidence. Now we have the proof.'

Dr Rav Naik, UK clinical director for MBT