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Summer 2007 saw the introduction of the FitFlopTM on to the health and fitness market. This product was soon causing a stir in both the UK and US with demand outstripping supply and stockists such as Harvey Nichols being forced to open waiting lists pending fresh deliveries.

This innovation was developed by a team from the Sport and Exercise Science department at London South Bank University. Biomechanists, Dr David Cook and Darren James were approached with the idea of developing a flip-flop that increased the output of the muscles of the lower extremity. Cook and James believed the answer lay in the sole of the footwear.

Constructed out of differing mid-sole densities, the FitFlopTM creates an unstable base utilising a patent-pending micro-wobbleboard' approach developed by Cook and James that serves to change the stimulus' provided to the plantar surface of the foot. During the early phases of the gait cycle, the lower extremity muscles that control pronation are required to increase their activation patterns in an attempt to regain stability.

Tests revealed a greater intensity of muscle activation (12%) in the muscles of the lower extremity in the FitFlopTM when compared to a control shoe, particularly in those muscles associated to control of pronation. The positive results reported by the research team of Cook, James and Mileva from the Sport and Exercise Science Research centre were substantiated by independent experimental tests performed by Salford University Biomechanics department.

As this concept is designed to place a greater demand on lower extremity muscles, consumers should be advised that fatigue will be a consequence with use of the FitFlopTM, and therefore requires adequate regulation.

Learn more about this author, David Sumners.
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