Fitness & Exercise

The FitFlop Craze: Fashion or Fitness?

FitFlops: What the Experts Say continued...

Comana's bottom line? "FitFlops are a comfortable shoe to stand or walk in, so go ahead and use them," he says. "If you feel that when you stand in the shoe, the glutes and calf muscles are firing more, wear the shoe but don't overuse them."

Cary M. Golub, DPM, a podiatrist in private practice in Long Beach, N.Y., thinks FitFlop shoes have their proper place in certain people's shoe collections. But "they are not meant for everybody, especially the person with flat feet," says Golub. "For these people, it's like sticking a rock in the arch, which pushes the arch up, creating calf pain," he says, adding that he has seen several patients reporting such complaints.

For people who can wear FitFlops, "I recommend breaking them in by wearing them for an hour a day and increasing it by an hour each day," he says.