Do ShaToBu Body Shapers Really Work?

ShaToBu is a portmanteau of Shape, Tone, and Burn and are a line of body shapers that are designed to help you look better now, but also burn more calories during exercise. It’s not unusual to see a company take a product and give it additional features, in this case taking a body shaper and enhancing it so that it gives you a workout as well. In some cases it becomes a huge success, in others a huge failure, so let’s see where these end up.

Overview
The idea of getting a workout just by wearing a clothing item has been tried before. Just recently shoe manufacturers came out with toning shoes and had to pay big fines because they said the shoes could replace the gym. The same kind of thing is going on here, with a body shaper company claiming that you can get a resistance workout by wearing their toning articles. There hasn’t been an FTC crackdown on them yet, but it’s definitely the sort of thing that makes you wonder if it’s right around the corner.

The Claim
They claim that ShaToBu items are designed to mimic resistance training exercises by putting bands in the garment itself so that your leg muscles are forced to do more work than they otherwise would. They don’t make any real outlandish claims, like you’ll be able to wear these shapers instead of going to the gym. Most people realize that it’s going to take hard work and dedication to get the body you want, and not just a matter of putting on a pair of suped up pantyhose.

For some of their items they say that it eliminates the panty line so you can wear tight fitting clothing without having a visible panty line. They also say that they’re made light enough so that you can wear them all day without feeling like you’re lugging around a heavy undergarment.

The Hype
Body shapers are all the rage these days, and women can’t seem to get enough of them. Most brands focus on them just being able to hold in your fat areas and give you slimmer appearance

and a tighter more secure feeling. ShaToBu takes it a step further and is claiming that you can get fitness benefits just by wearing it. It’s important to look through this hype and realize that you’re going to have to take action if you want to see fitness results.

The Cost
ShaToBu prices range by what you end up going with, but as an example you can get their mid-thigh shaper for $34, or their waist shaper for $68. It really all depends on the size of the garment, and what it’s designed to do.

The Commitment
The premise is that you can wear these shapers while you do mundane tasks and still get something resembling a workout. Probably a better idea would be to wear these during an aerobic activity to maximize how much your muscles have to do. You could wear them on a daily walk, or a daily jog, and potentially get better results than you would if you didn’t have them on. So really there’s not much of a commitment to wearing these, other than putting them on, but to get the most effect from them you should commit to regular workouts or daily activity of some sort.

Evaluation
There really is documented research behind the ShaToBu lineup, and it’s not just something that they’re claiming to be true. It’s interesting to think that any science went into an article of clothing, but these are supposedly developed by a doctor and she explains the strategic placement of the straps that are in these shapers, and how they’re placed right where they can provide the most resistance, so even simple actions like walking get your leg muscles more engaged.

At the end of the day there’s really no substitute for eating right and working out on a regular basis. It’s the thing that will get you the body that you want, so that you won’t have to worry about wearing a body shaper, and you can wear your clothes with confidence and not have so many problem areas. If you try these out in an attempt to accentuate your workout program that’s one thing, but if you’re relying on them as your only form of fitness that’s another thing altogether.

Final ShaToBu Review

ShaToBu is getting our Thumbs Down rating, as they seem to have put a lot of research into their products, but users have said that the quality just isn’t there in the craftsmanship. Sometimes a company can spend too much time and money trying to get a product to be just right that they are forced to bring it to market without having enough left to use quality materials. Other complaints were that the sizing chart is off, and the effort required to put them on puts too much strain on the fabric.

Our Recommendation
It’s up to you whether you want to buy in to the claims that these shapers can enhance everyday activities and give you anything close to a decent workout just by walking. Most people have said that they fit too tightly to be worn long enough to do anything in them. There are other products out there that get consistently better reviews than these, specifically Spanx. For about the same price you can get something that has a lot better social currency to it.

What do you think? Do ShaToBu Body Shapers work or not?