Shoes

[L Sass]

Workout shoes that is. For those of you who lift heavy, what kind of shoes do you wear? I've recently begun working with a PT and on my olympic squats, where I squat down to 4" above the floor, she says I should have hard soled shoes - and not tennies (cross trainers is what I wore.) She says with cushioned shoes there is a natural tendancy to evenly distribute your weight, but with hard soled shoes you can really focus on pushing down thru the heels to more effectively work the glutes. Also for spinning I know the preference is for hard soled shoes to really emphasize the pull up as well as the push down, so what are your recommended shoes and where did you get them? Dick's has NOTHING. TIA.

 

[Gayle]

I do some regular Oly lifting and currently wear an older (discontinued) pair of Ryka cross trainers. They seem to have thinner, stiffer sole than some other cross trainers.

I know this subject comes up fairly often on the Crossfit forums. You can get specialized lifting shoes - Adidas makes some, Do-Win is another reputable name, as is VS Athletics. Unfortunately, you'll never see any of these at Dick's. They're shoe selection is lame at best.

I know some CFers swear by Converse Chuck Taylors for lifting as a cheaper alternative to a true lifting shoe.

Here's a shoe thread from the CF forum. The links in the first post to the video demos showing lifting with and without a lifting shoe is interesting. Hope it helps.

http://board.crossfit.com/showthread.php?t=31814&highlight=chuck+taylor

 

[LauraMax]

Trainers say the craziest things! Two decades of heavy lifting & I've never heard that one before.

If you really want flat soled shoes, Otomix is the original.

 

[Gayle]

Trainers say the craziest things! Two decades of heavy lifting & I've never heard that one before.

[FONT=&quot][/FONT]Not crazy. This has been common knowledge in the power lifting realm for many years, especially as it applies to the squat.

To quote Mark Rippetoe - I think he decsribes it best:
"But the main feature of a squat shoe is heel compressibility. The drive out of the bottom starts at the floor, where the feet start the kinetic chain. If the contact between the feet and the floor is the squishy gel or air cell of a running shoe, a percentage of the force of the drive will be absorbed by the compression of the cell. This compression is fine for running, but when squatting it reduces power transmisison efficiency and prevents foot stability. Unstable footing interferes with the reproducibility of the movement pattern, rendering virtually every squat a whole new experience and preventing the development of good technique. Squatting in running shoes is like squatting on a bed. Many people get away with it for years, but serious lifters invest in squat shoes. They aren't that expensive, especially compared to brand new name brand athletic shoes, and they make a huge difference in the way a squat feels."

Another good article on the subject by Rippetoe and Kilgore:
http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/Weightlifting/WeightliftingShoes.html

 

[L Sass]

Gayle -- that is EXACTLY what Melissa (PT) told me! She actually had me take off my comfy cross trainers and olympic squat in my stocking feet, down to 4" above the floor. OH WOW what a difference it made. Fascinating stuff I am learning from her. Thanks for the info!

 

[Gayle]

You are welcome, Lorrie! I wish you're PT lived near me!!

 

[LauraMax]

So I guess all the amazing strength gains I've gotten from squatting w/o flat soles is just a freak of nature.

P.S. Never ever have I felt unstable when squatting. Instability seems to me more an issue of form than shoes.

 

[L Sass]

So I guess all the amazing strength gains I've gotten from squatting w/o flat soles is just a freak of nature.

P.S. Never ever have I felt unstable when squatting. Instability seems to me more an issue of form than shoes.

Laura - I don't think that's at all what Gayle was saying - at least not how I took it. Isn't it possible that you are just better able to focus on the heel issues than I am? I didn't feel unstable at all in my crosstrainers. It was just that when I took off the shoes and really tried to focus on pushing thru my heels, I felt much more of a force thru my quads and glutes. Trying the difference was very telling for me, but just because that may not be the case for you doesn't at all make your strength gains a freak of nature.

 

[Gayle]

P.S. Never ever have I felt unstable when squatting. Instability seems to me more an issue of form than shoes.

Maybe you just have impeccable technique.

The theory is that squishier shoes contribute to instability, which can, in many cases contribute to a breakdown in form...particularly in heavy weights.

Again to quote Rip: "The second issue is control of the weight - and your body - while standing on an unstable surface. A compressible medium placed between the feet and the ground will behave inconsistently enough during each rep to alter the pattern of force transmission every time. This means that the subtle points of consistent good technique on any standing exercise are impossible to control. And there is an increased chance for a balance or stability loss-induced injury while lifting heavy weights, since perfect balance cannot be assured on an imperfect surface."

I had a similar experience as you, Lorrie. I tried oly lifting in my trail runners once (they were all I had at the time) and it was a mess, took 'em off and tried the same lift barefoot and it was like night and day.