Weightlifting Shoes

bowlie

bowlie

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Does anyone here lift in lifting shoes? I usually squat in converse but yesterday I only had my running shoes, but I found squatting so much easier because of the raised heel. I dont want to carry on squatting in my running shoes, so im contemplating getting some lifting shoes. Is there anything special about weightlifting shoes other than the raised heel, and are they worth the investment?

What are the advantages compared to something like powerlifting shoes or even minimalist shoes? I hate the look of vibrams, but there must be less visually offensive shoes out there that allow your feet to keep in direct contact with the floor. This is particularly important or me I think because of my flat feet. I find I really have to focus on keeping an arch in my feet and 'spreading the floor with my feet'. I cant do that easily in running shoes and im not sure if I could in weight lifting shoes.
 
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They're phenomenal. They're the only piece of lifting equipment that I own. The most significant difference aside from the heel is that you just feel glued to the floor when squatting in them. They're super stable. You plant your feet and you know you're not going anywhere. To me, they're absolutely worth the investment. Lifting weights is my hobby. $190 is a small price to pay for shoes that will last me at least 5 years. They can often be had for $150-$160 on Eastbay if you use one of the coupon codes.
 
ballhawkdawk said:
They can often be had for $150-$160 on Eastbay if you use one of the coupon codes.
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Is that a typo for ebay or did you mean Eastbay? If so I wasn't even aware Eastbay was still around. I remember looking at the shoes in their magazines growing up.


Edit: Yep they are still around and you can buy weightlifting shoes there. Found coupon and can get the Nike Romaleos for about 170 rather than 190.
 
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I've thought about getting lifting shoes many times (I currently lift in wrestling shoes), what are the best brands, both for unlimited budget and ~$100?
 
Fuck lifting in running shoes. I thought I was going to blow my knee out trying to squat in running shoes over my vacation. Never again.

I find no shoes the best but minimalists or my vibrams work well. Weightlifting shoes are too expensive and I didn't get any benefit from them over no shoes so I returned them.
 
I think you're mostly just going to get a recommendation for what people own since lifting shoes are kind of uncommon. I own the Romaleos and I love them. Whenever anyone at the gym asks me about them or the Adipowers, I just tell them to buy whichever one they can find the cheapest or whichever one they think looks the best. I don't think there's a big difference between the two, and you can't go wrong with either.

As far as a ~$100 option, I have no idea on what works best, but I've seen these out there:
$130 Pendlay Do-Wins http://www.pendlay.com/Pendlay-Weightlifting-Shoes_c_305.html

Reebok makes a few different Crossfit branded shoes, but I don't know if they're specfically for weightlifting or somehow customized for Crossfit.
 
how would it affect your performance when benching if you were wearing these kinds of shoes?
I deadlift barefoot and squat and bench in the typical running/cross trainer type shoes you can get for $40 at academy. $100+ seems a lot of money to spend on a shoe i'm only going to wear when doing one exercise.

to be honest, the only reason i spent $40 on the running shoes was because working out in combat boots wasn't really viable.
 
also, anyone know where some good places are to look for them in the UK?
 
nephel said:
how would it affect your performance when benching if you were wearing these kinds of shoes?
I deadlift barefoot and squat and bench in the typical running/cross trainer type shoes you can get for $40 at academy. $100+ seems a lot of money to spend on a shoe i'm only going to wear when doing one exercise.

to be honest, the only reason i spent $40 on the running shoes was because working out in combat boots wasn't really viable.
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They only really affect squat variations by raising your heel to allow for less ankle mobility required. They have hard soles so you get good force transfer through the ground, but you can get the same by wearing no shoes or a minimalist shoe.
 
ballhawkdawk said:
They're phenomenal. They're the only piece of lifting equipment that I own. The most significant difference aside from the heel is that you just feel glued to the floor when squatting in them. They're super stable. You plant your feet and you know you're not going anywhere. To me, they're absolutely worth the investment. Lifting weights is my hobby. $190 is a small price to pay for shoes that will last me at least 5 years. They can often be had for $150-$160 on Eastbay if you use one of the coupon codes.
Click to expand...

Ditto, I own a pair of Nike Romaleos and Adidas Adipower (which is more comfortable for wider feet guys like me) and I'll never squat in anything but these shoes. They're an absolute must for oly lifting. The 3/4 inch heels will keep your feet firmly planted to the ground like billhawkdawk said, and prevent your feet from rocking back and forth, which can seriously compromise your squat form and lead to injuries.

Other than that, I prefer Chuck Taylor's for deadlifting and everything else.

Both of these shoes are about 200 a pair. If you're tight on money, I think you can get a pair of VS Athletic shoes for only 80 dollars, and they're quite durable from what I've heard.

Edit: They're 95 dollars from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/VS-ATHLETICS-Athletics-Weightlifting-Shoe/dp/B0062D71D8
 
jrams said:
They only really affect squat variations by raising your heel to allow for less ankle mobility required. They have hard soles so you get good force transfer through the ground, but you can get the same by wearing no shoes or a minimalist shoe.
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so no benefit to the leg drive on a bench press? I like the raised heel for squatting. so far i haven't had any real issues with the running shoes.
My gym technically doesn't allow no shoes lifting. The trainers all let me get away with it on deadlifts (mostly because i lift more than most of them), but i don't want to push it. (it's also a convenient excuse to not improve my ankle mobility)
 
Thunderkopf said:
Adidas Adipower (which is more comfortable for wider feet guys like me)
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Its pretty well known that Adidas shoes are much more narrow than Nikes and the AdiPowers are no exception. I've had both and the Nikes were much more comfortable as they had a wider toe box.

The Romaleos are awesome and built like tanks. I have had them for ~1.5 years and train nine sessions/wk and I they would like barely used if I cleaned them up.

The only real bad thing I can say about them is how aggressive the heel is because it would pull me forward on everything. I've obviously adjusted to them but it took a couple weeks.
 
Jake Pudenz said:
Its pretty well known that Adidas shoes are much more narrow than Nikes and the AdiPowers are no exception. I've had both and the Nikes were much more comfortable as they had a wider toe box.

The Romaleos are awesome and built like tanks. I have had them for ~1.5 years and train nine sessions/wk and I they would like barely used if I cleaned them up.

The only real bad thing I can say about them is how aggressive the heel is because it would pull me forward on everything. I've obviously adjusted to them but it took a couple weeks.
Click to expand...

My bad, thanks for the correction. The Adipowers are indeed wider than the Romaleos 2. I guess what I meant to say was, the Romaleos took a little time to break into, whereas the Adipowers fit perfectly from the get-go. However, YMMV.
 
bowlie said:
also, anyone know where some good places are to look for them in the UK?
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Bowlie I brought some do-wins off amazon. They are ugly and cheap but then so am I. As for sites in uk, try
Amazon
Strength shop
Pullum sports
 
Thunderkopf said:
My bad, thanks for the correction. The Adipowers are indeed wider than the Romaleos 2. I guess what I meant to say was, the Romaleos took a little time to break into, whereas the Adipowers fit perfectly from the get-go. However, YMMV.
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Huh?

The AdiPowers are narrower than the Romaleos. Adidas shoes run narrow, as a whole.
 
Thunderkopf said:
My bad, thanks for the correction. The Adipowers are indeed narrower than the Romaleos 2. I guess what I meant to say was, the Romaleos took a little time to break into, whereas the Adipowers fit perfectly from the get-go. However, YMMV.
Click to expand...

Fixed that for myself. Got mixed up with the wording.

I need coffee right now.
 
Jake, is there any other notable differences between the two shoes aside from the wideness and aggressiveness of the heels?
 
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