I need some advice on the best shoes to use for competition squatting. I’ve got a meet coming up in about a month and have basically just been training in a pair of basic running sneakers. I’m lifting raw and squatting in the hign 400s.
Many thanks!
chucks
Oly liftng shoes. I like the Adidas ones.
vibram 5 finger
What type of shoes is the best depends on your chosen style of squat.
[quote]hatesmiles wrote:
What type of shoes is the best depends on your chosen style of squat.[/quote]
x2
If you squat wide, chucks or some type of flat shoe. Narrow olympic shoes IMO.
[quote]ron-e wrote:
[quote]hatesmiles wrote:
What type of shoes is the best depends on your chosen style of squat.[/quote]
x2
If you squat wide, chucks or some type of flat shoe. Narrow olympic shoes IMO.[/quote]
I think it is more a function of whether or not you are required to break parallel.
There are fundamentally two ways to accomplish this from a last inch standpoint. Squat deeper or elevate the heel. Not to mention an elevated heel helps address any ankle flexibility issues as it require a shorter range of motion.
I have a pair of Adidas that are 8 or 9 years old and still look like I just bought them despite basically being used at least weekly that entire time frame.
The key is only wear them in the gym and put shoe trees in them when you take them off. This will help pull sweat out and retain the shape of the shoe.
as others have said, whats your stance in the squat, i have a a pair of oly shoes and they work wonders for close to moderate stance squat but i rock wrestling shoes for wide stance shit and dl’s
I’ve mentioned they were going to be out in a bunch of different threads but there is now an olympic style weightlifting shoe available w/ a smaller .5" heel:
I may try a pair out but $115 is a big chunk of change to drop when I already have a functional pair of oly shoes w/ 1.25" heel.
I’m still curious to see how the smaller heel would work for squats and deads when I’m accustomed to a much bigger one.
I would love a pair of Rippetoe’s shoes. My VS are way too much heel for me, but I can’t justify dropping that kind of cash.
What do you consider narrow to moderate? Shoulder-width, or just a bit outside shoulder-width, is moderate, yeah?
Thanks all for the advice. I think I’ll get thru the meet next month and start experimenting with some lifting shoes afterwards. Don’t want to introduce something new this close to a meet.
I remenber some time ago that big squatters were all wearing heavy work boots. Has that gone ‘out of fashion’??
Lift large!!
[quote]steveprez wrote:
I remenber some time ago that big squatters were all wearing heavy work boots. Has that gone ‘out of fashion’??
Lift large!![/quote]
Depends on the Fed, some specify an indoor athletic shoe in some anything goes…
Vans, the soles are flatter than chucks. There’s more surface area of your foot in contact with the ground. The material is basically the same as chucks in the sense that you can roll onto the outside of your foot with barely any resistance from the shoe.
Or instead of worrying about what shoe to use, you could go get really fucking strong and then it won’t matter.
[quote]StormTheBeach wrote:Or instead of worrying about what shoe to use, you could go get really fucking strong and then it won’t matter.[/quote]No thanks! I was expecting that I could add about 100 pounds to my squat with a new pair of shoes. But thanks for your comment anyway. It always brightens my day when dumb people make snide remarks.
lol…I find the oly shoes gives more quad recruitment because I do an olympic style squat when I wear oly shoes…when I wear flat shoes I really try to sit back and hammer posterior chain. I’m pretty much the same for my squat strength both ways so I don’t think it really matters…just whatever is more comfortable.
both shoes are good…for your sake I would just invest in any shoe right now that you will feel STABLE in. I was squatting in regular shoes and it wasn’t very stable. When I put my oly shoes on the first time and squatted it was incredibly stable and I could REALLY tell a difference. I feel stable with flat shoes as well obviously…I think that’s an important part.
If I were you I’d buy some oly shoes, they are quite nice to squat in and you don’t always have to squat in them you can change it up!
Thanks, Rasturai! I think I will get a pair of the Oly shoes. Stability was what I was most interested in when I started this thread.
[quote]steveprez wrote:
Well StormTheBeach I have to partially agree, I think to many people worry about the small things looking for a magical solution to lift more weights. However it does matter unless you only squat like 300lbs, which I’m hoping you don’t but I don’t know, in fact I would say that the more you lift the more it does matter.
Anyway, I know oly shoes and chucks were mentioned but I didn’t see wrestling shoes. I have a pair of oly shoes but don’t really care for them, and nobody should ever squat in running shoes, it’s horrible, I don’t even warm up in my running shoes anymore because you can’t get any drive to the ground, you just sink in your shoes. But back on track, I love squatting and deadlifting in my wrestling shoes, I am a wide stance raw squatter and even wider with my equipped work. I can use them with a narrow stance and it works fine(but you may have to work on hip flexibility), and have never had a problem with stability. That is what I use and think my numbers in my training log are are more than adequate for me to make that recomendation, but it does all come down to personal preference.
Adidas makes a shoe like a chuck but with a wider toe and a cupped heel… heavier material too… work great for me.
skateboard shoes work well too… the high-top kind…
just go try a few on and see hat feel you like best…
I like Adidas. Chucks are good if you’re after a cheaper option but if you’re looking to compete then I recommend on spending a little extra.