At first glance i would probably not recommend those with a caveat. When I mention “soft sole”, I would visually think of it this way. When you come up from your squat, you do not want the cushioning on the shoe to compress. Which is why I prefer (my preference, to each their own) wrestling shoes, there is essentially no cushion. If you watch someone in running shoes squat, you will likely actually see this happen. That being said, it is all relative. If you weigh 100lbs and squat 200lbs, you may not see much compression in some shoes. If you weight 200lbs and squat 800lbs, you have much different needs. As someone else mentioned, try them out since you have them. If you feel them compress or you feel a little unstable coming up out of the squat, I would probably just use those for non-squat days and stay with your chucks. If you have the means, you could buy a pair of oly shoes for the sake of having options but honestly I wouldn’t worry about it right now and just squat.
I agree with bulldog on all of this. I don’t really do direct ab work and haven’t ever since I stopped running track. I primarily just used a SSB bar or spider bar with certain reverse band setups and boxes to work on my trunk strength. Essentially I use my squat work to try to get me to fail at keeping a neutral back. I get my ab work by really working on stabilizing my core to the point my back will stay neutral and not break/cave/bend. I would not recommend this for most folks and would stick to what bulldog posted. I do strongly recommend using an SSB or spider bar if you have access to one though. If you look at buying one just keep in mind all SSB’s are not created equal. In order of recommendation for the ones I’ve used: elitefts then Rogue then Titan. I like the idea of the Kabuki one but there is a lot of variation that most may not need.
Got it thanks! What are your thoughts, then, on staying in my converse but elevating my heels with either plates or one of those squat wedges?
Ultimately I just need to try it out lol. Plan to tomorrow.
Had you tried the second gen Titan? I was originally with you, but the Titan v2 is a total rip-off of the EliteFTS yoke - feels the exact same now.
You can make squat wedges cheaply and easily by using a handsaw to make a diagonal cut on the larger side face (not the biggest face that rests on the ground) of a yoga block. Cheap, light, easily portable and (surprisingly) barely compresses even when I stand on them doing 500 pound deadlifts or Smith squats.
You could also cut a yoga block horizontally to make steps for deficit deadlifts. These are big timesavers for when actual squat shoes are not required, and are more comfortable, supportive and elevated than plates.
Creative! Thanks for the ideas!
I would ask why do you want to elevate your heels (rhetorical, no need to answer)? Try it and see how it feels. Trying different things will help you figure out exercises you like and how your body responds to it. Just make sure you have an explicit reason for doing whatever exercise you are doing. example: I’m doing X thing in order to focus on quad work because I need extra quad work.
Are you referring to the TITAN series SSB? I have not tried it but it does look better than the original one. If I get the opportunity I’ll have to try it.
I think so. Definitely give it a shot if you get a chance. It feels better than Rogue’s to me.
Alrighty. I tried elevating my heels both via shoes and via a squat wedge that my gym has. Did this for about 2 weeks to get the feel for it. I did feel a bit more unstable compared to using my converse. This could just be because I’m still relatively not accustomed to it, but overall, I think I prefer my converse. The reason I wanted to try elevating my heels in the first place was to help prevent my torso from tipping forward towards the end of my sets. And elevating my heels did help a bit for this, but the overall feeling didn’t feel as natural. And I get that sometimes squatting with heavier weight isn’t meant to feel “natural” , but ultimately my converse feel safer to me. Thank you to everyone who commented and gave suggestions!
It was definitely worth experimenting with it.
This was/is a great topic. I added a pic to share on socials.
I’ve been experimenting with a set of squat wedges recently for heel elevation, I think my anthropometry is such that I have more trouble hitting depth and consequently I’ve really benefitted from starting to use them. My torso also feels much better throughout the entire range of motion as well. I have noticed that now that I can hit proper depth I’m stripping a bunch of weight off my working sets and maxes but the benefits of doing things better with heel elevation is worth it.
Not trying to discount your opinions or experience, just offering a different perspective or the thread since I realized I’ve been following it all this time and haven’t posted here yet lol.