What Are The Best Lifting Shoes for Squats & Deadlifts?
Jun 17th, 2007 by Mehdi Posted in Gym Equipment
One reader contacted me with the following question:
“Hello Mehdi. I started strength training 3 months ago. Progress is good so far. But I have a question. What shoes do you recommend for Squats & Deadlifts?
Lifting. A good pair of lifting shoes is important. Lifting shoes should:
- Allow optimal power transfer.
- Increase stability.
- Facilitate ankle mobility.
Sole Compressibility. The sole of your lifting shoes should be non compressible. Any shoe which has air or gel filling is not a good choice.
The best example is running shoes. Running shoes have a compressible sole, which will impair power transfer & stability.
Recommend Lifting shoes. I use Converse Chuck Taylor All Star. They are cheap & efficient. Low top style is better for ankle mobility. I have a high top model & leave the upper part unlaced.
For weightlifting, shoes with an elevated heel will be a better choice. They increase stability when going very low during the catch phase.
If nothing else, you can always go barefoot.
chucks are THE best… great advice
yeah, i’ve been hearing the chuck taylor’s thing everywhere, guess it’s time for me to pick up a pair then. heh.
Chuck’s are definitely the best. For olympic lifts, chuck’s don’t work very well because there’s no heel. But for everything else: go for heels.
Thanks for the comment Jay & Thryah.
Im currently using my old nike crosstrainers for all of the weightlifting.
Think im gonna try bearfoot for a while and see how it goes.
Definitely drop the crosstrainers, pens.
Try barefoot & consider chuck taylor’s.
Last week i bought some chuck taylors @ footlocker in Enschede
low top style, there very nice for training. Thanks for the tip.
No problem pens. Be sure to recommend the article others
Chuck Taylor’s for deads are great, but there is something about doing the lift in socks or barefoot. Primal, I guess!
After 30 years in both powerlifting and Olympic Weightlifting, I have to say that there is no finer weightlifting shoe than The Addistar weightlifting. Chucks are fine for deadlifts, because they bring you lower to the ground. It amazes me how many lifters will spend obscene amounts of money on supplements, but little to nothing on the most important piece of lifting gear: the shoe.
Purpose built weightlifting shoes (I owned a few pairs over the years) provide near optimal heel angle for squatting (and Olympic lifts). These shoes have been improving drastically in recent years. Consider them an investment not an expense, you will handle better weights in the squat with less chance of chronic knee injury. The deadlift is a different animal altogether, many fine lifters will use ballet slippers (bare feet are not allowed in competition) or a very flat shoe (such as the Chuck’s) to provide a close to barefoot feel on the platform. Cheers.
I do not recommend lifting in bare feet, as depicted in the photo above. The lifter is David Rigert, possibly the greatest technical weightlifter of all time (and presently Russia’s national coach). Apparently, this photo was taken the day after he won the world championships and he was showing off. Do not try this at home kids, this man is the ultimate professional.
I was very curious about lifting shoes, so thanks a ton for writing this post Mehdi. Keep the quality posts up
I’m a huge fan of your site