Benefits of Olympic Lifting Shoes
Written by Cody Burgener
Olympic weightlifting shoes are not just any ordinary shoe. There is a purpose for their unusual design and sleek look. Some of the shoe features that are different from other shoes are a hard, flat sole, an elevated heel, straps, and a snug fit around your foot. The best thing about the olympic shoe is that it increases your hip and ankle flexibility which help you get lower in a squat. In this blog post, I will highlight the benefits of each feature of the shoe.
Let’s first talk about the hard, flat sole of the shoe. Back in the day these soles actually used to be made of wood, but lately companies have been steering towards a hard plastic sole. The reason for these hard, flat soles is to get as much force off the ground as you can. Some exercises that benefit from the amount of force you get from the ground are squats, snatch, clean, and jerk. When you wear regular shoes, you will notice that most of their soles are slightly squishy, so that means instead of getting 100% of the force of the ground, you are only going to get about 90% (give or take a little).
The elevated heel is the game changer portion of the shoe. Have you even noticed how much easier it is to squat with a raised heel? You can get deeper, knees stay out, and your ankle flexibility is amazing. That is what the elevated heel does for your squat. People who have tight ankles and hips will see a huge improvement in their ability to squat while wearing Oly shoes. If you don’t believe it, put 5 lb plates underneath your heels, and you will notice the difference.
The last quality about the olympic lifting shoes are the straps which help give the snug fit feeling. In the olympic lifts and squats, you don’t want your foot to be slipping around inside the shoes. You want your feet to be in a nice, secure stable position.
Now, which shoe should you buy? All weightlifting shoes serve the same purposes I’ve stated above, now it is just finding what pair is comfortable and works for you. Everyone has different preferences, so you might swing and miss a couple time before you find the cinderella shoe. Some brands of shoes that I personally like or have heard good things about are Reebok, Risto, Nike, Adidas, Do-Win, and VS athletics. If you have a favorite shoe, please tell us what it is and why in the comments below.
This is awesome. I love squatting and improving my Olympic weightlifting. This site helped me find screaming deals https://advancedweightlifting.com/blogs/weightlifting/best-olympic-weightlifting-shoes-2018 on weightlifting shoes
I bought my first-ever pair of Air Jordan’s online but didn’t realize it would have an elevated heel like this. I’m a bit nervous about trying it, as I’m not yet convinced it’ll enhance my squats and I’m worried it’ll instead make my current heavy-weight squats harder, but I’m going to try it anyway this Tuesday. I would have tried it today but I had to workout at another gym, and I didn’t want to risk embarrassing myself around people I’m not familiar with.
Anyway. Thanks for the information.
Pro-tip: do your squats barefoot or with flat, workout shoes. This self-hating clown over here doing his squats in Jordans. How much you packin, bro? There’s no way you like girls with that attitude or those shiny lips.
Can I wear lifting shoes outside of lifting?
That is the dumbest question I have ever read regarding squat shoes.
Very helpful. Since I got my oly shoes I’ve been able to lift more weight with BETTER form. Another article I read at http://bestliftingshoes.org/articles/top-3-oly-shoes/ was good for helping me choose the Adipowers, highly recommend that shoe if you are into lifting.
Hi Cody. thanks for the article man. I have been lifting in Nano 4.0s for a long time and hadnt really considered olympic lifters, but settled on the Reebok lifters 2.0 plus. This also helped me as well as another resource- https://sites.google.com/site/crossfitshoereviews Cheers Cody and WOD on man!
My favorite ones are the old school Russian Olympic weightlifting shoes. Real leather too 🙂 Found them on ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171966848329?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649
Great read – some people really don’t bother to use them to improve their lifting, not just from a performance perspective but also for better form and saftey. Thanks. http://www.weightliftingfootwear.com/what-are-weight-lifting-shoes/
People underestimate the value of weightlifting shoes, often labeling them as non-necessities, but truly they are the difference in increasing your squat or deadlifts and just maintaining status quo. Mental intensity and focus is an absolute as well: http://www.bestweightliftingshoes.org/mental-intensity-the-key-to-a-great-workout/
Barefoot. We’re designed to lug carcasses through brush wearing nothing. If I can dead lift and squat 200 kilos barefoot I’m very unlikely to spend my hard earned cash on something which compensates for natural movement.
we’re designed to do many things, wearing a weightlifting shoes it’s not like cheating, it’s more like helping yourself in getting a good movement pattern and stability overall
Since I posted my last comment I will admit I was wrong. Snatches and overheads squats are movements which will greatly improves wearing lifting shoes. Just to raise the heel a little. This helps movement patterns through hips and ankles massively. Allowing to get deeper into the squat.
Yes, they’re designed for that. Also to mention the enhanced dorsiflexion caused by the heel (really helpful when it comes to get your trunk stable).
The only cons it is the price, really overpriced shoes in my opinion.
I love my new red adidas oly shoes for all lifting movements. like the reebok oly shoes when the wod requires them.
I have the Adidas shown above. Ive had them for about 8 mnths now and they were my first pair of weight lifting shoes. I love them. They have a snug fit and are light enough to be used while doing T2B, Pull ups, HSPU, etc. They also feel extremely stable while lifting. Much more than the Reeboks but i will say the Nike feel much more stable but are much heavier.
I think we should try to match the show to the person! they always have those games in the celebrity magazines:-) On a serious note I could use some hip/ankle flexibility!
I was thinking the same thing!
I have a pair of size 8 (men’s) dark blue Pendlay/Do-win lifting shoes for sale. They’re in great shape! If anyone is interested, email me or hit me up on facebook.
[email protected]
This is gonna be my birthday present to myself. now to find which is best for me…
Kyle, one thing that is really cool about Risto is that all shoes are hand made in fair trade conditions. The company takes pride in their craftsmanship and their customer service is insanely good. You might check them out.
Thanks for the heads up CJ! I’m checking them out now and I like what I’m seeing. I’m gonna look into it further. Thanks again!
I’m about to post a review of the new Olimpico model on the http://wlshoes.com website. I won’t go into the details here but I’m fairly impressed with it. Hopefully Risto can makeup for their often lacking customer service with a great shoe design. Speaking of, does anyone have any information on the Inov-8s? They were suppose to send me a T&E pair after the games but I guess they forgot. Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Ristos, the Coach Burgener Model.