Are Weightlifting Shoes Worth It?
Q: Are weightlifting shoes worth it, especially for squats? I just saw a video of Tom Platz saying that the reason why he’s widely regarded as having the best legs in bodybuilding history is because he squatted with his heels elevated in weightlifting shoes. I don’t know about you, but that seems legit to me that much of the success for the development of his quads was owed to his choice of shoes and not his high-volume training style or the shitload of steroids he was shooting himself up with!
A: Weightlifting shoes are different in appearance and function from flat-soled training shoes due to their raised heel design, which provides greater support, stability, and force production. It’s for these reasons that weightlifting shoes are typically associated with squats but can be used for a variety of Olympic lifts, like the snatch, clean and jerk, push press, and barbell thruster.
As for why weightlifting shoes are popular for squats, elevation of the back foot reduces ankle flexion, which increases the ankle range of motion and allows for the achievement of a deeper squat than would be possible by someone with limited ankle mobility. Another way that weightlifting shoes improve squat form so more benefit is derived from the movement is that raising the heel also helps keep the torso more erect when appropriate depth is reached. These changes in the mechanics of the squat make weightlifting shoes the footwear of choice for that exercise in general but when it comes to targeting the quads in particular, squatting deeper and with a more upright trunk increases knee flexion that activates the muscles around the joint and makes them have to contract harder as you ascend from the hole, or bottom of the squat, to the starting position.
As opposed to flat shoes that shift more of the load to the posterior chain of the legs when squatting, the elevated heels of weightlifting shoes shift the load to the quadriceps. So in that regard, weightlifting shoes are worth it.
Weightlifting shoes are clearly beneficial for squats, especially if you want to engage your quads more effectively. That said that weightlifting shoes have a constructive purpose for quad growth, they’re not necessarily a necessity, as you can get just as good training results by squatting with your feet level to the ground.
Elevating your heels while squatting offers advantages but doing so isn’t going to make or break your quadriceps development. More of that is centered on your exercise selection, lifting form and technique, training volume and frequency, and application of progressive overload. It’s when those variables are squared away and you want to maximize your squats or anatomical issues make it difficult to squat properly that it might make sense to invest in weightlifting shoes or mimic their effect by squatting with small weight plates beneath your heels.
Now, does anyone else have a fitness or nutrition question of their own that they want to ask?
Glossary: barbell, bodybuilding, exercise, exercise frequency, fitness, frequency, lifting form, muscle, nutrition, results, squat, squats, steroids, train
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