shoes. get them.

Watching people do the olympic lifts in running shoes, sandals, high heels, whatever you people are wearing these days hurts my soul. This is like watching soccer players run into a game in their tennis shoes. Or tennis players running onto the court in soccer shoes. Or runners going for a run in olympic lifting shoes! Hopefully you get the point. The shoes exist for a reason. They work. I have heard the argument, "I'm not good enough at the lifts to justify buying the shoes!" Well guess what, you will never be great at the lifts WITHOUT the shoes. You might have the technique down, sure, but you are limiting your abilities and even flirting with injury. Doing a clean in running shoes is like standing on a pillow and being asked to clean.

What's that? You don't want to listen to me? Well then, take it away, VS athletics narrator guy:



One thing the video doesn't mention is the raised heel. The heel height varies a little in certain shoes, but the purpose of the heel is to make the bottom position of an olympic-style squat (upright torso, think receiving position of clean/snatch) easier to obtain. The raised heel lessens the need for ankle mobility to comfortably get in that position. It is absolutely possible to achieve good bottom positioning without a raised heel, but it's certainly easier with it. Why not take that advantage?

These are helpful not just for our heavy lifting, but also for any metcon where there is lifting and no running or box jumps. This is quite a few, actually.

You can't buy these shoes at Wal-Mart or Sports Authority, however. Unless you have a kickass gym supplier in the area, you are more than likely forced to order them online. Don't worry, here are a few of the places that sell the shoes:

http://vsathletics.com/

http://www.againfaster.com/weightlifting-shoes/

http://www.dynamic-eleiko.com/products/shoesFR.html (Adidas, and my personal preference)

http://www.ristosports.com/ (handmade and customizable)

http://www.roguefitness.com/store/weightlifting_shoes.php (Keith has some of these if you want to check them out)

http://www.muscledriverusa.com/wesh.html

If you can't find a shoe after all those links, you're hopeless. There are subtle differences between the different shoe brands (sizing, heel, firmness of sole), so if you have a specific question, I might be able to answer it, but probably not. I'm helpful like that.

UPDATE: Ryan asked a good question in the comments, here is my reponse:

Good question, Ryan. I wouldn't recommend maxing your back squat in them or even doing any of the strength work in them, but there are definitely shoes that are "better" for cf. The common themes are mostly minimalist shoes, low profile, not much cushioning, light weight, flat soles. Here are a few options:

Chuck's are the default and work great: http://www.converse.com/#/products/collections/specialcollection7 (the only reason I don't wear these is because my feet are entirely too wide for them)

http://store.dcshoes.com/home/index.jsp (Skate shoes work well because of the flat sole and they are designed to help you "feel" the ground)

http://www.terraplana.com/evo-p-1263.html?colour=76 (these are on the extreme end. a lot like "five fingers, but without the ninja turtle toes)

http://inov-8.com/Products-Detail.asp?PG=PG1&L=27&P=5050973060

http://inov-8.com/Products-Detail.asp?PG=PG1&P=5050973021&L=27 (my current choice)

http://inov-8.com/Products-Detail.asp?PG=PG1&P=5050973023&L=27

http://www.adidas.com/campaigns/performance/ru_ss10/content/products.aspx#grid (I have used Adizero's quite a bit and love them)