The Best Weightlifting Shoes, Recommended by Expert Lifters
If there’s one way you can tell the difference between a gym novice and a serious weightlifter, it’s not by looking at their muscles, but instead by looking at their feet. More specifically, by looking at their weightlifting shoes. While most beginners in the gym adorn an old pair of trainers, Converse or tennis shoes (it’s a learning curve, after all), some veterans of the gym floor have graduated to something more serious for their choice of workout wheels — lifting shoes.
They’re not as basic as Vans, nor as multi-functional as the Nike Metcon series, but can nevertheless offer a serious boost when utilised correctly. Chances are, you’ve seen weightlifting shoes before — on the feet of Olympic weightlifters, at the CrossFit Sanctionals, or even under the feet of a powerlifter grinding through reps at your local squat rack.
To help you find the perfect pair, we spoke to two expert trainers to find out everything you need to know about weightlifting shoes, including safety, affordability, style and the most suitable workouts to perform in them.
What Are Weightlifting Shoes?
In short, weightlifting shoes are exactly that — shoes designed solely for weightlifting. Created specifically to make compound and olympic lifts (that’s anything from barbell snatches to deadlifts and squats) safer and more reliable, they are deliberately manufactured with support, injury prevention and anchoring in mind.
As gym wear goes, weightlifting shoes aren’t the prettiest. They’re stiff, aggressive and designed with function in mind over anything else, with a wider toe box than regular shoes to help spread your toes for a better distribution of weight. But if you really care about your lifts, then this won’t be an issue.
The majority of brands have their own steer on weightlifting shoes. Nike, Adidas, Reebok (and more) all provide some of the best weightlifting shoes on the market and, further down in this article, we’ll walk you through each pair that get the coveted Men’s Health seal of approval, alongside each of our experts’ choices.
Do Weightlifting Shoes Make a Difference?
There's a good reason why weightlifting shoes are so popular. While multi-purpose trainers will take you from the treadmill to cable machine in relative comfort, the material they are made from could be detrimental to you hitting your next PB under a barbell.
For example, the soft soles can ‘sap’ the energy return from the base of your sole (this is crucial for driving force upwards from the ground), and can create ankle instability from poor weight distribution, putting you at risk of something far worse than a strength plateau — an injury. Which is where a pair of good quality, reliable weightlifting shoes comes into play.
However, it’s important to know if a pair of weightlifting shoes deserve a place in your gym bag. As Mark Ireland, British Weightlifting L2 and CrossFit Level 2 Coach at Tribe London explains, before buying your first pair, it’s important to understand why people use lifters. ‘They are not some magical fix that will help you Squat Snatch 200kg,’ he explains, ‘but rather a tool which, when used correctly, can help aid your Olympic and other lifts’.
Powerlifter and strength coach Sebastian Oreb agrees, explaining that the first thing for people to realise is why they need them and how they correlate with certain training styles. ‘Lifters are actually designed for the sport of weightlifting, also known as Olympic lifting,’ he says. ‘But, many people consider these shoes to be designed for squatting. They are great for squatting, but so are flat soled shoes, so it really depends on what you’re trying to achieve.’
The Benefits of Weightlifting Shoes
When it comes to PB-ing your lifts, weightlifting shoes aren't a magic potion – however, there’s plenty of benefits that can be had. ‘I have seen improvements in many athletes because lifting shoes can often put them into better positions within certain stages of the lifts,’ says Ireland, ‘which leads to an increase in strength and technique over time.’
Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the differences between regular trainers and weightlifting shoes and the benefits that they bring.
Heels
Let’s start with the heels. The standard elevation for most pairs of lifting shoes is 0.75” — that’s three-quarters of an inch — from the ground, which is suitable for most powerlifting styles, from narrow to wide stance and long legs or long femurs to short legs or short femurs. Elevation can vary between 0.3” to 1” off the ground.
Essentially, by raising the heel, the user can ‘sit down into the bottom position of a squat’, says Ireland, helping drive force while maintaining stability and mobility through the lift’s range of motion, eliminating any restriction from ankles and hips. Typically, heels in modern lifting shoes are made with EVA or TPU, two extremely tough plastics that are both lightweight and durable. Slightly older styles often use wood or stacked leather.
Fastening
Even the fastening system on weightlifting shoes has a role to play. Some weightlifting shoes have thick velcro straps, while others have multi-strap fastenings for a secure fit. Some models also feature BOA lacing, which essentially use stainless steel wires to fasten. Each lifter will have a preference over what fastening style they prefer, however single straps are favoured by most.
Science
Aside from design, what does science say about weightlifting shoes? A study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that, when focusing on the ‘kinematic’ effects (mechanics concerned with moving objects) of weightlifting shoes during a barbell back squat, the weightlifting shoes helped promote mobility, reduce forward lean and improve ‘knee extensor activation’.
The Downsides of Lifting Shoes
Weightlifting shoes can come at a hefty price, so it’s important to recognise that when it comes to lifters, you should only part with your cash if you really want to and they’re suitable for the type of exercise you intend to do in them.
For example, cross-training ‘hybrid’ shoes, like the Nike Metcon series or Reebok Nano collection, are seriously popular all-purpose trainers. Featuring a similar flat platform for lifts, but with a more flexible silhouette, they are better suited to functional training than weightlifting shoes, which can do little else but support you during a compound or Olympic move.
Weightlifting shoes aren’t suitable for plyometric exercises (such as box jumps and lateral bounds), sprinting or conditioning work, either. Which means if you’re a CrossFit guy, or just like to switch up your training, lifting shoes may not be for you. ‘They are designed mainly to keep a flat and stable base and not bend too much – this could cause some discomfort to the arch in your foot. Stick to using them for lifting and definitely flick them for the burpees,’ says Ireland.
For Oreb, it’s important that a potential buyer of weightlifting shoes recognises the difference between the shoes that are currently on the market. ‘They are heavy and rigid which is great for weightlifting movements, [such as the] clean and jerk, snatch and squatting, but for more dynamic movements where running around is required, they are just not suitable.’
How Much To Spend on Your Weightlifting Shoes
‘Lifting shoes can range anywhere from £50-£300’, says Ireland, with the price tag usually determined by what material is used on the outer and base of the shoe. ‘This is where personal preference may come into play as to the feel and look of the shoe you are after,’ he says.
There are several other factors to consider, too. How frequently will you be using your new weightlifting shoes? How often do you spend working through Olympic lifts and have you done it before? ‘The best on the market are about $250 AUD (£130),’ says Oreb. ‘It may seem expensive, but you just have to buy one pair and they can last you forever. If this is out of your budget, all of the leading brands sell great weightlifting shoes for half this amount.’
The Best Weightlifting Shoes
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