Guide to Olympic Weightlifting and Training
Why We Strength Train With Weightlifting Shoes
Ever thought about the shoes that you wear to the gym? Of course you have. Most likely you have shoes set aside for the express purpose of exercise use at your favorite health club or lifting facility. And what prompted you to select this specific footwear to be used to exercise? Shoes best suited for lifting? Performance enhancement? Exercise safety? Probably none of the above. The prevailing reason for the selection of specific gym shoes is appearance. This is a problem if your training includes any free weights at all. Most people would not consider a designer shoe to be appropriate for a racquetball game. These type of shoes are worn for appearance, not for enhanced athletic performance. Yet many people will not hesitate to wear jogging shoes to a weight training session at the local health club, and then start in on a weight lifting routine.
Proper footwear in the gym is important, especially if you are lifting free weights. In a weightlifting session we are seeking to accomplish two things:1.) The Harnessing of all body power for a concerted power explosion; 2.) Moving the intended weight to its destination without excessive risk of serious injury. If we lift in a running shoe, it's akin to trying to lift while standing on a giant marshmallow. The soles of the running shoes, the marshmallow, will absorb and dissipate a large amount of the force generated against the floor that should be directed towards moving the weight. A gel, or air cell shoe, is a marvelous tool for alleviating the constant pounding and trauma generally associated with jogging or running. But in the weight room, shoes should provide for the efficient transmission of power between the bar and the ground. it is tough to elevate huge weights with improper lifting shoes.
Click here for more interesting articles on weight training equipment including shoes.
The second issue is control of the weight - and your body - while standing on an unstable surface. A buffer which is in between your feet and the floor will not move in a reliable fashion each time, adversely affecting the lift. This means that the subtle points of consistent good technique on any standing exercise are impossible to control. Because of the inconsistent surface, the probability of a weight lifting mishap and serious injury increases exponentially due to the difficulty in obtaining a good balance position.
All weight athletes have been aware of the need for balance for many years, despite the fact that the repertoire of available shoes was very small. Until thirty years ago, all types of shoes were worn in weightlifting sessions, including Chuck Taylor's, combat boots, and even patent leather shoes, worn by lifting icon Paul Anderson. For maximum performance and stability, a weightlifting shoe must fit tightly and have a strong backing, with a solid wedge type bottom to create the required traction for heavy weight lifting. Generally the best models will feature a full lace down the entire shoe to accomodate varying sizes with an additional attachment across the top of the foot for better balance. When Adidas from Germany and Kahru of Finland became available on a limited basis in the US, weightlifters finally had the opportunity to use equipment specifically designed for their activity. While these shoes were not pleasing to the eye because of their unsightly appearance, lifters didn't care because they were happy with their functionality.
But there was a scheduling problem: the gym and fitness club industry had just been revolutionized by the simultaneously-evolving exercise machine industry. Having removed the factors of balance, coordination, and technique from the equation, exercise machines temporarily sidelined the development of weight training shoes. Over the past two decades, free weights and the benefits of their use have crept back into gyms and fitness clubs everywhere. The need for weightlifting shoes re-emerged without a supply beyond the stalwart Adidas corporation's Power Perfect, Equipment, and Adistar models. Competitors such as Nike started entering the fitness market with a variety of lifting shoes. In addition, overseas and Canadian companies starting putting out a shoe to compete for the lifting niche, in addition to the U.S. company Safe-USA, which made a serious attempt to acquire market share. All these companies offer shoes that are designed for competitive weightlifting or powerlifting, but that are good for all basic lifts, especially the squat, given their exemplary support and incompressible heel design. A variety of power lifting shoes with essentially flat soles and no heel lift, much like track flats or wrestling shoes, are also available from powerlifting equipment houses like Inzer (USA), and also work for basic exercise purposes. These shoes are less suited for squatting, since they require that you have better than average flexibility to squat in them, but they are excellent for floor work and standing exercises.
Is this just another pair of shoes to purchase? Does the cost justify it? Yes. Effective training yields superior results. Correct lifting prevents serious injuries. The logic is inescapable. For as little as $40 for a pair of old-school Chuck Taylor's or as much as $170 for the state of the art Adidas shoe, you can have the right shoe for the right job. You can find the best deals on weightlifting shoes here.The right shoe is important for performance and safety, and for as little as half the cost of a premium running shoe, you can look and lift like a pro.
Proper footwear in the gym is important, especially if you are lifting free weights. In a weightlifting session we are seeking to accomplish two things:1.) The Harnessing of all body power for a concerted power explosion; 2.) Moving the intended weight to its destination without excessive risk of serious injury. If we lift in a running shoe, it's akin to trying to lift while standing on a giant marshmallow. The soles of the running shoes, the marshmallow, will absorb and dissipate a large amount of the force generated against the floor that should be directed towards moving the weight. A gel, or air cell shoe, is a marvelous tool for alleviating the constant pounding and trauma generally associated with jogging or running. But in the weight room, shoes should provide for the efficient transmission of power between the bar and the ground. it is tough to elevate huge weights with improper lifting shoes.
Click here for more interesting articles on weight training equipment including shoes.
The second issue is control of the weight - and your body - while standing on an unstable surface. A buffer which is in between your feet and the floor will not move in a reliable fashion each time, adversely affecting the lift. This means that the subtle points of consistent good technique on any standing exercise are impossible to control. Because of the inconsistent surface, the probability of a weight lifting mishap and serious injury increases exponentially due to the difficulty in obtaining a good balance position.
All weight athletes have been aware of the need for balance for many years, despite the fact that the repertoire of available shoes was very small. Until thirty years ago, all types of shoes were worn in weightlifting sessions, including Chuck Taylor's, combat boots, and even patent leather shoes, worn by lifting icon Paul Anderson. For maximum performance and stability, a weightlifting shoe must fit tightly and have a strong backing, with a solid wedge type bottom to create the required traction for heavy weight lifting. Generally the best models will feature a full lace down the entire shoe to accomodate varying sizes with an additional attachment across the top of the foot for better balance. When Adidas from Germany and Kahru of Finland became available on a limited basis in the US, weightlifters finally had the opportunity to use equipment specifically designed for their activity. While these shoes were not pleasing to the eye because of their unsightly appearance, lifters didn't care because they were happy with their functionality.
But there was a scheduling problem: the gym and fitness club industry had just been revolutionized by the simultaneously-evolving exercise machine industry. Having removed the factors of balance, coordination, and technique from the equation, exercise machines temporarily sidelined the development of weight training shoes. Over the past two decades, free weights and the benefits of their use have crept back into gyms and fitness clubs everywhere. The need for weightlifting shoes re-emerged without a supply beyond the stalwart Adidas corporation's Power Perfect, Equipment, and Adistar models. Competitors such as Nike started entering the fitness market with a variety of lifting shoes. In addition, overseas and Canadian companies starting putting out a shoe to compete for the lifting niche, in addition to the U.S. company Safe-USA, which made a serious attempt to acquire market share. All these companies offer shoes that are designed for competitive weightlifting or powerlifting, but that are good for all basic lifts, especially the squat, given their exemplary support and incompressible heel design. A variety of power lifting shoes with essentially flat soles and no heel lift, much like track flats or wrestling shoes, are also available from powerlifting equipment houses like Inzer (USA), and also work for basic exercise purposes. These shoes are less suited for squatting, since they require that you have better than average flexibility to squat in them, but they are excellent for floor work and standing exercises.
Is this just another pair of shoes to purchase? Does the cost justify it? Yes. Effective training yields superior results. Correct lifting prevents serious injuries. The logic is inescapable. For as little as $40 for a pair of old-school Chuck Taylor's or as much as $170 for the state of the art Adidas shoe, you can have the right shoe for the right job. You can find the best deals on weightlifting shoes here.The right shoe is important for performance and safety, and for as little as half the cost of a premium running shoe, you can look and lift like a pro.
Pendlay Weightlifting Shoes
