Squat shoes for a newbie

[ironman1984]

Hey guys,

I have my first meet soon and I squat in a pair of old skate sneakers. I'm about 6'4 and a low bar squatter with a very slightly wider than shoulder width stance.

I think its about time for me to invest in proper footwear. What shoes do you recommend and where can I get them?

I've looked at adidas, do-win's and safe squat shoes.

[Rustang]

chuck taylors ... the best squating shoes out there.

great outside foot support.

[Talo]

Agree.

[tiramisu]

I am extremely happy with my blue suede shoes.

http://www.weightliftingshoes.ca/

I used chucks before and for squatting, squat shoes are a definite improvement for me. The wedge allows me to go deeper with a less wide stance.

Chucks are better for the deadlift.

[L3]

ive been going in socks...loving it so far

[_Ragnar_]

barefoot for this guy

[ironman1984]

Chucks are more suited for a wide stance squat i've found. The shoes I have now are teh same flat bottom and are reasonably stiff.

I thought the blue suede shoes had a high heel on them, higher than most powerlifting shoes.

[tiramisu]

Chucks are more suited for a wide stance squat i've found. The shoes I have now are teh same flat bottom and are reasonably stiff.

I thought the blue suede shoes had a high heel on them, higher than most powerlifting shoes.

The blue suede shoes are olympic lifting shoes. Same wedge as the chinese do-wins. I'm not sure what a "powerlifting shoe" is other than a pair of chucks or maybe deadlift slippers.

The wedge definitely helps with a bodybuilding or halfway between a powerlifting/bodybuilding squat. I low bar squat with a medium width stance. What also helps is that it's made out of wood and completely stable. I find even the chucks are a little squishy once you put some weight on your back.

[Rhinobolt10]

If you squat close weightlifting shoes are the way to go, end of story. The hell allows for greater hip flexibility making depth easier to get to, and just in general make things smoother and better.

If you're going wide, Chucks are the best.

Now, there are exceptions to every rule, I've seen lots of guys squat close with chucks, and I've seen my buddy squat wide with a heel, and he's likely gonna crack the top 10 of all time squats in May.

Just don't wear running shoes.

I'm wearing a pair of blue dowins right now, I had a white pair with a massive heel that was a bit too much, the blue ones have less of a heel and my first time wearing them I hit a 27 pound pr... so they were keepers. The blue do wins go for 125 bucks which I believe include shipping.

[TommyG]

I recently switch to chucks from old skate shoes and they are definelty an improvement. Inexpensive too, which is a bonus.

[ironman1984]

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the replys. I'm not going with chucks, if i'm going to spend any money, its going to be on a pair of squat shoes i hope that can last a lifetime. I'm not planning on changing my stance now, i've gotten used to it and I feel comfortable.

How high are the do-wins rhino? Also, what side did you get them from? Also, do you squat low bar or high bar?

[JifeLacket]

I got some olympic lifting shoes from toronto, they are suuuper nice BUT thet make you a little more quad dominant and that is giving me problems with my knees right now (im growing AGAIN). I would highly recommend them for oly lifts/close stance squats. The heel is a bit too aggressive for me.. its almost a 2" raise with the insole.. I am going to take some of the heel down in the shop though.

For deads i went barefoot today (socks) and there was a noticeable improvement leverage wise. I am going to squat barefoot/flat sole until my knees stop acting up.