The Bench Press: Flat Bottomed Shoes VS. Ones With Heels

[guss]

Question: Eric, Does the Tendo data basically tell you that it doesn't make any difference whether you squat in heels or not? The numbers seem close to each other and are probably within experimental error (?).

Answer:

Interestingly, it actually did say to us that I was perhaps a bit better with heels on. However, wearing the weightlifting shoes resulted in an injury for me in August and another in October. You can surmise all you want, but those were pretty much the first injures I had incurred in powerlifting; and that dates back to competing in 1995-1996 and then starting back up in 2002 to the present at 4 or so meets a year.

It is interesting to note that my strength curve changes a bit depending upon which shoes I am wearing.

After my 2nd injury in October we went back to the flat soled shoes and I seem to be back to where I was a year or so ago. It was a valuable lesson and we will never get those 9 or so months back; but we learned that for me, squatting in flat soled shoes is a "safer" bet (pun intended).

Eric Talmant

 

[Growinboy]

Ive seen too many people have problems leaning forward with "heeled" shoes when they squat... Its just fucking easier to use flat soles and "feel" the floor under you...

 

[PillarofBalance]

Ive seen too many people have problems leaning forward with "heeled" shoes when they squat... Its just ****ing easier to use flat soles and "feel" the floor under you...

They are having this problems because they need to learn to squat in the shoes. You can't just jump in an oly shoe and get on the platform.
For starters as they initiate the squat step one is to push the butt back out beyond the heel.

 

[Rottenrogue]

Different styles of squatting take different shoes

 

[FlyingDragon]

What about a 6in heel?

 

[Mike_RN]

I prefer one flip-flop and one Do-Win. Keeps the muscle confusion up.

 

[shortz]

Wait, the topic is benching, but somehow we got on squats. So which did OP mean?

 

[alpha]

I'm going to assume by the way the question was phrased that "The Bench Press" is the name of the magazine or website this came from?

As for people "leaning forward too much" with oly shoes on, that person simply does not know how to squat properly. The raised heel just lessens the angle the ankle joint has to travel in order to get to a full squat depth while keeping the heel firmly planted on the ground. This allows you to push your hips back much further while still remaining grounded with flat feet.

 

[BrotherIron]

The titls is incorrect. It speaks of benching but the thread is about squatting solely. As for squatting in Oly shoes (shoes with heels), it's something that must be learned and not something you just jump into. You wouldn't just throw a bench shirt on and start benching would you? No, you need to learn how to use the shirt to properly perform while wearing a shirt.

Squatting in Oly shoes is natural to me but than again I came from Olympic weightlifting so I was already used to squatting in a heeled shoe.

 

[PillarofBalance]

I can speak to wearing them while benching too actually... When I started training with Uphill we had to work hard on his bench more than anything. His set up was as good as we could get it, but getting his legs angled down from the hip to the knee was not possible due to his particular leverages. Once he bought the adipowers and started benching in those his set up become significantly tighter overall. So for some, its a great investment and worth a try when benching.

 

[BrotherIron]

I can speak to wearing them while benching too actually... When I started training with Uphill we had to work hard on his bench more than anything. His set up was as good as we could get it, but getting his legs angled down from the hip to the knee was not possible due to his particular leverages. Once he bought the adipowers and started benching in those his set up become significantly tighter overall. So for some, its a great investment and worth a try when benching.

I bench, overhead press, and squat in my Oly shoes. I even perform some pulling movements in them but I don't pull conventional in them. They're a huge asset for me. I get better leg drive in bench, have a more stable contact with the floor when it comes to squatting, and it makes it easier to hit depth as well.

 

[GiantSlayer]