AMRAP 15 Minutes:
Run 400m
15 Toes To Bar
15 Ring Dips
Are you tired of struggling at the Overhead Squat? Think you can Snatch or Jerk more weight and are getting frustrated that you aren't PR'ing on your lifts? It could be your shoes. At CFES we focus on weightlifting quite a bit. The past few weeks we have been having you Overhead Squat for 1,3, or 5 rep maxes in both the foundations and level one classes. In these classes I have seen plenty of you lifting in Nike Frees, Chuck Taylors, Asics, and other various cross trainer shoes. This is clearly holding a lot of you back. The instability of these types of shoes make most of you lean to far forward on the descent and cause a lot of failed lifts. Weightlifting shoes are specifically designed to keep you stable while you have a buttload of weight over your body.
Please do yourself a favor and ask Santa for some Olympic lifting shoes for Christmas. There are plenty to choose from. Sizing varies from model and company, but a good rule of thumb is to get half a size smaller than your regular shoes. I wear 10's and have 9.5's in my Oly shoes. Below are a few links to popular shoes you can purchase.
Rogue Fitness Weightlifting Shoes
And if you don't believe that weightlifting shoes are important, here are are a couple more blog posts made by Justin driving home this fact:
Get some Oly shoes people!
brother mike
Intersting shoe- wonder if the people who wrote the add on the HQ website have a clue:
“Let nothing stand in the way of elite fitness. This lifting shoe weighs only 13.4 ounces (380gms) and has injected TPU in the heel wedge for the lightest weight stability platform. U-form technology gives you a super custom fit. So whether you are going for your max deadlift or mixing it with some box jumps you’ll be ready to go.”
The U Form (you bake it and put your foot in to form fit) sounds cool, but I am not sure how many of us 1- wear weightlifting shoes when we deadlift and 2- would try a box jump WOD even in the lightest of lifting shoes.
That said, Aaron is 100% spot on with the comment the shoes really help. My overhead squat is still pitiful, but it is a good 30# less pitiful with a good pair of lifting shoes on.
LauraB
As Mike said – Aaron is spot on! Weightlifting shoes do help! If the prices for the linked shoes above are too much try VS Athletics. Only $79.95 for a pair. I’ve had mine for probably two years and they work just fine.
Justin Riley
VS are legit, and probably the best value out there.
EricH
Is there someplace in the area that actually sells lifting shoes so we don’t have to risk getting the wrong size online?
donna
hey, chris – that Group C adaptations for the level 1 wod was frickin’ hard today! well, i guess that’s an indicator that the modification was doing the job for me! thanks again for the help. 🙂
Wlshoes
As we’ve stated on our website, the VS shoes are alright but the heel is a set 1.5″ lift – that’s really high for most folks. Furthermore they are bulky and you won’t be able to do anything more than lift in them.
The Reebok Oly’s on the otherhand are actually very impressive in their flexibility. I will be posting a full review of them here shortly.
Meanwhile, for those of your that are interested, you can check out our Reebok Crossfit Nano Review at this link.