Your thoughts on Vibram Five Fingers as weightlifting shoes?

[justinbass]

http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/

Do you recommend weight lifting shoes because of their lack of heel give/flex compared to sneakers, because of the raised heel, or both?

I workout with a few people that swear by their Vibram Five Fingers for lifting(and no, they aren't filthy hippies.) I imagine they would be good for deadlifting, since it is so similar to barefoot deadlifting. But what do you think of them for squats and pressing? For the Olympic lifts?

[Mark Rippetoe]

The Vibram shoes are designed for pose running. Very fashionable for that. But the stomp involved in performing a clean or a snatch doesn't sound like something I'd want to do in my socks, even if they do have little toes on them and are covered with rubber on the bottom.

[TravisRussellDC]

I went to a seminar back in May and one of the guys who was giving a presentation was a PT. He was wearing a pair of those and people were just marveling at them. They may be the greatest things under the sun. But after he told me that 95% of athletes shouldn't train with weights, I refused to listen to anything that came out of his mouth.

That being said, the foot was designed/evolved to move around freely on soft earth. I believe the vast amount of foot/ankle and knee problems we have nowadays are influenced by the fact that we wear restrictive shoes and walk around on ridiculously hard surfaces all day. Practically no one trains the muscles of the feet and ankles until they need rehab. That's a shame too. These shoes may be a great way around that. But I just can't get along with the individual toe thing. I always hated those toe socks, too.

I remember hearing one time that in he evolution of man from the beginning of upright ambulation to today, that the one structure that has not changed in any way is the foot. I don't know if that's 100% true, but I wouldn't be surprised.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I went to a seminar back in May and one of the guys who was giving a presentation was a PT. He was wearing a pair of those and people were just marveling at them. They may be the greatest things under the sun. But after he told me that 95% of athletes shouldn't train with weights, I refused to listen to anything that came out of his mouth.


Let me guess: he omitted the part about why.

[lukeBW]

http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/

Do you recommend weight lifting shoes because of their lack of heel give/flex compared to sneakers, because of the raised heel, or both?

I workout with a few people that swear by their Vibram Five Fingers for lifting(and no, they aren't filthy hippies.) I imagine they would be good for deadlifting, since it is so similar to barefoot deadlifting. But what do you think of them for squats and pressing? For the Olympic lifts?

Hey I resent that .. I deadlift barefoot or with a pair of chinese slippers
does that make me a filthy hippie ?:confused:

[Drewfasa]

Those shoes are the gayest things I've ever seen. And I've seen Brokeback Mountain.

[TravisRussellDC]

He basically started spouting some crap about having his athletes training with 5-10 lbs. They were essentially performing one legged, quarter squats while standing on foam wedges, PVC pipes, vibration plates, etc. I'm sure there was more to the routines he puts his clients through. But I pretty much ignored everything he said after telling me that about weight training.

"95% of athletes don't need to train with weights."

100% of people who say that need to be shot.

[Brad Davis]

The Vibram shoes are designed for pose running. Very fashionable for that. But the stomp involved in performing a clean or a snatch doesn't sound like something I'd want to do in my socks, even if they do have little toes on them and are covered with rubber on the bottom.

I'm actually a little surprised by this, Rip. Weightlifting shoes are VERY hard, to provide more stability, right? I would've thought that "no shoe" would be even harder.

Now I do understand the problem with dropping a plate on one's foot.

[Mark Rippetoe]

You're surprised by something I've been saying in print since 2004? And on this board for a year? In lengthy, verbose, protracted explanations? I'm surprised you have not found the search function. Frankly, I'm shocked. SHOCKED.

[ronin0352]

Those shoes are the gayest things I've ever seen. And I've seen Brokeback Mountain.

You actually admit that openly?

[Patrick]

I'm actually a little surprised by this, Rip. Weightlifting shoes are VERY hard, to provide more stability, right? I would've thought that "no shoe" would be even harder.

Now I do understand the problem with dropping a plate on one's foot.

Bare feet, in my experience, are more stable than sneakers... sure. But imagine you could make your feet, exactly as they are now, wider. That'd be more stable, right? A good lifting shoe lets you strap in really tight so you don't wobble, and is wider at the sole than your bare foot. This is about the same as widening your foot in that it provides the extra stability that comes with width, and it seems unlikely that the straps are there to ensure that stability merely by coincidence -- it seems like this is what they're meant for. Add to that the fact that you get a little heel elevation to make the geometry of your lifts nearly universally better and you've got a pretty solid product.

At the risk of coming off like a sycophantic blowhard, if lifting barefoot was lots better than lifting with shoes I'd bet that Rip would suggest we give it a shot.