shoes to squat in for mature guy

[Charlie Davies]

Honestly, when I don't feel like changing or forget, I don't feel any difference in my squat ( which sucks, to be fair) .

I really notice the difference for squatting in street shoes vs. WL shoes. Even for my miserably weak squat.

[chrisd]

Do weightlifting shoes *ever* wear out?

Cheap ones do. I bought a pair of More Mile (Adidas clone) shoes. One of the metal loops for the metatarsel strap has broken, the soles are becoming unglued and the velcro is worn.

I am thinking of dismantling them and cutting the wedges down to make pair of flats for deadlifting. Not so much to improve my deadlift as to be the guy who changes his shoes between deadlift and squat despite the woeful weights I am actually lifting.

[AParrillo]

I DL with no shoes. Other lifts with Nike Romaleos 2. Nordic Lifting knee sleeves and decent shoes are a small outlay compared to most sports.

[Fiddler]

I like Adidas Powerlift3. I lifted in Chucks for a year and did fine, but the Powerlift shoes made my squats feel quite a bit more solid. My (occasional) SSC heartily approved of them as well, FWIW. Mine cost $65 on sale.

[Charlie Davies]

Rogue was out of Do-Wins so I got my son Nike Romaleo 2's.

Man, these things are stiff -- like ski boots. My old 2010 Do-Wins are much softer, basically like bowling shoes with a strap and different soles.

Probably this means the Romaleos are better, but the Do-Wins might be comfier, esp. if you have wide feet.

[shanewilcox]

I like Adidas Powerlift3. I lifted in Chucks for a year and did fine, but the Powerlift shoes made my squats feel quite a bit more solid. My (occasional) SSC heartily approved of them as well, FWIW. Mine cost $65 on sale.

I have these, too, and like you, found that they made a significant difference to my squats. Apparently, if you're lifting over 500 lb, the heel might compress a bit. I've promised myself a new pair of shoes on the day I get there ...

[Jb66]

I like this russian body building YouTube chanel and this 52 year old guy is using old army boots:
https://youtu.be/siqYt2rwaMw

[Longinus]

I bought my first heeled lifting shoes from Maxbarbell.com for $65 5 years ago, figuring that I'd upgrade if I stuck with it. Still lifting in them 2x every week. Lots of people get strong in Chuck Taylors, too.

I've been happy with a pair from Risto: Risto Shoes, Risto Weightlifting Shoes, Coach Ivan Rojos @ Risto Sports

They're not cheap shoes, but they do run a little cheaper than the Addidas. Mine have held up well. My knees feel better using them than when I used to squat in Chucks.

[Charlie Davies]

My son's depth improved a bit (from barely-below-parallel-probably to clearly-below-parallel) when he started using the Romaleos. Not sure why, low-bar squats shouldn't be limited by ankle flexibility.

[johnnys]

VS has some familiar shoes/brands on sale. My son recommends the VS brand, if it hasn't been mentioned here.