A Marine on Weightlifting Shoes | Grant Broggi

[Matt James]

I'm still trying to figure out how we got from pulling in Chucks (which was the initial question, I thought) to pulling barefoot. I am aware of the arguments in favor of barefoot pulling, and there are plenty of strong and successful lifters who do so. But the mechanics of a bare foot an a hard floor are completely different. In Chuck Taylors, the sole will compress, unevenly due to the basically uncontoured inner sole, and they lack any structure to control the lateral (or less commonly, medial) roll that results. It's an inefficient transfer of force to the floor and it introduces instability into the entire system.

It's still better than running shoes. But there are other shoe options out there (hell, wrestling shoes even) if you can't or won't pull in an Oly shoe. If you want to pull barefoot I won't argue with you, although I don't agree with it...there are enough examples of people pulling 7,8 or 900 pounds barefoot that I would be a fool not to admit that it works for them.

I'm not aware of anybody who routinely pulls over 700 lbs in Chuck Taylors.

[Travis Reid]

DKT, did you join this forum just to argue?

[k_kws]

Maybe we can compromise and lift in toe-shoes.

[DKT]

DKT, did you join this forum just to argue?

No. I argued because Rip called me "stupid" for deadlifting in Chucks.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Lifting in Chucks is stupid.

[David McClelland]

I don't understand putting a raised heel on a weightlifting shoe for the purpose of more quad activation when that's supposed to be the evil of high bar squats. It's also just not anatomically natural. How many of us walk in raised heels the rest of the day? And why make these shoes the be all end all with no flat foot variation when that is what is needed for dead lifting, and then curse the only affordable flat, relatively hard soled shoes out there we have left to choose from?

Well I've done some research and realize I should have been paying a lot more attention to footwear than I was. I assumed it wasn't too kosher to deadlift with slightly raised heels, simply for the fact I've never seen it blatantly recommended or directly mentioned. After looking it up in your book and reading the article more carefully, it seems you are ok with deadlifting in 1/2 inch raised heels. Your book mentions anything raised higher than an inch isn't good for "pulling from the floor" and the article mentions people generally wearing their squat shoes for the rest of the workout. I was concerned with having not only to purchase two pairs of specialty shoes (1 for squat, 1 for deadlift et al) but changing them every work out. Money is extremely tight for me right now, and so is my gym (I have my eye on another one, though, as my membership is almost up).

Anyway, thanks for posting the article and for the thread. It made me realize the importance of good shoes if nothing else.

[DKT]

Lifting in Chucks is stupid.

I guess we'll have to take that on faith since you won't provide any empirical evidence to support it. So much for a rational discussion.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Yep, I never discuss shoes. I've never really thought about them.

[Aaron Hutson]

No. I argued because Rip called me "stupid" for deadlifting in Chucks.

Rip didn’t call you stupid. You got defensive because someone disagreed with your opinion. Pull barefoot, pull in chucks, pull in oly shoes, pull in stilettos. We don’t care.

[ludwig23]

1. Lots of people (including me) deadlift with flat, crappy shoes or no shoes at all, and they don't develop fallen arches. That is sufficient evidence to conclude deadlifting without foot support is not, by itself, a cause of fallen arches.

2. Some people who deadlift that way do develop fallen arches. But that is not sufficient evidence to conclude that deadlifting without foot support caused that condition. The root cause could be a structural abnormality of the foot that was aggravated by deadlifting.

Lots of people drive without seatbelts, and is still perfectly healthy. That is sufficient evidence to conclude that driving without seatbelts is not, by itself, a cause of accidents.

Some people who drive without seatbelt do got into accidents and got themselves mangled up good. But that is not sufficient evidence to conclude that driving without seatbelt caused that condition. The root cause could be a structural abnormality of the brain that was made clear by the accident.

Pro-tip: People lift heavy shit with very dumb methods all the time.