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Thread: Why wear heeled lifters?

  1. #11
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    I appreciate all the replies, thanks.

    I thought it was kind of odd that Rip of all people would be for something that makes life "easier" at the expense of muscle activation - since I was reading it as heels increasing quad activation and decreasing hamstring activation. But maybe I am misinterpreting, and it actually creates a more balanced load or just activates both more.

    Personally, I love how it *feels* to wear lifters. It makes hitting depth effortless rather than painful. But interestingly I feel like the limiting factor of my depth is my hamstring tightness, not my ankle mobility. In the bottom position of a squat, I can easily lean forward to increase ankle flexion. But my hamstrings scream at me and my low back rounds if I go for "ass to grass".

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Elle View Post
    I thought it was kind of odd that Rip of all people would be for something that makes life "easier" at the expense of muscle activation - since I was reading it as heels increasing quad activation and decreasing hamstring activation. But maybe I am misinterpreting, and it actually creates a more balanced load or just activates both more.
    I don't think the argument in SS:BBT is that it makes the lift easier at the expense of muscle involvement, more that it JUST involves more quads. I'm not going to speculate much further, because it's not my argument to make. I will say that my disagreement with SS:BBT is more a function of my not fully understanding the argument being made - not that I fully understand and think it's wrong.


    Quote Originally Posted by Elle View Post
    Personally, I love how it *feels* to wear lifters. It makes hitting depth effortless rather than painful.
    That is a compelling reason to have squat shoes assuming there's nothing else about your squat that needs to be fixed.
    Last edited by AndrewLewis; 06-17-2020 at 12:04 PM.
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  3. #13
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    How does heels affect people with goofy proportions? I’ve been wearing adidas adipowers with a 3/4 inch heel since I started SS 4 years a go. My natural rebound position at the bottom is about 4 inches below parallel and I always feel better out of the hole 4 inches below than I do just below.

    I am 5 foot 11 but reckon I have the legs of someone 5 foot 6. My squats in the shoes and the bar in a low bar position might as well be a high bar squat. I’m very upright.

    Would I have more squat potential if I wore flats, maybe?

  4. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Theseahawk View Post
    My natural rebound position at the bottom is about 4 inches below parallel and I always feel better out of the hole 4 inches below than I do just below.
    Obviously not the expert here, but from what Rip says in the book, I imagine it might since your hamstrings will get tighter sooner, driving a stretch reflex at a higher position.

    Seems like it would be fairly easy to try and see for yourself.

    Also curious if you are one of those people with a hyper mobilility who tends to over-arch your back.

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Elle View Post
    Obviously not the expert here, but from what Rip says in the book, I imagine it might since your hamstrings will get tighter sooner, driving a stretch reflex at a higher position.

    Seems like it would be fairly easy to try and see for yourself.

    Also curious if you are one of those people with a hyper mobilility who tends to over-arch your back.

    My spine has a more exagerated S shape than what most peoples have, and when reading the importance of extending my lower back in the squat, I ended up, not realising, with my lower back hyperextended.

    I realised when I was getting low back pain and read something about overextending, perhaps on here. I fixed it easily enough by concentrating on squeezing my lower abs tight. It massively helped. I still got back pain time to time, but that was fixed after a SS coach lowered my hips starting position in the deadlift to more of a squat position. Not had any problems since.

  6. #16
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    I don't know why others wear a heeled shoe, but I find the 1/2-3/4” heel allows me to maintain balance and makes getting depth easier. Now the missus is a flexible gumby, if she wanted, she could do the squat in her bare feet and maintain balance and get depth. However, except for her, nobody that has asked to learn the squat, has had the flexibility, for them a 1/2 or so of heel is necessary. On that note: I do know a couple of lifters that squat barefooted, and think they're getting depth, but they're not.

  7. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gerald Boggs View Post
    I don't know why others wear a heeled shoe, but I find the 1/2-3/4” heel allows me to maintain balance and makes getting depth easier. Now the missus is a flexible gumby, if she wanted, she could do the squat in her bare feet and maintain balance and get depth. However, except for her, nobody that has asked to learn the squat, has had the flexibility, for them a 1/2 or so of heel is necessary. On that note: I do know a couple of lifters that squat barefooted, and think they're getting depth, but they're not.
    Oh I’m very much able to squat below parallel in bare feet. I do like the shoes for the stability you mention. My original adipowers feel like my feet ate welded in place. The new adipowers aren’t as good, though, for that feeling. Bit still good enough that I will keep them on even for deadlifts. Tried slippers for deadlift and found the benefit was outweighed by the detriment of not having that stability. I have a pretty narrow stance in both lifts, so stability probably has even more importance because of that. I’ll keep the liftings shoes. Maybe try a lesser heal next time round buying.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Theseahawk View Post
    My spine has a more exagerated S shape than what most peoples have, and when reading the importance of extending my lower back in the squat, I ended up, not realising, with my lower back hyperextended.
    It sounds like you just have really long / stretchable hamstrings then. So I'd imagine eliminating the heel would help.

    Personally I'd love to find a pair of lifters without the heel, for deadlifts. I have a long tibia relative to my femur, and long femur relative to my torso and arms, so deadlifting in lifted heels is a nightmare. But I value the stability and metatarsal support.

    The best luck I've had is with the Altra HIIT XT2s. Absolutely no "squish" and a wide stable base, and some arch support. Plus wide toe box, which is a passion of mine after working with so many people with bunions in my day job. I squat in them too, but find heeled lifters more enjoyable (I do have tight hamstrings).

    Quote Originally Posted by Gerald Boggs View Post
    However, except for her, nobody that has asked to learn the squat, has had the flexibility, for them a 1/2 or so of heel is necessary. On that note: I do know a couple of lifters that squat barefooted, and think they're getting depth, but they're not.
    Just curious, have you taught other women? I wonder if it's a heavily female oriented thing to have the ability to hit depth without the heels.

  9. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Theseahawk View Post
    How does heels affect people with goofy proportions? I’ve been wearing adidas adipowers with a 3/4 inch heel since I started SS 4 years a go. My natural rebound position at the bottom is about 4 inches below parallel and I always feel better out of the hole 4 inches below than I do just below.
    I'd be interested to see a video of this.
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  10. #20
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    starting strength coach development program
    Quote Originally Posted by AndrewLewis View Post
    I'd be interested to see a video of this.
    This is 190 kg set 3 done September last year 6 sessions into a linear progression after spending the summer dicking around with 8x8 high bar squats.

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