Deadlift shoes

[laikabear]

Hey guys and gals,

What shoes are you wearing for deadlifts?

I am a pretty new lifter doing NLP and I've been wearing Inov8 Fastlift 325 shoes (which have about a 0.5" drop). I find them great for squats and they were fine for deadlifts but as I've put a (very small) amount more weight on the bar, I feel less stable deadlifting in these shoes.

I'm debating getting a 2nd pair of shoes that's flat for deadlifting. Is that weird? Do you guys change shoes between lifts? Am I just being overly fussy and ridiculous?

[LexAnderson]

I use to wear Chuck Taylor's but switched to Vans about a year ago. Both are great shoes and I recommend them to everyone.

[omaniphil]

I use the same shoes (Do-Wins) I use to squat, bench, and press with, mostly because I'm too lazy to switch shoes midworkout. I think a lot of people out there will switch shoes to deadlift in, so its not crazy. Chucks, with the insoles taken out, are pretty popular.

[damufunman]

I feel less stable deadlifting in these shoes.

Can you elaborate on this? Compared to what?

[LexAnderson]

@omaniphil I keep my insoles in, never liked them out. But that's just me I guess.

[mgil]

A lot of people here pull in flat shoes of some sort. @Cody has pulled 600 in flip flops.

I have a pair of Adidas Powerlifts with the heels cut out so that there is no toe drop. They work well, but still have about 1/4" of stack height.

For conventional DLs, you can get away with a lot of things. Minimalist shoes work, wrestling shoes work, grippy socks work, etc. If you're ever planning on pulling sumo, something with a strap to help resist rollover is most helpful. @KDW and @Les have throwing shoes that work well for lifting.

[LexAnderson]

Watching @Cody pull in flip flops was pretty amazing in my book.

[TimK]

I used to pull in my lifting shoes with a .75" heel. I recently switched to flats based on one of the threads here and I find I can get in a slightly better starting position vs the heels. The shoes I use are the cheapest of cheap chuck taylor knockoffs that I bought at walmart. I pulled the insole out so there's only like a 1/4" of material between me and the floor.

Here's a comparison (ignore the platform under my right foot; my weightlifting shoes are shimmed for my leg-length discrepancy but my flats are not (yet):

[laikabear]

I feel less stable deadlifting in these shoes.

Can you elaborate on this? Compared to what?

I should have just said "unstable." IDK, like I was slightly losing my balance the last couple of times I deadlifted (only 150 lbs). I didn't feel off-balance when lifting lower weights but the past couple of times I have done DLs I was struggling to get the weight up. So, it may be that I would have felt that way in flat shoes, too. Basically, I'm just getting to the point where DLs are "hard."

I assume if I continue, they will feel this hard every time, even if the weight goes up. ??? (If the other lifts are any indication.)

@Cody has pulled 600 in flip flops.

For conventional DLs, you can get away with a lot of things. Minimalist shoes work, wrestling shoes work, grippy socks work, etc. If you're ever planning on pulling sumo, something with a strap to help resist rollover is most helpful. @KDW and @Les have throwing shoes that work well for lifting.

Well... Cody is amazing and I will never be pulling 600 lbs. Right now my goal is 200 lbs. I don't really understand how people DL barefoot, in socks, in flip flops, house slippers, what-have-you. That just doesn't feel right to me. But maybe I'll give socks a try today. Or my sad, neglected Vibram 5 Fingers that are somewhere at the bottom of the closet. Too bad I got rid of all my Chucks years ago when I got too old to walk around in flat shoes all the time.

If I were to get Chucks, do people have an opinion high vs low tops? Or either? (I'm leaning towards the Sabos because they look 100% cooler and I have a close friend with the last name Sabo, which I realize is ridiculous).

[LexAnderson]

I myself go high tops for errthing!

[mgil]

@laikabear I have used Vibram FFs for DLs. Perfectly fine. I have a pair of Merrell Vapor Gloves (iirc) that are an awesome alternative to DL slippers.

[Cody]

@laikabear For Chuck's, I like low tops with the insoles ripped out.

[Chebass88]

Hey guys and gals,

What shoes are you wearing for deadlifts?

I am a pretty new lifter doing NLP and I've been wearing Inov8 Fastlift 325 shoes (which have about a 0.5" drop). I find them great for squats and they were fine for deadlifts but as I've put a (very small) amount more weight on the bar, I feel less stable deadlifting in these shoes.

I'm debating getting a 2nd pair of shoes that's flat for deadlifting. Is that weird? Do you guys change shoes between lifts? Am I just being overly fussy and ridiculous?

I wear Vivobarefoot shoes. They are a great minimalist shoe with zero support. I'd prefer to lift just with socks, but the gym at work requires some sort of shoe. I also change shoes between lifts. I don't like benching in weightlifting shoes either, so I put the vivobarefoots on as soon as possible. The only down side to these shoes is lifting in a very cold garage in January. A minimalist shoe with a flat sole means cold feet, but two pair of wool socks helps here.

You aren't being overly fussy and ridiculous. The notion of pulling in weightlifting shoes is an StSt bit of dogma. When pressed for an actual justification, a top SSC coach replied to "just do it, it builds character". Lulz. If you feel more comfortable / more stable, use whatever shoes you like.

Regarding a weight being "hard" - it depends on a lot of things. It depends on your strength level, the amount you're recovered from previous lifting session(s), diet, sleep, life stresses, etc. For example, after a night of poor sleep, a warmup weight might feel like a maximal effort. On a day when you've had an extra coffee, you might feel like you could jump with the weight. A lot of people recommend using the rate of perceived exertion scale, which is an estimate of how hard a set is, by estimating the number of additional reps you *could* have done. For example, if you do two reps with your five rep maximum, that could be an RPE 7. These values change on a daily basis though, depending on how tired / awake you are, how recovered from the previous lifting session(s), other life stresses, etc. On a really tough day, that same weight could even be RPE 9 (one rep remaining) or even RPE 10 (maximal effort).

One thing that comes with experience is learning what "hard" means. To a degree, you become comfortable, and even enjoy performing difficult lifts, even with submaximal training weights. Lifting does not become easier (unless you stay at the same weight forever), what changes is your ability to handle the stress and your preparation for it. At some point, it becomes a numbers game. A weight that feels "hard" today will eventually be a warmup weight, and a heavier weight will feel "hard". To use your example, if 150lbs feels hard today, in a year from now, 200lbs might feel equally as hard, while 150 flies up.

[Les]

I actually like to pull in socks, or at meets put on a second pair of socks (aka the deadlift slipper) for conventional. For sumo, I would use my throwing shoes. They are pretty awesome for squatting too. Like most people here, since I came from SS I started squatting and pulling with a .75" effective heel height weightlifting shoe. I ditched them pretty early for deadlift, since I pulled a lot better being lower to the floor at flat footed. Later I also ditched them for squats, since a solid flat shoe helps me squat a lot more weight.

For deadlifting conventional, I like to be as low to the floor as possible. But for other stuff, I think having a solid shoe of some kind is a plus.

[GainsdalfTheWhey]

I go with socks, barefoot, or vibrams depending on the floor and degree of laziness. For comps I throw on DL slippers. For higher rep stuff I just leave my squat shoes (romaleos II) on.

[damufunman]

I feel less stable deadlifting in these shoes.

Can you elaborate on this? Compared to what?

I should have just said "unstable." IDK, like I was slightly losing my balance the last couple of times I deadlifted (only 150 lbs). I didn't feel off-balance when lifting lower weights but the past couple of times I have done DLs I was struggling to get the weight up. So, it may be that I would have felt that way in flat shoes, too. Basically, I'm just getting to the point where DLs are "hard."

I assume if I continue, they will feel this hard every time, even if the weight goes up. ??? (If the other lifts are any indication.)

@Cody has pulled 600 in flip flops.

For conventional DLs, you can get away with a lot of things. Minimalist shoes work, wrestling shoes work, grippy socks work, etc. If you're ever planning on pulling sumo, something with a strap to help resist rollover is most helpful. @KDW and @Les have throwing shoes that work well for lifting.

Well... Cody is amazing and I will never be pulling 600 lbs. Right now my goal is 200 lbs. I don't really understand how people DL barefoot, in socks, in flip flops, house slippers, what-have-you. That just doesn't feel right to me. But maybe I'll give socks a try today. Or my sad, neglected Vibram 5 Fingers that are somewhere at the bottom of the closet. Too bad I got rid of all my Chucks years ago when I got too old to walk around in flat shoes all the time.

If I were to get Chucks, do people have an opinion high vs low tops? Or either? (I'm leaning towards the Sabos because they look 100% cooler and I have a close friend with the last name Sabo, which I realize is ridiculous).

Just curious if you were falling forward, in which case I could see a flat shoe being much better. I pull in heels to build character because I fancy myself a weightlifter, and I don't want to futz with changing shoes mid-workout, even if it would only be once a week or less. Really it's a preference thing, try something different and see if you like. If you have the Five fingers already, try those and see if being lower and not having a heel lift help.

[chromoly]

I love my Reebok Crossfit Lite TR aka the Reebok "power shoe" for deadlifts. @simonrest wears these also. They were discontinued, but a new version is in the works. Basically like Chuck Taylors, but better since I have wide feet. The soles are grippy and I feel very stable with the insole ripped out.

Otherwise, I like flat sneakers in general as long as they don't squish too much (i.e., no running shoes).

I have pulled in flat shoes and also heeled shoes. For me, heeled shoes are well and good for a light deadlift day, or if I'm not in meet prep. But as soon as it gets to meet prep or the weight gets heavy, I switch to flat shoes for deadlifting. The flat vs. heeled shoe isn't even a real debate to me-- it is much easier for me to set and keep my back flat when I set up with flat shoes, and it is easier for me to keep the bar close at the sticking point partway up the shin.

[BostonRugger]

@laikabear like you’ve seen here, there are lots of options. From what I gather, conventional is easier from a shoe selection point of view. As long as they’re firm (not squishy/cushioned like a running shoe) and reasonably flat toe-to-heel you should be alright.

After reading another thread here on this topic, I decided to switch from wl shoes to flats. Pulled an old pair of Adidas Sambas out of the closet as my most suitable option. They work great. Today I used them to pull a 35 lb PR. I can’t picture going back to pulling in heeled shoes. Stupid dogma.

[simonrest]

I love my Reebok Crossfit Lite TR aka the Reebok "power shoe" for deadlifts. @simonrest wears these also.

I used to, back in that wonderful summer I pulled Sumo. Actually they started falling apart so I stopped wearing them, but they remain a great shoe. I hope they get re-released at some point.

indoor soccer shoes are another option, if you have an opportunity to try them on locally. I pull in deadlift slippers now - I got used to it pretty quick

[Les]

@laikabear like you’ve seen here, there are lots of options. From what I gather, conventional is easier from a shoe selection point of view. As long as they’re firm (not squishy/cushioned like a running shoe) and reasonably flat toe-to-heel you should be alright.

After reading another thread here on this topic, I decided to switch from wl shoes to flats. Pulled an old pair of Adidas Sambas out of the closet as my most suitable option. They work great. Today I used them to pull a 35 lb PR. I can’t picture going back to pulling in heeled shoes. Stupid dogma.

Coming to the dark side I see!