Flats or Heels For Squat?

Which shoe do you squat better in? I feel like I’m more upright in healed shoes but have been told it’ll push you forward. I wear flats for wraps. Sleeved healed squat and wrapped flats shoe bests are within 7 lbs of each other but wasn’t using wraps when i hit the healed max.

I wear a heeled shoe because I have the mobility of an elephant.

Flats. Heels make my knees drift forward too much.

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Heeled shoe, tried it out one year, found that it just worked better for me.

I can’t decide which one I should stick with. My legs are lacking I feel but flats burn up my lower back. I do like the forward knee travel though

What flat shoes are you guys using ? I use my sabo deadlift for squats but sometimes I feel like they are sort of slippery

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I wear Adidas Leistung II which have a 1” heel. I also have terrible mobility in my ankles and the shoes allow me to squat with decent form.

I was hoping that it was someone less knowledgeable or strong as OP, so I could make a lame joke about not knowing why apartments or video game slang support characters had anything to do with squatting. I’m realizing more and more than I am a painfully pedantic asshole.

I squat more in flat shoes, but the movement feels much less comfortable. The couple of times I’ve squatted in single ply gear, I’ve felt that heels made “loading” the hips of the squat near impossible. I typically train in a heeled shoe unless I’m peaking, testing, or a couple of weeks from doing one of those.

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That’s okay, it was apparent to the rest of us very early on and we accept you anyway.

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We had a discussion about squatting in heels a while back. One of the conclusion was that using that phrase makes you sound like the Bruce Jenner of powerlifting. Even worse if you mention tights and pink accessories in the same sentence. Also, go to google images and search “squatting in heels”, take off any porn filters, you will be pleasantly surprised.

Seriously though, what works for each person is totally individual. I squat in heeled shoes regardless of using wraps or not just because it works better for me, in flat soled shoes I have to use a wider stance to hit depth and it’s hard on my hips. The only way to figure out what works for you is to try different options and see how it goes.

Seeing as you are basically a deadlift specialist who happens to have a good squat and bench as well, I would think that squatting in heeled shoes might be a better option since you say using flat shoes is harder on your back. No use in adding a couple pounds to your squat at the expense of an all time world record in the deadlift and possibly totalling less as well. On the other hand, if your back is a weak point then getting it stronger with stuff like RDLs, GMs, and barbell rows could allow you squat in a more efficient manner and still have enough gas in the tank for a big pull.

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The gold standard forever has been the classic chuck taylor / convo all star. I’ve witnessed multiple 1,000 plus pound squats in them. While lifting shoes seem to be the new craze, they are unnecessary. 45 bucks will still get you home.

I’ve only been training for 4 years and exclusively have been using chucks.

Got sabo deadlift shoes a few months ago and like them better. More connection w the ground. They do sort of feel less tacky/gummy than chucks tho but not an issue under load.

But this thread has me thinking I should try a heeled shoe.

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CAn’t hurt to try

Personally If I were to try something other than cucks I’d use the inzer lifting shooes

Hey-oh!

That hurts man, the 181 tested squat is technically only about 67lbs above my most recent squat. Don’t have anything to say for bench my arms are stupid long.

Sorry, I obviously wasn’t up to date on all the numbers. I haven’t looked at your training log lately either. If you can bench 400 with those long arms you are doing good, that’s an elite level bench at 181 anyway. Figure out how to get the most out of wraps and you will have a squat record soon.

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OMG! Thank you for this, I am going to have an awesome time this weekend (my next gym visit)

can’t believe I never clued onto that myself

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I posted something about this last year, though I hope I didn’t use the phrase “squatting in heels” (not that there’s anything wrong with that if that floats your boat). I was having lower back pain after switching from Chucks to weightlifting-style shoes. However, I found that I eventually adapted, and Romaleos really help me stay more upright. As everyone else has said, it depends on your individual situation. For me, protecting the lumber region is paramount because of a history of injuries, so anything that helps me stay more upright is the way to go. Of course, if you’re trying to do a Mark Rippetoe-style low-bar squat, you’ll probably want to go with flats.

Sorry, lumbar region, not lumber. It’s late here in Indianapolis.

Girls only, please.

The funny thing about that is in the Starting Strength book he recommends heeled weightlifting shoes. Rippetoe is a very dogmatic guy, he presents one option as the only correct way when in fact there is no one-size-fits-all solution for everyone, and not just about shoes.

The only way to know what works better for you is to try it, if you have a weird squat in flat shoes then heeled shoes could work better and it you have great mobility and are more posterior chain dominant then there’s a good chance that heeled shoes won’t do anything for you. In my case, I was instantly stronger and hitting depth became easier as soon as I switched to heeled shoes (romaleos).