What shoes should I wear for Squats?
Flat shoes, heeled shoes, running .. shoes? There are so many types of shoes to wear when it comes to squatting, so what shoes do I wear when I squat?
To help you understand this, we will first categorise the types of shoes that exist, then further more detail into
Pushing
Support &
Overall Verdict
A. Running Shoes
These would be your typical tennis based shoes or running shoes. For the sake of simplicity, we will be taking out flat barefoot running shoes out of this.
The one thing that we need to understand when it comes to running shoes, and more so the soft based shoes, is the role they play in absorbing impact from the repetitive motion of running.
So how does this affect my squat?
Pushing - With what we mentioned above, the squat requires the most amount of force to be pushed into the floor. But with the shoe being made of soft fabric which absorbs impact - which won’t allow you to get even pressure across the floor to press effectively.
Support - As the shoe itself is soft and malleable, it isn’t desired for something such as max effort barbell back squats and front squats. If you have done squats with soft shoes, you might find yourself with a wriggle room and the uneven pressure when trying to solidify your stance. This doesn’t improve with weight increasing, and only amplifies small problems into bigger ones. Avoid this at all costs.
Verdict:
These general gym and running shoes are acceptable to learn how to squat and for the recreational lifter. But if you were to take it seriously and look at max effort squats (like your bodybuilding, sports performance or even powerlifting/crossfit) style - it’s best to invest into something else that can take you far.
B. Flat hard soled shoes
We’re talking converse, vans or maybe in the metcons.
These are great to have, when they’re light, stable and flat. I love the flatness in the shoes; but as always about context!
Pushing: Amazing for pushing, but depends on who you are. I personally have always struggled with the inversion of my feet (when feet cave in) when squatting, which become a big problem when trying to hit bigger weights in my beginner stages. Could this be fixed with the flat soled shoes?
Most definitely
The cue I’d recommend is the spread the floor cue - but I won’t go into too much detail on this because this blog is about shoes!
Support: The support of shoes that are flat soled aren’t too bad, it’s not too soft like the running/tennis shoes that cause you to wobble in your ankles, but not too supportive like the olympic weightlifting shoe which we will talk about further one.
Planting and feeling supported is just right smack bang in the middle between the 3 types - and that’s what we expected - isn't it?
Verdict: Overall a great shoe to use for everyday use, and also for squats. But what’s the issue with this? It can cause problems for those who don’t have the ankle dorsiflexion or flexibility to be as upright, or hit depth.
There are shoes such as the metons variations which are made for cross training and multiple purposes (i.e running) but when it comes to vans or converse which are more flat based, I wouldn’t recommend this for the running aspect if that’s part of your game.
C. Olympic weightlifting Shoes
Walking around the gym, you might see people wearing these fancy high coloured, odd shaped shoes that seem to make them walk like penguins. If you have, then you might have just seen someone with a pair of olympic weightlifting shoes!
These shoes are more solid in structure and all of them have a sort of elevated heel with them that can range from 0.25 to 0.75 inches. We’ll talk more about this in more depth soon!
Pushing: I can’t recommend these enough - but that’s in the name of the shoe itself!
These shoes are made for squatting and power based movements. From your back squats, front squats, snatch, clean and jerk and can even help with movements like your goblet squats and your leg press for that extra quad dominance.
Pushing through these will make you understand the importance of even pressure across the foot to drive and generating force - very much like your flat soled shoes but on steroids!
Support: There have been a few squat shoes that I’ve owned which were lighter and more flexible, and they didn’t last long in my usage. Shoes that I have used are the Romaleos 2, which are more stable. That isn’t to say the others aren’t - I just haven’t used them yet!
But when taking steps out, walking into your squat stance, you feel confident that you will plant and also not squish in or evert your feet like the tennis shoes, general gym shoe or your flat shoes.
Advantages:
Like we had mentioned - the squat shoe has an immaculate little thing called the heel - it’s elevated!
What does this do? It increases your motion in your ankles that can allow you to get more upright in your squats - so that’s a plus when you can decrease the tension on your lower back!
Not only this, with more quad recruitment; it means more power from those muscles too.
If you’re doing movements like the snatch or clean and jerk, this is a great advantage to have too - with the ability to get into those specific motions almost instantly.
Verdict:
Use these if you are struggling to hit depth, wanting to learn the snatch and clean and jerk, or if you just want a solid shoe made for the squat!
So what’s the overall choice?
First, if you need to squat - I highly recommend investing in a pair of shoes that you can regularly use. Either the olympic weightlifting shoe or a solid shoe that allows you to do so comfortable and repetitively (like the converse - such a solid choice!)
But if you are training that also requires running and multiple other movements - then this is where we recommend the multi use shoe. Cross Training shoes for the gym plus running and more are becoming more and more common now - and all you really have to check up is “crossfit training shoes” where you will find designs such as the Metcons which I earlier mentioned.
The classic tennis shoe or running shoe is made exactly for that. It’s specifically designed to be there - as the squat shoes are for their reasons. So why invest in the right shoe?
It’s just a matter of knowing that you have the right equipment for the right means that you will allow yourself to be able to progress to the best of your ability.
Sean Koh
Exercise Physiologist, Exercise Scientist, Personal Trainer & Strength Coach
Post Graduate Diploma (Exercise Physiology) & B.Sc. (Exercise, Sports & Rehabilitation)