When it comes to the question of equipment, I tend to be of the...



When it comes to the question of equipment, I tend to be of the opinion that when it’s time, you will know. In fact, I even try to discourage the use of gear in the earlier stages of learning how to lift for experience dictates that once you gear up, you rarely gear down.

Weightlifting shoes, on the other hand, are of a different vein. Position is king when it comes to accessing proper technique so why hold off on something that will improve your rate of learning on such a complex motor skill.

Weightlifting shoes offer the following benefits:

1. Stability. It frees up capacity to focus on other things when you don’t need to worry about grounding your feet.

2. Mobility. Having the advantage of the elevated heel is like having increased range of motion around the ankle joint.

3. Position. Having improved range around the ankle positively affects the position of the body by allowing the trunk to be more upright.

Now I am not saying that if you are stiff and immobile to use shoes as a crutch. Not at all. To fly in Olympic lifting, requisite time needs to be spent chiseling out those valuable corners. However, seeing as how (positional) strength is specific, save yourself some time in development and get into a pair of weightlifting shoes now.

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