Chuck Taylors

[slobberknocker]

What is it about these that makes them such good powerlifting shoes?

 

[coolcolj]

They feel like cheap tennis shoes to me

But they are flat and have minimal soles, so not bad since they don't compress that much.
But they don't have any arch support, and don't feel that solid to me

 

[Zander1983]

For the moment I'm happy to lift in my Asics. They're perfect for my feet and body. Unfortunately they do compress, but I need arch support.

In a perfect world, I'll fit my orthotics into some chucks (if that's possible) or appropriate lifting shoes...

 

[slobberknocker]

The minimal soles part sounds good for deadlifting. Wonder how they are with squats.

 

[jackangel]

i'm going barefoot on heavy deads and squats.

 

[spatts]

They are flat on the outside, which is great if you wear a custom orthotic. If you place a custom orthotic into a flat shoe like a chuck, you get a direct transfer of force. There have been many studies on this WRT to cyclist. Cyclist who wore orthotics that brought their foot flat with the shoe/pedal had a direct transfer of energy into the pedal. Those that did not have this support had to first transfer energy in the foot, the foot flattens/caves against the pressure, and then transfers the energy into the pedal.

Now that's just cycling. Let's crank this up a notch to an 800 pound squat. Instead of the weight compressing everything, you end up very stable with evenly distributed force. With stable feet comes stable knees, hips, shoulders...and the importance increases progressively as you travel up the spine.

The other reason is the wide band around the outside. It makes it very easy to "spread the floor" when squatting. They are also very wide soled. Many shoes I've seen, the shoe hangs over the sole. With a chuck, the sole comes up and around the sides, completely covering the shoe. This prevents rolling (as stated above).

 

[slobberknocker]

Thanks spatts. That made perfect sense.

 

[coolcolj]

There are dedicated power squat shoes which have a heel -Crains etc, and flat Inzer

these cost more but you do get what you pay for

 

[Liftbig]

why pay more when chucks will get the job done right?

 

[Mike_Rojas]

I squat and dead in chucks. They really help you sit back.