What shoes should I wear in the gym?

When I say “in the gym,” I am specifically referring to what shoes you should be wearing for strength or hypertrophy training - lifting weights, bodyweight training, etc not necessarily for CrossFit or running on the treadmill.

A lot of exercises require you to apply force to the ground either directly as part of the exercise (like a squat) or indirectly or for stability (Like a machine chest press).

Shoes are the interface between us on the ground (unless your gym allows you to train barefoot).

There are a few important factors when deciding what “interface” we are going to use.

Number 1 - Do they Provide a Rigid Surface

All lifting shoes, regardless of other factors, should provide a rigid surface to stand on.

The last thing we want is to try to produce maximal force while standing on a squishy surface.

Think of it as if you were trying to do a heavy squat in a bouncy castle. You would be wobbling all over the place, and a lot of the force you produce would be absorbed by the inflatable floor you are standing on.

On a smaller scale, this is what lifting in running shoes is like. They are specifically designed to absorb force when you are running, and they continue to do so when you are lifting.

Shoes that provide a rigid surface.

• Socks or deadlift slippers

• Vans, chucks or stiff soles street shoes

• Crossfit Shoes (Nike Metcon, Rebook Nano etc)

• Purpose-made lifting shoes (Nike Romaleos, Adidas Powerlift, Notorious Lift etc)  

Number 2 - Do you want a heel or a flat shoe?

Whether you want a heel or not and how much of a heel is based on the lift you are doing and your preference.

A heel raises the back of your foot higher than the front of your foot. This provides you with “artificial” ankle mobility, allowing you to get your knees further over your toes than you usually would.

Squats

The main exercises that this matters for are anything that requires you to get your knees over your toes, like a lunge or squat (barbell squat, hack squat, clean and press, snatch, etc).

Some people (I am some people) do not have the required ankle mobility to comfortably get their knees far enough over their toes to perform these movements. This is especially true for those with proportionally longer femurs and/or less mobile hips, as these factors require you to get your knees even further over your toes.

If you are unsure if you would benefit from squatting in heels, try to borrow some shoes or use a squat wedge or plate under your heel. If it feels better and stronger, then maybe it is worth getting some heeled shoes.

Bench Press

At a powerlifting competition, one of my athletes had his first bench press attempt disqualified because the referee made the call that his heels were coming off the ground (this is against the rules in most federations). They were moving slightly, but the shoes he wore tapered up at the back, which visually exaggerated how much his heels moved. I got him to switch to my squat shoes for the next attempt, and there were no more issues for the last two bench press attempts.

For bench press, there is no inherent performance benefit to wearing heels, but if you are competing in a powerlifting competition that requires you to keep your heels down, then wearing shoes with a heel can help you do this. This may be especially helpful for shorter lifters who struggle more to reach the ground.

Deadlift

I have known some people to prefer deadlifting in heels, but in general, heels are a disadvantage for the deadlift. The main reason is that by elevating your heel, you increase your leg length, which requires you to bend over further to reach the bar. This is the same as doing a deficit deadlift, and for most people, it will reduce the weight they can use.

The second reason is that it may encourage you to tip forward over the bar more during your deadlift, which will also make it mechanically less efficient.

Other Lifts

For basically every other movement, it does not matter what shoes you wear as long as they are comfortable and provide a rigid base of support for you to interface with the ground. A flat sole or very slight heel (~3mm)  is generally more comfortable to walk around in, as this is similar to our everyday shoes.

Number 3 - How thick do you want the soles to be?

This is, again, activity-specific and mostly matters for deadlifts or lifts where you have to pick up the weight from the ground (stones, other strongman lifts).

Like how a heel increases your leg length, the overall thickness of the sole also contributes to this. Doing a deadlift in 60s platform shoes is going to be considerably more difficult.

This is why most people opt for a deadlift slipper or shoe with a minimally thick sole.

The thickness of a shoe will also determine the weight. For activities such as jumps, muscle ups or front levels, having a few extra hundred grams on the end of your legs may make a meaningful difference to your performance.

How should I choose my shoes?

In general, for most casual gym goers who only want to take one pair of shoes to the gym, something like the CrossFit shoes or stiff street shoes that I mentioned above will do the trick.

If you are serious about powerlifting or another strength sport, you may want different shoes for different activities (e.g. squat shoes, deadlift slippers).

Trying on shoes in a store can give you some idea, but they may feel different if you are under a couple of hundred kilos. 

The best thing you can do is to make some friends who are of a similar shoe size to you and ask them to lend them.

My one last piece of advice is that many of the shoes come in “men's” and “women's” styles. Sometimes, this just means that they have a different colour scheme, but often, the men's shoes are wider or have other differences. So, it can be worth trying on both the men's and women's shoes of a particular model to see which is more comfortable.