Favorite training tools

Dugbet · Jun 15, 2021

lookslikesausage said:
I've used on basically all movements for legs except hammy exercises and/or posterior chain work. The only exercise where the OLY shoes seem to not be so great for me was on Walking Lunges. They seemed to aggravate my knees on those but my shoes have added heel height to them (they were custom made).

Lift shoes were designed for weightlifting movements, and are interesting for squats (also front, zecher...) or bench. I would not use them for the rest of the Bodybuilding leg exercises, deadlifts, etc ...

lookslikesausage · Jun 15, 2021

Dugbet said:
Lift shoes were designed for weightlifting movements, and are interesting for squats (also front, zecher...) or bench. I would not use them for the rest of the Bodybuilding leg exercises, deadlifts, etc ...

Absolutely. they put you on the ball of your foot. I've used them on conventional. Doable but not my favorite (more quad activation obviously). Also, used on Romanian and i don't prefer even though you see plenty of Olympic lifters wear them while doing Romanians. they're horrible and should never under any circumstances be used for Sumo Pulls. What they're really great for is Snatch DL. For people who utilize a big arch when benching (me when i did PLing), OLY shoes were incredibly helpful for this. I've always felt that long-legged guys and those who can't feel their quads much when doing "quad" moves should give them a try.

For years in the 90's and even in the early 2000s i squatted till i was blue in the face, always following what the mags were preaching. Little did i know that your low-bar back squat by itself wasn't going to give me my quads. I am over 6 ft and long-legged and of course i could not make a squat look like Tom Platz's. But i was dumb and continued on anyway and ended up with a strong lower back and a large ass from my efforts. Of course the mags back then never wrote about tall guys and how hitting a low depth with an upright torso (what you want when building quads) is damn near impossible without elevating heels if you're long legged or tall. Standing on plates or using a heeled shoe would've changed everything. You know what they say about hindsight...