Top Three Things To Look For When Buying Weight Lifting Shoes

Article by Greg Gallon

Other than covering up your naked butt, most of your gym attire has little impact on your training itself. The weight lifting shoes you wear however, can play a pretty significant role in the exercises you do. Just like every other sport in existence whether it is soccer, baseball, tennis, running, rock climbing etc., there are also shoes specifically designed to provide proper support, grip and function while lifting at the gym.

The weight lifting shoes you wear to weight train at the gym are designed to allow you to do your exercises at the gym better. Proper form when weight training is one of the catalysts to tremendous results.

Proper form also helps to prevent injury. As part of your weight lifting gear a good pair of gym shoes will help you keep proper form and therefore are directly related to better results and fewer injuries. For the minimal investment that a good pair of gym shoes are they are more than worth it for these exact reasons.

The top three benefits that shoes provide is:

1) support2) stability3) grip

These directly relate to three key parts of the shoe:

1) vamp / upper (this is the part of the shoe that holds it onto your foot) 2) insole (the part your foot stands on)3) outsole (the part in direct contact with the ground).

We’ll give you some tips on what to look for in these three key area’s of a gym shoe.

Vamp / Upper

The lacing system of a good gym shoe will begin above the ankle and continue to where your toes meet your foot. The shoe should be able to fit the whole foot snugly. We prefer shoes that incorporate two extra support straps. One that is just above the ankle for extra ankle support and another across the mid section of the foot providing additional metatarsal support. Your gym shoe should feel like it would help prevent you from rolling your ankle. The vamp / upper of the shoe should hold your foot well against the insole of the shoe.

Insole

The insole of your shoe is vitally important. One of the big keys to muscle conditioning and growth as well as injury prevention is proper form. The key to proper form is proper balance and the best thing you can do to help ensure proper balance is stand on a firm stable surface. It will be very hard to maintain proper balance if the surface on which you are standing is unstable.

You should look for gym shoes that have a good firm sole. Air, gel and springy soles are not the ideal thing to find in a good gym shoe. The reason is that they are like strapping an unstable surface to the bottom of your foot. The last thing you need when you have 200, or 300, or maybe 400 pounds on your shoulders doing squats is an unstable foundation stuck to the bottom of your feet.

Outsole

The outsole is the part of the shoe that makes contact with the floor or ground and is the last truly vital part of your gym footwear. If you have great support from the vamp / upper part of your shoe and also a comfortable but firm and stable sole, what good will it provide if your shoes have awful grip on the floor? You are a disaster just waiting to happen if you are walking around your gym with slippery shoes. You should look for shoes with soles made of neoprene or crepe and with a good gripping low profile tread. Deep treads can work like the air, gel or springy kinds of shoes.

Pretty simple hey? You will not regret investing in a good pair of shoes for your weight training time at the gym. Better for equals better results. The logic is inescapable.

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