Running shoes are designed for running and weightlifting shoes are designed for…well you can finish the sentence. Then why do so many people lift at the gym with running shoes?

Here is what a power clean looks like in slo-mo wearing spongy, cushy running shoes.

Now here is what a power clean looks like wearing a pair of weightlifting shoes.

For contrast, go back and look at the squishy running shoes again.

If you were a runner, you wouldn’t think twice about going out and getting a pair of running shoes, in fact several throughout the course of a year, would you? Well, if weightlifting is your thing, what is holding you back from getting proper footwear for your sport?

MarkFu’s Blue Suede Do-Wins

You can get a nice comparison of the most popular weightlifting shoes and decide for yourself and read Mark Rippetoe’s comments about the advantages of weightlifting shoes in general.

Adidas has long been the pre-eminent weightlifting shoe around the world and for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing but this year Nike has a shoe in the competition, the Nike Romaleos and you will see Team USA, Team China and Team Ukraine wearing them. At the moment, they are unavailable to the rest of us.

Related posts:

  1. The Nike Romaleos Weightlifting ShoeYesterday was MarkFu's birthday and Val came through with a surprise gift, due to arrive tomorrow. They are the Nike Romaleos weightlifting shoe-Nike's first shoe for this sport. If you have been watching any of the Olympic weightlifting on nbcolympics, you will see virtually every athlete wearing Adidas, which have...
  2. Weightlifting ShoesHaving just begun using weightlifting shoes and loving the added stability and increases in my lifts recently, it was nice to come across this article posted at stronglifts.com. and IronMaven. "Why Weightlifting Shoes", by Andrew Charniga, Jr. When I was a runner, I had my daily training shoes but on...
  3. Are Weightlifting Belts Really Necessary?Mehdi over at stronglifts.com outlined the pros and cons of using weightlifting belts, which were and are primarily used by Olympic lfiters and power lifters. Personally, I don't use one, but did recently doing a 605# rack pull which I had never done before. I think they are a great...
  4. Roach, Burgener Qualify For the US Olympic Weightlifting Team Melanie Roach qualified Saturday as the top US female on a team of 4 women going to Beijing to compete in the Summer Olympics. Rounding out the rest of the US womens' team are Carissa Gump, Natalie Woolfolk and third time Olympian, Cheryl Haworth. The US Olympic Weightlifting Trials...
  5. Casey Burgener NOT Lifting in Beijing??With just a day before the 2008 Olympics begin in Beijing, we've learned that Casey Burgener, who earned the #3 slot for the US men's team will not be competing. Casey called his parents early this morning from Beijing informing them he will not be competing. Casey's fate apparently was decided...
  6. Miniature Pulldawg I bought my first pair of weightlifting shoes, blue suede Do-Wins and they arrived today from Wichita Falls Weightlifting and Glenn Pendlay. The shoes worked great and I was able to power clean 100 lbs more than my previous best. (NOT!) Seriously though, they fit great and I think...
  7. Val Races Corona del Mar 5KVal's 2008 racing season, this being her fifth race, have all been marked by cool, overcast conditions with little or no breeze and that suits her just fine since she "runs hot" anyway. This was another of her sub-7:00 minute/mile races which also keeps her time for this 5K (3.1...