Monday, November 21, 2016

Weightlifting shoe heel height- Trend or Utility - the best heel height for you.

All the time I am asked about heel heights for weightlifting shoes and what the best heel height is.  Based on how the question is asked, I can even tell what sport the lifter is coming from and what lifting trend they are following.

So, in this post, I'll give you a brief history of weightlifting shoe heel trends, including which gave the biggest results.

First, let's talk a little sociology.

Heel height of weightlifting and what is a considered a "big heel" or a "small heel" has become incredibly perception based. Depending on what path the lifter has taken, their view on what a heel should be can be incredibly skewed.  Someone coming from Starting Strength views anything over a 1/2 inch heel height as gigantic. Someone coming from CrossFit is looking for between a ".75 inch and 1 inch effective heel"( To this day, I'm convinced the term "effective heel" was spawned on a crossfit forum somewhere as many shoe manufacturers don't use the term). Someone coming from a strict Olympic weightlifting background is looking for over an inch heel, many want between 1/18 inch to 1 1/2 inches.   Then you have what I call general purpose lifting - strength athletes that squat and do some cleans,bodybuilders looking to up their leg game-- they just want something with a heel.

You may be wondering - "so who is right?" . From my experience, for the 99% of the population, there's really two groupings for two purposes - ultra low heel for starting strength followers/low bar squat and an actual weightlifting heel for everybody else.

Starting strength and low-bar back squatters for their own special goals and purposes- which differ from crossfitters, weightlifters, bodybuilders, and other strength athletes- advocates a 1/2 inch heel. For this reason, many years ago Risto Sports made a highly successful shoe for a distributor geared towards starting strength (that distributor replaced it with an inferior vinyl EVA heel shoe made in China).  Now, Risto Sports carries a 1/2 inch heel just for lifters that fall into this segment, because they have their special reasons for wanting a 1/2inch heel, and they deserve a shoe made from the best materials!

Now, there is everybody else- weightlifters, crossfitters, powerlifters, strongmen, bodybuilders, athletes training for strength sports - all squat and many do at least power cleans. For this group, a heel height of between 1 1/8inch and 1 1/2inch has traditionally yielded the best results in snatch, clean and jerk, and squat. This is why Risto Sports makes shoes in this heel height range. Famous "high bar" squatters in powerlifting have used olympic weightlifting shoes. And, some of the best bodybuilders in the world, with the best quads-- ie TOM PLATZ--have squatted in the standard olympic weightlifting shoe heel height as a long hidden trade secret. You can even find photos of Arnold squatting on plates to get more heel height (not recommended as this can cause ankle injuries).

There are shoes on the market targeted at crossfitters that have a heel somewhere between the low heel and a normal weightlifting heel-- this is often a miserable compromise in the shoe design, in an attempt to make an all around shoe. Plus, the CF Games title sponsor's crossfit footwear is, currently, the only footwear allowed to be worn at the games. Still, outside the CF Games and the pre-reebok crossfit years, you will notice many high level crossfitters do their heavy snatches, clean and jerks, and squats in weightlifting shoes.

The short answer on what the best heel height is:

The heaviest lifts ever, pound for pound, were done in the 1980's. These incredible world records were erased due to weight class changes*.  Many of these lifters had shoes with around between a 1/4inch 1/2inch forefoot with and around a  1 1/2inch heel height.  So, yes, you want an "effective heel" or delta heel height was an inch or more!  likely, not much less than an inch delta for small sizes! Certainly, a quarter inch higher than plastic and EVA heel shoes!!!!!

Want proof, take a look at these incredible photos:

This one is of Dravco Stoichjov lifting 215kg clean and jerk as a 75kg in the early 80's- 1984ish. I took this photo in Slavia, Bulgaria.  He's wearing wood heel shoes with the traditional heel height which some people view as "big" . The current 77kg record is 214kg!
Dravco Stoichkov doing an insane 215kg clean and jerk at around 75kg bodyweight circa 1984 -ish. Higher than the world record today in 77's, weighing less! He's wearing wood heel shoes with a heel height similar to Risto Sports. Much higher than plastic heel or EVA heel shoes
Here's one of Vardanyan who is famous for totaling 400kg at 82.5kg and outlifting even the competitors of the 2 heavier weight classes above him. Note the shoes. Look at the shoes his competitors are wearing-- do you see any ultra low heels? Nope.

Photo credit from wikipedia, 1980 Olympics article. Yuri Vardanyan winning Gold at the 1980 Olympics

The Long answer on why heels got lower:

My engineering guess on why shoes with plastic heels and EVA heels have smaller heel heights

1a.Simple, the plastic is more likely to crack.  There is a lot of flexion going on midfoot during the final extension of the pull and in the jerk. Plastic is known to soften as it is worked (think of bending a plastic fork back and forth), so having a bigger delta between the back of the heel and the forefoot is asking more of the material.

1b. EVA is a soft material. It is made for cushioning. Sure, the type of EVA used in lifting shoes are a bit stiffer than what you find in neck supports. YET, they still compress more than a wood heel, they still suck more energy out of your lift than a wood heel. Now, imagine if you doubled the height of the EVA, the squishy-ness would be even more noticeable. It would act as an even bigger damper.

2. Cost Reductions -- I have worked in companies , where because of volume, we would work projects aimed at reducing just a 1/4 inch of material off of a part.  Smaller heels are cheaper to make because they use less material.

3. Lack of expertise-- Let's face it, two of the biggest weightlifting shoe companies in the world are not weightlifting companies. One is a soccer shoe company. The other is a running shoe company.   The market dynamics are something like this.....One company sold a little more shoes one year as a novelty, so the other followed their trend and lowered their heel heights.

So, are you really going to wear a shoe because a company wanted to cheap out on the design? Do you really trust a company that was born for the purpose of making running shoes to tell you what to lift in?

Negative effects of wearing too low a heel:

The lower the heel gets, the wider a lifter's stance must get to attain the same torso postions.

Nowadays, there are any videos of lifters barely breaking parallel in their squats.  If you look at lifters from the 80's and 90's that lifted more than today's lifters, they are squatting "ass to grass".

So, a lower heel height will make it more difficult for a lifter to attain for squat depth.  The lifter may be able to attain full depth with discomfort.

Why do we even care about full squat depth?  Well, you can predict an athlete's total based on their back squat if and only if they are squatting full depth. In other words, giving me the PR back squat of someone who does half squats is like a useless statistic for me. It tells me nothing.

Also, fully squatting has big benefits. Some studies shows it is less wear on the knees as the motion is completed smoothly. A full squat utilizes more of the posterior chain --- more muscles to generate power.  I can get into this for hours.  This is my abridged answer.


Check out Khaki Khakisavillis doing full squats in Russian boots (Russian style weightlifting boots) in this training hall video.


Here is a video from my personal stash training in Bulgaria, circa early 2008, before those plastic ultra-low heels appeared on the market.  Note, lifter's full squatting.




Now, here's a video from the 2016 Junior World Championships from our friends at All Things Gym, note around the 4:24 minute mark the squatting segment.  Most of the squats barely break parallel if even, and look how wide her stance is in comparison to the Risto Sports and Iron Mind videos.  There are several other training hall videos showing this trend; the lifters have one thing, for the most part, in common- plastic lower heel shoes.



This is simply meant to be an observation and not a criticism.  

My advice - wear a shoe that's going to help you fully squat comfortably.


* weight classes changed due to substances that were once legal to take became prohibited and dopign was seen to be wide spread in the late 80's. However, recent doping retests of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games shows that many top lifters were doping, anyhow, and still had lower results than lifters in the 80's.

**Note, the heel height is relative to the "lift" in the ball of the foot(I'll get to that later), which subtracted from the heel height gives, what crossfitters call, an "effective heel".

*** Ok, now time for me to shamelessly plug Risto Sports. You can get real weightlifting heels heights at a great price and fair trade at www.ristosports.com  .

Leave weightlifting shoes to an actual weightlifting company. ;)

8 comments:

scc said...

Great post. I'll toss you a softball to continue the shameless plus. Are the shoes/boots True to size? Wide, narrow, etc.?

scc said...

Plug. Not plus.

Sangeetha said...

Find the best details about weight lifting at edial to get more information

gwen said...

Hi SCC. Thanks, I figure if I take time to write a post with some thought and research behind it, then its ok to put in a shameless plug LOL =)

The Risto's are true to size. Many customers report that they have the same size in Risto as Nike. Risto's are definitely a little wider than adidas, adidas tends to run narrow.

They are hand made and leather, so we encourage allowing a week or two for them to fully break in.

scc said...

Thanks so much. I'm using Adidas and they are narrow (as are their running shoes). I want the Risto Russian boots but lacking patience I don't want to wait 10 weeks! Decisions.

gwen said...

SCC, we have a few Russian boots in stock. We have size 12 and 8.5. We have the Tom Platz shoes I think in 10-12.5.

Basically, shoot me an email and I can give you a run down on which boots are in stock.

We always keep a few pairs on hand, even though they are made to order.

You can get 20% till the end of the month, so its a really good deal.
Contact---- gwens(at) ristosports [dot] com

Anonymous said...

Any promotion code or discount for the Tom Platz or Risto shoes?

Roy Cracia said...


Thanks for sharing your experience.
My kids are always playing, running, or jumping in my yard. So I was searching for some insoles for my kids, and suddenly I got a website with having some
Ultra Light Shoe Surfer Orthotic Insoles for kids, which are very comfortable to use. Actually, they are really providing good quality products. You should try their products at once. They really have Ultra Light Shoe Surfer Orthotic Insoles for children. For more info you can visit their online store.

Lifting in Kazakhstan, Temirtau, Ilyin's former gym

Lifting in Kazakhstan, Temirtau, Ilyin's former gym
In Temirtau, Kazakhstan. Still, unable to do any overhead work from a ligament tear, I'm just rehabbing with pulls to retrain my muscles. Training next to me is the Youth and Junior team of Temirtau. Ilya Ilyin used to train in this facility as a junior. As well as a recent Junior World Champion, Maksim

Snatching 92kg at the Risto Olympia Cup

Snatching 92kg at the Risto Olympia Cup
This was the 2nd highest snatch in all of the USA for 2014 in official competition for women's 69kg weight class. The only athlete to snatch higher was Jenny Arthur with 98kg. At the time, she was lifting for USAW weightlifting club Risto Team.

Oscar Figueroa,Olympic Silver Medalist, World medalist 2009

Oscar Figueroa,Olympic Silver  Medalist, World medalist 2009
Pictured at Salitre with Oscar Figueroa in center.

Popular Posts

Carlos Andica training with Coach Ivan

Carlos Andica training with Coach Ivan

Arnold, Carlos & Joni Andica

Arnold, Carlos & Joni Andica
Right before Coach Ivan consulted Carlos for the 2011 Pan AM Games, where he broke a Pan AM record. These guys were unofficially competing for Risto Team at the 2011 Arnold.

Shoe porn

Shoe porn
Russian boots, classic weightlifting shoes with modern shoe technology. Exquisite full leather upper, wood heel, rawhide forefoot, natural rubber outsole. One of a kind.

Documenting history of singlets

Documenting history of singlets
USAW national team member in Risto Singlet

Ivan in the Warm-up room with the Andica Brothers

Ivan in the Warm-up room with the Andica Brothers

Leidy Solis- PAN AM Champion 2009

Leidy Solis- PAN AM Champion 2009
Leidy in winning form, she's wearing risto weightlifting shoes. Congratulations Leidy!

Exceeding expectations -Archive

Exceeding expectations -Archive
Classic weightliftng shoe design with modern accents. These were produced by Risto Sports

In Iceland

In Iceland

Coach Jonny Pan AM champ

Coach Jonny Pan AM champ
Afternoon coach, doing pwr cleans while his lifters finish up

shoeporn

shoeporn
note pawprints

Abs

Abs
More on Facebook

Shoeporn-Custom Weightlifting shoe history

Shoeporn-Custom Weightlifting shoe history

Documenting shoe history

Documenting shoe history
first commercial shoe marketed to youth sizes

Bucharest Training Center

Bucharest Training Center
Ramanian Coach Doru, Ivan, Romanian Lifter Eiza

Nikolai Stoichkov- JR Bulgarian Lifter, son of Zdravco Stoichkov

Nikolai Stoichkov- JR Bulgarian Lifter, son of Zdravco Stoichkov
Training with a pair of Botev shoes. These shoes take a beating of 18000 to 20000 reps per year and heavy loads 90-100% - Also known as the Bulgarian system.

sweet singlet

sweet singlet

Future Champion- Tough lifters wear pink!

Future Champion- Tough lifters wear pink!
Gwendolyn Rojas getting ready to snatch 60kgs at 20kg bodyweight and 4 years old.

Stoichkov in Action

Stoichkov in Action
Coach Stoichkov adjusting my starting position.

Ivan giving training advice in Frankfurt Oder

Ivan giving training advice in Frankfurt Oder
Here Ivan, as a coach, is giving lifting advice to German Junior lifters at the Olympic Training Center in Frankfurt Oder, Germany. Yes, Ivan is fluent in German and is speaking German to the lifters.

Working out with the Champs

Working out with the Champs
Gwen squatting wth Georgiev, Peschalov, and new lifter in background

Training in Bulgaria - Gwen and Coach Zdravco Stoichov

Training in Bulgaria - Gwen and Coach Zdravco Stoichov
Stoichov is coach of Peschalov, Georgiev, etc. Also of key interest: Similar to USA lifters missing out on their chance to medal at the 1980 Olympics , at the time of the boycotted '84 Olympic Games, Stoichkov outlifted the LA Games Gold Medalist at the Friendship Games/ Druzhba Games. The Druzhba Games were held in 1984 by Eastern bloc countries not participating in LA.

Ivan with Nikolai Gergov, Bulgarian Wrestling Champion

Ivan with Nikolai Gergov, Bulgarian Wrestling Champion
Ivan with the Greco wrestling world champ, Nikolai Gergov, after their workout. I still think its uncanny how elite athletes from multiple sports would just show up at Slavia for a workout (....and atleast one ask for lifting advice). Again, overall, Bulgarian athletes were humble or, rather, didn't "have an attitude" in the gym.

Gewichtheben - training at the German Olympic training center in Frankfurt am der Oder

Gewichtheben - training at the German Olympic training center in Frankfurt am der Oder
Me with the German Junior Team and Coach/German Olympian Lars Betker

Documenting shoe history: Coach Burgener Shoe

Documenting shoe history: Coach Burgener Shoe
A wonderfully patriotic, Americana themed shoe and T-shirt. GO USA!!!

Gwen posing with Peschalov

Gwen posing with Peschalov

Stoichkov during competitive years

Stoichkov during competitive years
Vintage photo of Stoichkov winning international Championship

Rumy, Bulgarian lifter

Rumy, Bulgarian lifter
Rumy,75kg lifter, stops by for a light workout in Slavia, Bulgaria

Botev stops by Slavia

Botev stops by Slavia
Gwen, Stefan Botev (multi-time Olympic Medalist and world champion), and Ivan

Gwen with Power Clean/slpit jerk with 80kg

Gwen with Power Clean/slpit jerk with 80kg
First workout in Slavia.

Size perspective for youtube video

Size perspective for youtube video
In Beijing, junior lifter

Ivan and Eric, the speedskater

Ivan and Eric, the speedskater
After a hard work out, Ivan and Eric go summertime cycling in Maine. Eric is a competitive Speedskater and a proud owner of weightlifting shoes. Ahhh ...nothing like summers in Maine!!

Stefan Georgiev

Stefan Georgiev
World and European Champion, 62kg. Rooting for him to medal in the 2008 Olympic Games!

Hanging out with Weighlifting heroes

Hanging out with Weighlifting heroes
Peschalov, Stoichov, self, and husband

Old Stuff - shoe porn

Old Stuff - shoe porn

Peschalov and Coach

Peschalov and Coach
Peschalov trained with Stoichkov leading up to his Gold medal win in 2000 Olympic Games

Training in Kennedy, Bogota

Training in Kennedy, Bogota

Euvgeni Popov, Stoichov, and Gwen

Euvgeni Popov, Stoichov, and Gwen
Popov - 1980's Bulgarian weightlifting team, also accomplished power lifter and strongman competitor.

Beijing - Gongti Area

Beijing - Gongti Area
Gwen lifting at second training location in Beijing near Workers Stadium, Gongti

Sylvia, Bulgarian Junior lifter, wearing Botev shoes

Sylvia, Bulgarian Junior lifter, wearing Botev shoes
Schoolage Champ, one of Stoichov's newer lifters. Sylvia also trains in Botev shoes. Her pair is also several years old and has lasted over 18K reps per year!

Romania - Training Center in Bucharest

Romania - Training Center in Bucharest
Me trining with Romanian lifters in Bucharest. Former USAW National Coach, Dragomir Ciroslan, had once lifted in this gym.

Wrestling World Champion (Greco) Nikolay Gergov working out in Slavia (BG), me in background

Wrestling World Champion (Greco) Nikolay Gergov working out in Slavia (BG), me in background
Nikolay Gergov is a Bulgarian Wrestling World Champion - Greco Roman 66kg category. Nikolai is already naemd to the 2008 Bulgarian Olympic Team. He is also competing at a meet at the Colorado Springs US OTC later this month (FEB 08). Anyhow, Nikolai just stops by for a workout in Slavia. He saw Ivan and I working out and asked Ivan for some technique coaching.

Gwen with Chinese coach of junior team at Chaoyang Ti Yu Chang (Beijing)

Gwen with Chinese coach of junior team at Chaoyang Ti Yu Chang (Beijing)
The coach pictured with me had won a gold medal in the snatch lifting against Karolina Lundhal (world champion) at the 1998 Worlds in Finland in 75Kg class.

Lifters in Bucharest

Lifters in Bucharest

Ivan with Coach Chiu, gongti area Beijing

Ivan with Coach Chiu, gongti area Beijing
After discussion of Chinese pull technique. Chiu is a former Junior World Champion.

Good Leather Smells good

Good Leather Smells good
Really, this was a Candid photo..."wow, this smells good"

Ivan Lifting in China - 2006

Ivan Lifting in China - 2006
Chinese training center, Chao Yang Ti Yu Chang in Beijing, a JR team pictured in background

Choayang Ti Yu Chang - Ivan with chinese junior lifters

Choayang Ti Yu Chang - Ivan with chinese junior lifters

Abigail Guererro, Almerimar, Spain 2004

Abigail Guererro, Almerimar, Spain 2004
In forefront, Abigail , who has been on the Spanish National Team, with teammates in background.

Me with Blessed Udoh, in Spain (DEC 2004)

Me with Blessed Udoh, in Spain (DEC 2004)
Blessed won the silver medal in 48kg at the 2001 World Championships representing Nigeria. She also trained in Bulgaria for the 2004 Olympics. Sadly to report that she died in Nigeria, last year.

Gwen lifting at Chaoyang Ti Yu Chang - Beijing,

Gwen lifting at  Chaoyang Ti Yu Chang - Beijing,
In Beijing, Chinese Juniors in background. Great kids, good sense of humor, listened to their formal coaches

Spain- Ivan and Miguel Borrazas

Spain- Ivan and Miguel Borrazas
Our good friend Miguel has coached Spain's national team.

Training Bogota

Training Bogota

Ivan with Coach Ediberto Barbosa, fmr Col natl team

Ivan with Coach Ediberto Barbosa, fmr  Col natl team

Mock Competition in Bogota

Mock Competition in Bogota
Gwen out snatches the challenger

Rick Bucinell, breaking master world record

Rick Bucinell, breaking master world record

Ivan arm wrestling Peschalov

Ivan arm wrestling Peschalov
My husband "attempting" to arm wrestle Peschalov with his good arm. Ivan remarked "Wow, he's strong..he was really trying to arm wrestle me" ..no kidding ....ha ha ha

Stuff you need to compete

Stuff you need to compete
Belts, singlets, knee and wrist wraps.

Little Gwen doing workout with new lifters

Little Gwen doing workout with new lifters

Me on Team USA which was sponsored by Risto Sports, 2010 University World Championships

Me on Team USA which was sponsored by Risto Sports, 2010 University World Championships
Me lifting for Team USA. We won 15 medals, Ivan was Assistant Coach to Team USA. We had no official uniforms-- until, THANKFULLY, Risto Sports donated gear such as USA polos and t-shirts, so we could at least match in some semblance of a uniform. The team got to represent our country well!

Tanya Morillas - 2004 in Spain

Tanya Morillas - 2004 in Spain
Training session at Almerimar. Subsequently, Tanya has been on Spanish national teams.

Dare Alabi , 77kg lifter (Nigeria)

Dare Alabi , 77kg lifter (Nigeria)
Nigerian lifter, Dare, lifting in Spain

warming up power cleans

warming up power cleans
Me training in Bogota Colombia