Flexibility vs Weight Lifting Shoes

[Matt Schellinger]

I have been getting more and more flexible when it comes to the olympic lifts and keeping my back up right. I feel much more comfortable in the weight lifting shoes when doing any of these movements and I am trying to find out when the fine line of not getting any more flexible and use the shoes is. Should I try to keep getting more flexible, or simply go with the shoes and if I am flexible enough in the shoes than that is good enough?

[Justin Fricke]

WL will work you flexibilty/ The shoes will help some of the limitations you have. But even more so the shoes will give you a very solid and stable footing, allow for more force through the heals, and give you bigger lifts. Shoot i would put weight lifting shoes on every one that squats even the beginners

[George Mounce]

Stay with the shoes, even if you are flexible enough.

[Ben Moskowitz]

Originally Posted by George Mounce

Stay with the shoes, even if you are flexible enough.

Even the pros do that.

Any development of flexibility through ballistic loading will not be "taken away" by weightlifting shoes. They will only make your lifts safer and of higher quality. Even a high level of flexibility is not a substitute for proper footwear. So there's no longer an argument.

[Brian Lawyer]

FWIW: during warmup's, I do some air squats, OH squats with Dowel rod, and duck walks with no shoes (just socks) for my ankle and hip flexibility with a focus of keeping weight firmly on heels and getting nice and deep. After that, I throw on the shoes and leave them on for the rest of my Barbell warmups and into my O'lifting workout.

[Garrett Smith]

Just try to wear non-heeled and relatively thin-soled shoes during the daytime (I wear my Vibram 5fingers several days a week to the office), making sure to do an "Asian squat" once in a while for a couple of minutes. That should maintain any flexibility you're concerned about.

[Matt Schellinger]

Thanks for the replies guys, since doing the WOD's for a little while, flexibility hasn't been nearly as big a concern as I was originally expecting it to be.