Banchad

Hit my PR of 95kg (at 82kg bodyweight) 5x5 squat recently. Looking to hit 100kg soon.

carleton

Nice!

Banchad

At what weight should I start using squat shoes? I feel the ones I'm using now are a bit squishy. Got any suggestions?

gtrob

I recently picked up a pair of 'minimalist' running shoes that are probably a good alternative. Very little cushion and force you to heel strike less when you are walking, and I noticed I have much better stability doing squats in them.

Banchad

Please don't say you use those horrific individual toe monstrosities.

Baby Puke

Chuck Taylors are favored short of full-on lifting shoes. Not squishy. Quinn can correct me here.

Minion1

Ditto with the chucks, there's zero heel lift which makes my knees happy (the shoes don't throw your knees forward like running shoes with a bunch of lift in the heel). IMHO better than squatting or doing dead in socks which I see quite a few people doing, but I haven't used proper lifting shoes so YMMV.

carleton

I use Adidas lifting shoes with wooden heels. I don't think wood is an option anymore. I think they use resin now. I had a coach prescribe them back in 2010. The same pair are still going strong after 5 years. I've never used Chucks so I can't compare. It's a preference I guess. But, I'm not sure if a pair Chucks would last 5+ years.

I don't lift crazy heavy weights, though. 1.5x my body weight is as high as I'll go. No need for me to push further than that.

Minion1

I've nearly worn out this pair of chucks in about 12 months, which isn't bad because i use them for running errands, housework, and whatnot as well, but yeah - at about 50 bucks a pair, it might be a false economy depending on the price of lifting shoes. Will see how much longer they last and consider this next time round.

sea coil

I didn't think my first post here would be about weightlifting. I've been squatting since college (I'm 61, never competitively), and was fortunate to learn good technique from some old dinosaurs. Many of them squatted barefoot, and I still do. Elevating your heels to any extent shifts force to your knees.

Baby Puke

My Chucks are in fact more than five years old and still going strong, but they have never been used outside the gym.

gtrob

lol no not that bad. They are new balance minimus, basically take a normal running shoe and cut the 1in cushion on the heel down to 1/4. Its odd the difference you feel without all that rubber and your foot flat.

New Balance Minimus Zero Running Shoes Review | Running Shoes Guru

VanceMac

Lifting going reasonably well. I eschewed my usual base training last winter and focused more on lifting. Then, once the bike intensity started to ramp up, I backed off a bit beginning of March. For in-season maintenance mode, my sweet spot seems to be 2x/week at levels of about 85% of off-season peak.

carleton

Hey! Welcome to the forum!

sea coil

Thank you. I guess I should post on the introduction thread.

Minion1

Now that we're into the offseason how here, I've changed up the lifting schedule a bit - I've done about 9 months with Starting Strength, and have moved to a more intense lifting routine - 3 to 5 reps, for five sets, close to Texas method with some tweaks. 2 points,
1) ouch!
and 2) squatting twice a week rather than three times a week is awesome. Lower back isn't sore all week, and I'm finding I can hit the reps a bit harder and push the weight up a bit. Disrupting the program a bit has been great, and it's been good timing to keep the interest going now that the weather's got a lot colder and the intensity of the bike work has dropped off quite a long way.

Banchad

I thought for this particular application it didn't really matter? Surely you would be making better use of your time by strengthening the calves, ankles and knees for better force transferral to the pedals? Welcome to the forum!

sea coil

Flat footed squats hit all those areas. Elevating one's heels shifts shear force to the knees. Shoes, even the best, can also introduce lateral instability, something I like to avoid. I can't see any downside to barefoot squats. They've worked for me for years, and my 61 year old knees are still in good shape. Others may disagree.

queerpunk

This video is a good illustration of what happens when the heel lifts.

Plus other stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av3LO2GwpAk

Banchad

Cool. Thanks for the advice. I'll give barefoot a go before getting some squat shoes.

Banchad

+1
Good video.

Minion1

Slightly personal question, but....
Body weight. I have a target of getting up to about 95kg, at 6ft. What I wanted to know, in case I'm barking right up the wrong tree, is; how heavy is too heavy, is there such a thing?
I've pinned 95kg as a target weight because it's the off season and I am looking to increase strength, and will probably lose a few kilos when the season starts again. Also the weight limit on my race wheels is 95kg .
I'm assuming strength = faster, and I had plateaued in the gym at 88-89kg, and during the offy I have a lot more fun in the gym than doing much of anything that involves bikes.
Ideas? Should I be shooting for the stars or going for a different target? Worst comes to worst I get it wrong and have to adjust later in the year, and create a cool story about what not​ to do.

carleton

95kg / 210lbs isn't too heavy. That's about where national and world-class sprinters weigh-in.

As far as goals go, if you just plan on sprinting, a basic program is to:

- Take a month off after the season and drink beer and eat pizza. Relax an do what feels nice that you haven't done all year.
- Then spend like 3-4 months just lifting heavy 3x/week and gaining pure strength (without much of any power work). By this time, your rapid gains will have faded and you'll have done a few resets of your heavy lifts. Ride to work on weight management and basic fitness.
- Then around the 4th or 5th month start adding power exercises to your program to learn not just to move heavy weights, but move them quickly as you start becoming more functional as you season approaches.

That is a *very* basic outline of a *very* basic sprint training program that is centered around lifting. The key is to find a good lifting program (Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, custom) anything that offers a progressive schedule. The program you choose will help you understand how to progress. Just remember that all of these weightlifting programs don't take into account that you are riding your bike a couple of times/week as well. So, somehow account for that when you tweak their program.

Minion1

Thanks Carleton, that sounds like a good plan - Im about to take off for 3 weeks holiday, so that's really good timing to take a break!
I have worked through Starting strength for about 18 months, and had a couple of resets, a couple of periods out of the gym and had kept on stalling out at around about the same weight for squat and dead lifts, and one of the trainers at the gym tweaked my program to restart the progression. I got a new diet plan as well, but because I was getting some outside advice I wanted to check and make sure I wasn't drastically off track.
But really I'm sick of being an enduro and like eating. I like it a lot.

gtrob

Day after some heavy lifting, in a DOMS nightmare, do you find going for an easy spin helps? I find once I get moving I feel a bit better but when I stop again it comes back. Do you find it speeds or hinders recovery? Im talking zone 1, lazy slow coffee ride for maybe 60mins. Or is the best thing to just be a log on the couch