Squat Shoe College Project

[RCameron001]

Hi everyone,

New to the forum and I was hoping I could get a few opinions/info for a college project.

I've been working out for many years and until fairly recently have avoided doing squats as my mobility is poor however, I can do them if I wear squat shoes and use a squat ramp and have had some pretty good results.

My project idea is a design for squat shoes that have greater than the standard 0.5" to 1" heel lift, so I can eliminate the need for a ramp.

I've searched the internet for shoes that have a heel height higher than 1" but they don't seem to exist.

So I was wondering if anyone can tell me how or why the standard heel heights of the currently available squat shoes were arrived at? I've done a little research into Olympic and some powerlifting association rules and I can't find anything that says squat shoe heels have to be within certain height criteria.

Also I've read that relying on things such as squat shoes and ramps will lead to physical problems in the long term but also can't find any information on exactly what those problems could be?

Any help answering those questions would be much appreciated

[radrd]

Why do you have such poor mobility?

[RCameron001]

Why do you have such poor mobility?

It's just something I'm blessed with I guess. From what I've seen online many other people have the same problem.

I do a lot of stretching and have tried various routines that claim to improve mobility but I can't even get a reasonable depth when wearing squat shoes, hence the ramp

[air2fakie]

College project done. You're welcome.

[RCameron001]

Hahaha thanks

[JustTheDad]

It's just something I'm blessed with I guess. From what I've seen online many other people have the same problem.

I do a lot of stretching and have tried various routines that claim to improve mobility but I can't even get a reasonable depth when wearing squat shoes, hence the ramp

Anterior pelvic tilt? My son had that, possibly from playing goalie in hockey too much and for too long when he was a chubby little kid, maybe from being chubby or just genetics. Don't know what was the chicken, the egg, the horse or the cart. He was given a very specific workout that an excellent physical therapist developed for him. Weird stuff with a step stool and small 6 or 8" balls he had to hold between his knees or ankles while lying on his side with one foot on a stool and one on the wall and you know, just really strange positions to isolate a few very weak muscles. He was pretty religious about doing it for a couple of months and made huge improvements. His squats and pretty much every stretch have much better ROM.

Not saying a pelvic tilt is your issue, but it could be and it had very little to do with muscle flexibility. It was more related to muscle imbalances that got worse as he compensated for them over the years.

No advice on the squat shoes, but you can add a heal lift in most shoes. They go under the insole. Podiatrists use cork or other firm materials that won't compress like the soft foam ones in the drug store. You could start with those.