My prediction: These shoes are going to be very popular across the different disciplines of the strength community. They’re versatile, well made and they look (as we say in the UK) belter!
At only £90 (or $90 if you’re in the US), they’re also a steal in comparison to the often expensive full blown Olympic weightlifting shoes that we’re seeing on the market today.
For me, they also fill a gap or ‘half way house’ especially for Powerlifters and perhaps Crossfitians. The heel is only 1/2 an inch, and the sole is not rock hard wood or block material like most Olympic shoes. This is important, as although there is no fear once the bar is on your back of the heel moving under your feet, as mentioned, the heel is not immovably solid like an Olympic shoe. However, importantly there is no compression across the heel thanks to a specially designed weight distribution plate. The result is a solid, but incredibly light shoe, which also possesses the attributes that will give you more movement and bend in the toe area. I can see this appealing to Crossfit like athletes looking for a good quality lifting shoe that must also fit into more dynamic and circuit based workouts as required.
However, as a stand alone lifting shoe it does not disappoint, and I hope Powerlifters reading this do not discount it solely on it’s positives of versatility listed above. I myself am a Powerlifter and believe I have found the shoe I will lift in for many years to come. Like I said it feels solid underfoot, dare I say like an Olympic lifting shoe. I Myself own a pair of Do-Wins 2010…
They are a great pair of shoes, but recently I’ve been squatting in socks. The reason being the 3/4 inch heel has been giving me slight knee pain as my knees track past my toes just that few inches too far in them. The result sees me regularly feeling the weight ‘coming forward’ too far in my mid foot. In the video’s of me squatting I’m also seeing the bar pitch forward near the bottom and on the way up creating almost like an ‘S’ shape as I catch the weight from pushing me forward. I’m lucky that my main strength is my lower back, but I know come heavy weight Good morning the weight up by relying on my back will not be enough. It’s amazing how much just 1/4 of an inch in the heel has made in my last few squat sessions. I knew I needed to find a lifting shoe that enabled me to keep the weight centred. From the first session in the Powerlift 2.0 I felt the difference. The bar is moving in a straight line staying in that centred path. The feeling of being pushed forward has gone, I feel powerful, and I’m also getting the advantage of a heel in so far as hitting depth feels much more comfortable for me in my medium stance.
Another great feature of the new Powerlift 2.0 shoes are the insoles. Adidas have done a great job of introducing a sole, I can only describe as, ‘a valley’ to set your foot into. This allows you to really screw your feet into the ground. The valley creates a feeling of sturdiness, like your foot is held in place, providing comfort and stability throughout the lift.
If you do squat in anything but a close Olympic style squat stance (and/or a very very wide geared squat stance) I’d recommend these shoes. They’re essentially an intermediate shoe between the higher heeled Olympic shoe favoured by close stance squatters, and the Chucks or flat soled shoes favoured by very wide stance squatters. Finally, us medium stance squatters (which arguably most likely makes up the majority in terms of total numbers lifting) have a shoe of our own, tailored to our needs.
I personally went for the yellow/black style (shown below), which I had to ship from America as they’re not available here in the UK. Who knows why, for me they are by far the most aesthetically pleasing.
If you’d like another’s opinion on these shoes, have a look at this review. Only thing I’d add to that review is the picture of the sole being compressed; although it is possible to compress the shoes like shown (with some effort), it is not possible to compress the sole across a larger surface area than just your finger or thumb. This I think is because of the weight distribution plates Adidas have developed which ensure instability or compression across the heel as a whole does not occur.
In terms of negative points on these shoes, there is very little. Perhaps the only thing that could be improved is the crowded position on the shoe of the laces and Velcro strap. Although really this seems quite unavoidable if you want both laces and Velcro on this shoe, which seems to be the standard in lifting shoes today. Claiming that this is a negative though is being incredibly pernickity to be honest. I’m finding myself sitting here searching and searching for negatives. I’m struggling.
All in all these are a great lifting shoe, and at that price, they provide a fantastic cost effective alternative to the modern Olympic lifting shoes on the market today. I couldn’t recommend them more highly.
If you’re in the UK, initial stockists of these shoes include;
If you’re in North America, they’re everywhere (You lucky buggers).
The opinions in this review are my own, I am not employed by Adidas or any other companies listed here.
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