What about platform shoes?
But what about strength shoes you might ask?? In reality I’ll admit that people DO
increase their vertical jumps using platform shoes. However, the improvement is because
of the drills and exercises they do not by the magic of the shoes. In scientific studies,
folks using the exact same training program without the shoes gain just as well if not
better. In fact check out this study. It was a study involving 2 groups, one group did
exercises in normal shoes. The other group did exercises in special platform (Strength)
shoes. The workout was provided by the manufacturer. It randomized 12 intercollegiate
track and field participants to a Strength-Shoe group and a normal-shoe group. After 8
weeks of a training program supplied by the manufacturer, the normal-shoe group
showed a tendency to improve more than the Strength-Shoe group on all
performance measures!
The individuals training in regular shoes improved more in the 40-yard dash (8.3% vs
6.9%), vertical jump (9.2% vs 3.3%), strength at slow speed (16% vs 10%), and strength
at fast speed (13% vs -5%). Only calf circumference tended to improve slightly more in
the Strength-Shoe group (2.3% vs 0.2% in the normal group). Two of the six athletes in
the Strength-Shoe group complained of shin splints, and one of them had to drop out of
the study because of the pain. None of the normal-shoe group complained of pain or
dropped out. The study actually showed people training in normal shoes with the same
training program gained more then those training with the special shoes!
In their promotional literature, Strength Footwear Inc. claim that up to 0.2 seconds can be
taken off the 40-yard time (about 4%), nine inches can be added to the vertical jump
(about 40%), and calf girth can be increased by two inches (about 15%). These claims
were clearly not supported in this study. In fact, any slight gain that might be possible
with Strength Shoes would appear to be more than offset by the higher risk of injury.
If you’re dead set that you want to use platform shoes anyway you can do so. In fact, you
can use the shoes for every plyometric exercise and non-weight room drill in this
program. For best results you should only wear the shoes on 1⁄2 of the sets that you do.
For example, lets say a program calls for you to perform 4 sets of a certain exercise. For
best results you’d wear the shoes for 2 sets, and then take them off and wear regular
shoes for 2 sets. By training like this you’ll find you get an enhanced effect on all the
exercises.
