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What shoes do you wear to lift weights? I usually just wear my running shoes, or sometimes an old pair of Converse All-Stars. Is that bad? Do I really have to go buy another pair of shoes for the specific purpose of doing stuff like squats and lunges?

SockMonkey saidWhat shoes do you wear to lift weights? I usually just wear my running shoes, or sometimes an old pair of Converse All-Stars. Is that bad? Do I really have to go buy another pair of shoes for the specific purpose of doing stuff like squats and lunges?

I wear whatever I want for upper body days unless the exercise requires that I'm grounded in the floor. Lower body exercises, I train with only socks on. However, I'm starting to get into training everything socked-only

Working Leg Exercises [like Squats, Deadlifts, Calf Raises, Jumping Rope, Running] while socked-only engages your calves more than anything else. Sneakers make up for the stability & grounding you lack. It's like when people do gripping exercises (Deadlift, Bench Press, Barbell Bicep Curls, etc.) and realize how much more their forearms are engaged when you take off your lifting gloves. Then you realize you don't need to really have separate isolation exercises for forearms.

On top of that, you don't have to pay for anything new lol.

However, if you use machines, treadmills, etc. Do them with shoes on (then take them off afterwards lol.) Be careful as you make your way around weight training floors - you don't want your feet harmed by weight plates or careless gym members (then again, you have to do that when you have your sneakers on too).

OK I'm no expert but I'll chime in anyway: "cross training" shoes are usually intended as hybrid footwear designed for multi tasking, in this case running and weight training...some have enhanced traction as well. It seems to me that major options for cross trainers are ankle support (choose low, mid or high top) and sole flexibility/thickness: softer/thinner allows bottom of shoe to bend a bit when standing on edge of something (and you can often feel surface through thinner soles) while rigid/thicker soles tend to bend very little and prevent you from feeling detailed surface feedback. As with any athletic shoe you can also choose which type of material covers the top and sides of your feet, so go for mesh if you sweat a lot and for feet that need to "breath" more or solid if you don't wear them for long periods and have feet that are not prone to sweating in air-restricted confines.