hey guys, I’m currently approaching half way through the 12 week strength program.
My question is, has anyone experience calf pain from squatting from switching up lifting shoes? I used to wear Rogue Do-Wins and haven’t had pain. But I recently bought a pair of Reebok Legacy Lifters and every time I squat I experience pain in both calves.
Is this normal or should I lift through the pain. I plan on switching back to my Do-Wins to see if they cause pain also and go from there. I appreciate anyone’s input and help. Also, I haven’t changed my squat form or anything. Only thing I can think of is the shoes.
The legacy lifters have a 22mm heel height compared to the do-wins 20mm, which is likely the reason for your experience. If you like the legacy lifters you will eventually adapt to the shoe.
In my opinion, i think that a change in heel height could possibly be the reason for your discomfort that you feel in your calf although i dont know if theres any way to actually proving it. This could just just be another arguement for “its in your head”. But since you just switched i would say you could wear these shoes on your non heavy single squat day and on the days you do assistance movements so it doenst hinder your tested lift.
Raising heel height decreases the margin for error when trying to keep the weight over mid-foot during your squats. Could be the reason you have pain.
If you are used to shifting the weight into your toes a bit during your squats (causing/increasing plantar dorsiflexion, which adds to the stress placed on your calves and could be causing your pain), either by accident like everyone experiences during their sessions or as a bad habit, then raising your heel height could exacerbate things. 2cm isn’t a huge difference, but it may be enough to contribute to something noticeable since you are only adapted to the amount of dorsiflexion you have in your old shoes.
All that that being said, it’s just a guess. I would try your old shoes again like you are going to do, and also concentrate hard on where on your feet you place the weight in your new shoes. If you notice you come onto your toes, it’s a safe bet that could be causing your pain.
When do you start to notice the pain? Is it gradual throughout your session or does it come on suddenly during your squats?
I notice the pain after my squatting portion of my training. I did switch to my old shoes today for paused squat work. I did notice minimal pain, but it could also be in my head that “old shoes=less pain” I’m taking everything with a grain of salt and trying to to over react. Another thing I did notice was my do-wins had a tighter fit when I strapped up compared to the reeboks being a little looser when I strap them up. I will continue to use my old shoes then switch to the Reebok’s again to see if I can replicate the pain. After that I may try some Addidas powerlifters 3s or Power perfects, the one with the lower heel. Thanks for all of your input and I will keep y’all updated!