Influence of Footwear Type on Barbell Back Squat Using 50, 70, and 90% of One Repetition Maximum: A Biomechanical Analysis

Abstract

The effect of footwear type was investigated during the barbell back squat using three-dimensional motion analysis and ground reaction force data. Nine male participants (mean age 26.4 ± 5.4 years, height 1.79 ± 0.08 m, and mass 84.7 ± 16.1 kg) completed 2 experimental testing sessions wearing 2 different forms of training footwear: (a) standard sports trainers (running shoes [RS]) and (b) specialized weightlifting shoes (WS). On each test day, participants completed a sequence of 5, 3, and 1 repetitions of a barbell back squat using 50, 70, and 90%, respectively, of their 1 repetition maximum (1RM) load in each of the shoe conditions. Shoe order, which was initially randomly assigned for test day 1, was reversed on test day 2. Significant main effects were found for peak dorsiflexion of both left (p < 0.001) and right (p < 0.001) ankles. Pairwise post hoc comparisons showed that the RS condition exhibited significantly more dorsiflexion compared with the WS condition in both left and right ankles. There was also a significant main effect of load (%1RM) within the left ankle (p < 0.01) with post hoc comparisons showing that there was a significant increase in peak dorsiflexion angle from 50 to 90% (p ≤ 0.05) and 70-90% of 1RM (p ≤ 0.05) but no difference between 50 and 70% of 1RM (p 1.000). These findings indicate that further investigation is necessary to substantiate claims regarding the benefits of wearing WS during resistance training exercises targeting the squat movement.