If you’re looking for a pair of strength training shoes to make you jump higher then you’re really going to want to read what I’m about to say very carefully.
No matter what your sport is, I’m sure you’ve seen the advertisements of how these frontal platform shoes will help you get up higher, run faster or just flat out be more explosive.
While I do agree with these claims there is something that is worth mentioning. I don’t necessarily believe it is so much the shoes as it is just flat out hard work. I have seen just as good results with platform shoe training as I have training without with them on.
The key benefit in my opinion of training with these shoes is that they stretch your calf muscle range of motion. Also, they put more emphasis on your quadriceps as your weight shifts to the front of your body as you stand on the balls of your feet in the shoes.
So should you use them at all?
I certainly recommend you use them. But I would say don’t get so caught up in the shoes. The main thing to remember is that the work you are putting in is what really gets you the results.
I have heard some athletes say that they got great results with the shoes, but after they stopped using them they lost some of their gains.
This may be because they lost some of that flexibility that the shoe gave them in their calves. Either way, I say try them out for yourself. I have used the shoes and gotten great results. But I also got great results with other things I’ve done to improve my jumping.
If I can at all stress one thing it’s this – So often players get caught up in the hype. They rely on gadgets and gizmos to give them these great results. And then when things don’t happen quickly they are discouraged and lose enthusiasm.
So again, back to what I said before, focus on working hard and the results will come.
What are the best strength training shoes to help you jump higher?
Now if you’re asking for my preference of all the frontal platform shoes out there that claim to help you jump higher here’s my two cents.
I have found that the shoes that worked best for me were the ones that strapped on. I would strap these platform shoes on to my track shoes and go out on the track. Or I would strap these on to my basketball shoes and go out and workout on the court.
This allowed me to have more support when doing plyometrics which can cause injury if you aren’t careful. Not to mention, if you have a platform shoe on that doesn’t offer support it will increase your chance of injury. And another thing I found is that shoes that come with the platform molded into the shoe aren’t as comfortable as your own running or basketball shoes.
So those are a few pointers on my preference as far as shoes go.
In the end, I do feel that these shoes will make you jump higher with hard work. But it’s important to remember that there isn’t a magic pill or something out there that will get it done for you without hard work.