The Do-Win weightlifting shoes were the first pair of lifting shoes I bought and they’ve always been awesome. If you’re looking for a pair of great quality lifting shoes that fit comfortably, hold your feet securely, and improve your lifting performance and safety, then these are a friggin’ good option.
Also, at around $100 a pair ($95 at the time of writing), they’re extremely affordable. Comparable lifting shoes will run you between $150 – $200.
Currently, Rogue Fitness are the best / only place from which to grab a pair, but unless you live in Ohio, there’s really no way of being able to try before you buy. Hence why I’ve written this review – to give you some insight into what you’ll be getting if you go with a pair of Do-Wins, and to help you make an informed purchasing decision.
If you can’t be bothered reading the longer review, here’s a handy little summary with star ratings:
Do-Win Weightlifting Shoes
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Fit and Comfort |
Performance |
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Materials |
Look and Style |
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Overall Rating |
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Do-Win Weightlifting Shoe Review Process
Look, this process was pretty straightforward but I’ll outline it for you anyway. I got the shoes, trained in them for a number of months, and recorded the things I was noticing while lifting in them. I’ve organised my info into a few key sections: How well they fit and the comfort they offered, how well they performed as weightlifting shoes, the quality of the materials they’re made from, and the look and style.
Fit and Comfort
The size recommendation from Rogue of going a half-size smaller was spot on for me. I used my regular running shoes as the guide; I wear a US11 running shoe, and so I ordered the 10.5 Do-Wins. They fit perfectly: Snug, but with a little bit of wiggle room at the front for my toes.
For anyone that wants more detail, my feet are ~11.2 inches long (28.4 cm) and 3.62 inches wide (9.2 cm) at their widest point. The US10.5 Do-Wins measure 11.6 inches (29.5 cm) from heel to toe, and 4.25 inches (10.8 cm) across at their widest point.
They’re a really comfortable shoe – it’s that simple. They feel secure, and the material all over is good quality (more on that later). Even done up tightly, they’re firm but comfortable. With the two metatarsal straps secured, my feet feel rock solid.
The only complaint I would offer on the comfort of the Do-Win weightlifting shoes is that there’s a little bit of extra material on the inside that, when they were brand new, pressed against the base of my little toes (the ‘knuckle’ where foot becomes toe). I did find this fairly annoying. And, true to my nature, I would allow it to distract me. I thought I’d have to open the shoe up and either glue the material flat or trim it down. Thankfully that wasn’t necessary because I discovered that pulling the tongue up properly moved the extra piece material up and off that part of my foot (I’m talking about giving the tongue a nice firm tug so that it comes up as far as it can).
Something to note here is that my feet are bony as all hell. I can clearly feel anything sitting against them with even the smallest amount of pressure. If you’ve got a bit more meat on your feet, then this probably isn’t going to be an issue for you. Also, as the shoes have broken in and softened, the pressing of the material has stopped altogether. Breaking the shoes in for me took at least 6 – 8 weeks of lifting in them 2 nights a week.
Not only did / do these bad boys fit nicely and feel comfortable, they’ve also made a huge difference in the quality of my lifts.
Performance
When tied and strapped, they’re extremely secure. Before I educated myself on the need for good weightlifting shoes when doing my heavy lifts, I just lifted in my running shoes. The difference between the two is night and day. Thinking back to lifting in those runners, the amount of times I could feel my foot moving around in the shoes, and sliding slightly on the sole is scary. There’s none of that for me in the Do-Wins.
Even in comparison to the flat-soled Chuck Taylors I started wearing once I realised how stupid I was being, these Do-Wins are amazing. Research into the kinematic differences between weightlifting shoes and running shoes / flat-soled shoes has found that the heel lift created by lifting shoes helps to increase activation of the quads. I’ve certainly experienced this. The Do-Win weightlifting shoes have been a game changer for me when squatting in terms of taking a little bit of the work off my posterior chain and giving it to my quads.
But it’s not just my squat where these shoes have been great. My footing during my deadlift also feels more secure, which makes me more confident and my lift stronger. So, that’s pretty awesome.
Materials
The materials are genuinely good quality. The upper is made from a combination of smooth, synthetic leather over the toebox, and small sections of nylon mesh around the midfoot. The leather looks like it would scuff up easily, but it’s actually held up extremely well; I give them a wipe down with a damp cloth and they almost look brand new. One thing to note is that the leather upper is a little rigid at first. It softens as the shoes break in, but that takes more time than most other shoes. The upside to this stiffer material is that it provides greater protection from dropped weight plates and such. I haven’t dropped anything onto my feet, and I’m not going to for the sake of a review, but I can feel that they’ll provide more protection for my feet than a lifting shoe with more fabric or nylon mesh in the upper.
The TPU (hard plastic) heel has a 0.75″ (19.05 mm) drop, which is on the smaller side compared to other popular lifting shoes like those in the Adidas range, or the Reebok Legacy Lifters. The heel sits amid a single construction rubber sole, which is fairly unremarkable. Like most lifting shoes, the heel and solid, flat sole make the Do-Wins quite heavy (about 17-18 ounces). “Clomping” is the word that comes to mind when I picture myself walking around in them.
The way the Do-Wins are put together is typical of the products that Rogue put out: Simply good. The upper is glued to the sole neatly and securely, all the stitching is strong and neat with no little frayed or loose threads hanging out, and the velcro straps are strong and effective. On other shoes and pieces of equipment, the metal loops that velcro straps feed through often gets easily twisted because the material isn’t stitched tightly enough, which leaves some play. That doesn’t happen with the Do-Wins, which means that putting them on and taking them off is always hassle-free.
A point worth noting here is that the laces are super long. Even double-knotted, they hang quite far down the shoe. I often put them under the first metatarsal strap, but occasionally I’m annoyed by the unevenness of the pressure this creates. Leaving them unstrapped, however, means they can have a tendency to flap around.
Aside from the too-long laces and the little piece of fabric that initially pressed against my feet, I’ve been extremely impressed with how well constructed these lifting shoes are. And, as so often is the case, good quality also means good-looking.
Look and style
Admittedly, the Do-Win weightlifting shoes aren’t going to win any style awards. They’re not designed in trendy colors like the Legacy Lifters or Romaleos 3 XDs. That said, they have an elegant simplicity to them. I got the black and white pair, and they suit my preference for simple, understated clothes. I lift in my home gym, so I’m the only one who ever sees them. If you lift with other people, and you want to turn heads with some fly lifting shoes, the Do-Wins may not be for you.
Despite their simplicity, I think the Do-Wins look great. They’ve got a good shape to them and avoid looking like crudely carved blocks of wood strapped to your feet like some of the older weightlifting shoes did.
There’s really not much more to say on this. In my star ratings, I gave the look and style 4.5 stars – you may disagree, and that’s fine. Look and style is a very subjective thing anyway. If you want something a bit less run-of-the-mill, Rogue recently released the Do-Wins in the “classic lifter” style.
Well, there you have it: My Killer Do-Win Weightlifting Shoes Review. Overall, these lifting shoes from Rogue Fitness are great. They were the top pick in a recent review of the best weightlifting shoes for good reason.
Hopefully I’ve given you enough information to help you make an informed decision on whether these are the lifting shoes for you.
Grab a Pair of Do-Wins at Rogue Fitness
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As always, all the best with your home workouts. Remember: You can make the effort or make excuses, but you can’t make both.
THFF (The Home Fit Freak)
