High Heels Squatting

High Heels Squatting
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The squat is a functional movement that you cannot escape, no matter how hard you try. Whether you’re sitting down in a chair, getting out of a car, or lowering yourself on the toilet, there is a little bit of squat in everything you do.
The fundamental movement pattern is one of the most essential exercises you can do in the gym. It’s so important that even a broscientist can lecture you about its benefits.
Heel elevated squats are a variation of the conventional squat. While performing the raised heel squat, a lifter squats with weight plates under their heels. In fancier gyms, you might find specialized metal platforms, also known as squat wedges, for the exercise.
Heel elevated squats are in-trend. Pro bodybuilder Hunter Labrada is using it regularly in his 2022 Mr. Olympia prep, scheduled for Dec. 16-18 in Las Vegas, NV, to improve his quad size, separation, and definition .
The elevated-heel position allows your torso to stay more upright than if your heels were flat on the floor, which shifts stress to your quads. Add load, and it can spur muscle growth .
Squatting with heels elevated on a platform helps improve your flexibility , and you’ll be able to get deeper into your squat, which further boosts your quad activation and muscle and strength growth.
If you face difficulty achieving depth on a squat or tend to lean forward too much on the eccentric part (downward phase) of the movement — due to a poor hip or ankle mobility, you should give heel elevated squats a shot.
If you’ve ever wondered if placing weight plates under your heels while squatting makes the exercise easier or harder, read on because we’re going to answer this and much more in this article.
Squats are a full-body compound exercise and are one of the most effective lifts for building muscle mass and strength in your lower body.
The heel elevated squat targets the following muscles —
Notably, the standard squat targets the same muscles, except hamstrings and glutes are a part of the primary target muscles.
Quads are a big muscle group consisting of four muscles — vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, and the rectus femoris. Quad-focused heel elevated squats are an incredibly effective lift to ignite new muscle growth.
The squat is one of the most researched exercises and is proven to be a great way to build strength and muscle mass, increase bone density, lose body weight, bolster your core, tone your body, and strengthen your tendons, bones, and ligaments. [ 1 ][ 2 ]
Besides all the benefits of the conventional squat, squatting with your heels raised entails the following advantages —
Using an elevated platform can help you squat deeper as it puts your ankles in a better position for depth than the conventional squat. Even a short elevation can make a big difference.
You could give the elevated heel squats a go at your home by placing a book under your heels — probably not the best example.
If you have never gone below parallel on the conventional squat or tried the elevated heel variation of the lift, you might break into tears the first time you achieve depth while performing the exercise.
Ass-to-the-grass conventional squats can put a lot of stress on your lower back and lumbar spine, especially if you go deep and heavy. Things can go from bad to worse if you are a beginner or don’t have the perfect squatting form.
It doesn’t matter how good your weightlifting belt is, if you lean forward while squatting, you might have to deal with a sore lower back for the next couple of days.
Raised heel squats take off some tension from your lower back as your upper body stays comparatively upright while performing the exercise compared to the conventional squat.
You probably might have heard internet fitness celebrities tell you to never let your knees go over your toes while squatting or lunging. Well, the same logic does not apply to heel elevated squats.
Actively trying to push your hips back during the eccentric part of a conventional squat and pinning your knees in place puts you in a position where most of the tension is on your lower back. Furthermore, you might leave gains on the table while performing standard squats as the lower back tends to give up before your quads.
Allowing your knees to go over your toes and pushing your hips down instead of back and down can help elevate tension from your lower back and lumbar spine.
If you do not feel a pump in your quads while performing the conventional squats or if you feel your lower back has taken over, do not hold back from switching to the elevated heel squat variation. Remember — It’s never too late to fix your workouts.
Heels elevated squats result in better quad muscle fiber recruitment by increasing the range of motion at the knee and decreasing the range of motion at the hip.
Besides putting less strain on your supporting muscles, the raised heel squat puts more stress on your quads, resulting in a higher volume and intensity workout for the front of your legs.
Apart from focusing on your quads, the squat can help in building a rock-solid core . A 2018 study found non-significant differences between the squat and plank in rectus abdominis and oblique external activation. Per the study, you could get the same amount of ab work squatting as you would while planking.
Note: For the research, participants performed six-rep-max squats and held a plank to failure with 20% of their body mass on their lower back. [ 3 ]
Heel elevated squats put less stress on your ankles and hips and are one of the most efficient squat variations for people with limited ankle and hip flexor mobility.
If you have limited hip or ankle mobility, you should make the raised heel squats a part of your leg day routine, and your joints (and quads) will thank you for it.
If you have limited mobility but want to go heavy on the squat, performing the heel elevated variation can reduce your chances of an injury while emphasizing quad recruitment and activation.
Since the raised heel squats are kinder on your ankles, hip flexors, lower back, and lumbar spine, it is a great exercise for people dealing with an injury or in the recovery phase.
With that said, if you are dealing with an injury, you should consult a physician and seek his advice before hitting the gym.
Below are the disadvantages of performing the raised heel squat —
While performing heel elevated squats, your knees will go over your toes at the bottom, which can put them under undue stress. If you have old man knees, the raised heel squat variation might not be the best option for you.
When your heels are elevated, it changes the shin-to-foot angle, and there’s less of a backward bend — also known as dorsiflexion — of the foot, which allows you to get into a deeper squat while keeping an upright torso.
While the upright torso is great for engaging your quads and achieving depth, it limits your posterior chain — hamstrings, glutes, calves, and lower back activation.
If you want overall lower body development, you cannot restrict your leg workouts to raised heel squats. You’ll have to supplement your leg workouts with exercises like glute bridges , leg curls , and Romanian Deadlifts to ensure your posterior chain isn’t lagging.
If you are resorting to heel elevated squats, chances are you have poor ankle or hip flexor mobility. While the raised heel squat is a great workaround for your limited range of motion, it doesn’t do anything to improve your condition.
Here is how to do the raised heel squat with the correct form —
A few of the raised heel squat alternatives and variations include —
Below are some of the most common questions relating to heel elevated squats —
If you have hit a plateau on the conventional squat, the raised heel squat variation might get you the quad muscle fiber stimulation you need to break through the overhead ceiling .
Although the heel elevated squat is an incredibly effective exercise, you shouldn’t give up on the orthodox squat. Both lifts have a time and place.
Also, if the raised heel squats feel much better for your ankles, lower back, and hips, you should begin working on your mobility to adapt to the standard squat.
Absolutely! If you can perform the conventional flat-footed squat with a full range of motion and achieve enough quad activation, you can skip performing the raised heel squat.
Although heel elevated squats are a great exercise to target your quads and minimize hamstring, glute, and lower back recruitment, you should stick with the conventional squat until you build a solid foundation, especially if you are a beginner.
The raised heel squat is an advanced exercise focusing on quadriceps development, which is great for people dealing with an injury, lifters with limited ankle and hip mobility, or people who want to zero down on building quad strength and muscle mass. On the other hand, you should probably give this exercise a pass if you have bad knees.
Vidur is a writer and editor at FitnessVolt.com. He is passionate about all things strength sports and dedicated to sharing his hard-earned knowledge. An expert at giving unsolicited advice, his writings benefit the readers and infuriate the bros.
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