How to do the Heel-Elevated Squat
Step by step
- Place your heels on a small plate, board, or book, toes on the floor.
- Stand with feet about shoulder-width and chest tall.
- Bend your knees and sit straight down, letting your knees travel forward.
- Keep your torso fairly upright to load the quads.
- Drive up through your feet to standing.
The thing people get wrong
Raising the heels lets the knees travel forward to hit the quads - staying upright is the point, so let them.
Coaching cue
Keep your heels pressed down onto the platform the whole rep instead of rolling onto your toes.
Stay safe
Use a stable, non-slip platform only an inch or two high so your heels cannot roll off it.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Hold a wall or door frame with one hand for balance.
- Harder: Take three seconds to lower on every rep.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Quads
- Secondary: Glutes
What to do instead
Same job, different movement — useful if you don't have the equipment or it doesn't feel right today.
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.