Exercise Guide

Heel-Elevated Goblet Squat

A goblet squat with the heels on a small ramp or plates. Raising the heels lets you stay upright and squat deeper, which pushes the work onto the quads.

BeginnerStrengthPushCompound
Form
Heel-Elevated Goblet Squat - Start position
Start
Heel-Elevated Goblet Squat - Mid position
Mid
Heel-Elevated Goblet Squat - End position
End

Illustrations by Bryl Lim for Workout Guide, after Everkinetic. Used unchanged under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Details

Primary Muscle

Quads

Equipment

Dumbbell

Difficulty

Beginner

Category

Strength

Force

Push

Mechanic

Compound

Secondary Muscles

GlutesCore
How to Perform
  1. 1

    Place your heels on a pair of small plates or a squat wedge, feet shoulder-width apart.

  2. 2

    Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell at your chest with both hands.

  3. 3

    Squat down as deep as you can while keeping your chest up.

  4. 4

    Drive back up through your mid-foot.

Tips
  • The heel lift is a substitute for ankle mobility, not a cure - keep working the ankles too.
  • Elbows inside your knees at the bottom; that is the depth cue.
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