# Heel-Elevated Goblet Squat: how to do it

- Main muscles: quads
- Also works: glutes
- Equipment: dumbbell, plate
- Level: intermediate
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/heel_elevated_goblet_squat/94763dd66b/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Rest your heels on a low block, balls of your feet on the floor.
2. Hold a dumbbell upright against your chest, elbows down.
3. Sit straight down, letting your knees travel forward.
4. Go below parallel while your chest stays tall.
5. Push through your whole foot to stand up.

## Cues

- Knees forward, chest up.
- Heels heavy on the block.
- Keep the weight on your chest.

## Common mistakes

- Letting the heels lift off the block.
- Leaning the chest forward instead of sinking down.
- Stopping well above parallel.

## Starting position

A low block (or weight plates, or a slant board) about 4.5 cm high lies across the floor behind the feet. The heels rest on the block and the balls of the feet and toes on the floor, so each foot slopes forward and down. One dumbbell held upright against the chest, both palms cupping the underside of the top head, elbows pointing down. Heels between hip- and shoulder-width apart, toes turned out a little. Stand tall, chest up, eyes forward.

## The movement

Hips and knees bend together and the body sinks straight down. Because the heels are raised, the knees travel well forward past the toes and the trunk stays upright, close to the line of the shins or more upright. The dumbbell stays on the chest and moves in a vertical line over the mid-foot. The heels stay pressed into the block the whole time. Push through the whole foot to stand, hips and shoulders rising together.

## End position

Bottom: thighs below parallel (hip crease clearly below the top of the knee), knees well in front of the toes. With the shin 42° forward the ankle only bends about 42° − 14° = 28° relative to the foot, which is why the raised heel lets the knees travel further. Thigh about 100° from vertical plus shin about 42° gives about 140° of knee flexion.

## Tempo

About 1.9 s down, 0.25 s pause, 1.4 s up, short stand at the top.

## Form in numbers

| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Heel block height | 4.5 cm | 2.5–5 cm | [1] [2] |
| Stance, heel to heel | 0.9 × shoulder width | hip to shoulder width | [3] [4] |
| Toe-out, each foot | 10° | 0–20° | [4] |
| Depth: hip crease vs top of knee | 5 cm below | 2–10 cm below | [1] [3] |
| Shin lean from vertical at the bottom | 42° | 35–45° | [1] |
| Heel lift off the block | 0 cm | 0 cm | [3] |

## Sources

1. [Monteiro et al. 2022, Human Movement 23(2):97–103, "Comparing the kinematics of back squats performed with different heel elevations"](https://hummov.awf.wroc.pl/doi/10.5114/hm.2021.106164)
2. [Charlton et al. 2017, J Strength Cond Res, "The effects of a heel wedge on hip, pelvis and trunk biomechanics during squatting in resistance trained individuals"](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28538320/)
3. [ACE, Goblet Squat](https://www.acefitness.org/resources/everyone/exercise-library/362/goblet-squat/)
4. [NASM, Goblet Squat](https://www.nasm.org/resource-center/exercise-library/goblet-squat)

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/heel-elevated-goblet-squat