Evidence based guidelines exist for the execution of a squat, and these include foot stance of shoulder width or wider, maintaining the feet flat on the ground, and toes pointing forward or slightly outward by no more than 10° [6,7,8].
A few common reasons why the feet turn out during a squat are (1.) a lack of mobility of the ankle and (2.) overactive (tight) calf muscles.
This also leads to uneven distribution of body weight across the legs and feet, which can result in muscle imbalances and overuse injuries. Flat feet can also place unusual stress on the ankles, knees, and hips -- all of which are involved in the squat.
Evidence based guidelines exist for the execution of a squat, and these include foot stance of shoulder width or wider, maintaining the feet flat on the ground, and toes pointing forward or slightly outward by no more than 10° [6,7,8].
Generally speaking, an elevated heel will promote more knee tracking, assist you with your ankle range of motion, and help you keep a more upright torso while achieving good squat depth. The elevated heel puts the ankle into an environment that feeds better into positive knee translation.
You should be able to lift your toes up off the ground and wiggle them at any point and it shouldn't change anything about your squat. Your squat should hit at least parallel (middle image above) – where your hip joint goes below the knee.
However, the exerciser can avoid loss of balance by simply keeping their heels on the ground throughout the squat. Most importantly, if their heel is not coming off of the ground, perhaps this instruction is not needed at all.
Moving Your Knees Too Far Forward When They Bend
Instead, it will put stress on your ankles to stabilize. Not keeping your knees behind the imaginary line of your toes is a common mistake while doing squats, and will lead to drawbacks in muscle gains.
A common mistake people make while doing squats is to begin the movement from the knee rather than the hip. This generates maximum strain on the wrong muscles (the quadriceps instead of the glutes) while also increasing the risk of knee injury.
Elevating your heels when performing a squat will do two things: Increase squat depth, and transfer force and emphasis to your quadriceps. Heels elevated squats better activate the muscle fibers of your quads because it increases the range of motion at the knee while decreasing the range of motion at the hip.
While some trainers and lifters will be quick to dismiss squatting with plates under your heels, it is not inherently harmful and it does have a time and a place for many people.
✅Lack of ankle mobility
A lack of ankle stability can cause your feet and heels to move around, resulting in an unstable base from which to squat. This instability can cause your heels to rise off the ground.
While you should get low in your squat (ideally at least a 90-degree bend at the knee), getting there by curving your spine increases that spinal compression, which could lead to a disc or muscular injury. Only go as far down as you can while still maintaining a neutral spine.
Because the squat has so many moving parts, and because moving more weight is a process of making each piece more efficient, lifters can sometimes overthink how they move. Squat tutorials online and in books can read like to-do lists for each part of the body — chest up, hips back, toes out, eyes forward, core tight.
Full squats produce greater overall muscle development in the lower body, optimally hitting the glutes, hamstrings, and quads for superior growth compared to partial squats. We know from EMG analysis that as squat depth increases, the muscles of the posterior chain (glutes and hamstrings) perform more work.