Why you may struggle with deep squats
A common issue with squatting is being unable to get into a deep squat while keeping your heels on the ground.
Usually one or more of these things happen:
- Your heels start lifting as you go deeper.
- You feel like you're going to fall backwards.
- You have to lean your upper body a long way forward to stay balanced.
Some forward lean is completely normal and depends on your proportions and squat style. But if you need to fold forward significantly just to reach depth, limited ankle mobility can be one of the reasons.
There are a few things that can affect squat depth, including your hip mobility, body proportions and technique. However, one of the most common limitations is ankle dorsiflexion, or basically how far your knee can travel forward over your toes while your heel stays on the ground.
This matters because your knees need to travel forward during a deep squat. If your ankles don't allow enough movement, your body has to compensate somewhere else.
This can make barbell squats more awkward, but it becomes even more noticeable when working toward calisthenics movements like pistol squats and shrimp squats.
Testing your ankle mobility
There is a very simple way to get a rough idea of your ankle mobility.
Stand facing a wall and put your foot around a fist-width away from it.
From here:
- Keep your heel flat on the floor.
- Push your knee forward over your toes.
- Try to touch the wall with your knee.
If you can touch the wall without your heel coming up, move your foot slightly further away and repeat.
The exact distance isn't that important if you're just using this as a quick check. The useful part is seeing whether your knee can move reasonably far forward while your heel stays planted.
Exercises for ankle mobility
If limited ankle dorsiflexion is the problem, there are a few simple exercises you can use to work on it.
1. Knee-to-wall reps
Use the same position as the ankle mobility test.
- Place your foot a short distance from the wall.
- Keep your heel completely flat on the floor.
- Push your knee forward over your toes until it touches the wall.
- Return to the starting position and repeat.
- Try to move your knee as far forward as you comfortably can without letting the heel lift.
- Do around 10–15 controlled reps per side.
- As your mobility improves, gradually move your foot further away from the wall.
2. Straight-leg calf stretch
Stand facing a wall with one leg behind you.
Keep the back knee straight and the heel firmly on the ground, then move your body forward until you feel a stretch through the calf.
Hold for around 30–60 seconds per side.
This puts more emphasis on the gastrocnemius, the larger calf muscle.
3. Bent-knee calf stretch
Use the same position, but this time slightly bend the back knee while keeping the heel firmly on the ground.
You should feel the stretch lower down in the calf.
Hold for around 30–60 seconds per side.
This puts more emphasis on the soleus, which is particularly relevant for deep squats because your knees are bent while you're using ankle dorsiflexion.
You can do one or two rounds of these exercises before your lower-body workouts, or separately during the week.
Elevating your heels for squats
If ankle mobility is limiting your barbell squat, you can also work around it by elevating your heels.
For example, you can put your heels on a small weight plate or wedge, or use weightlifting shoes with an elevated heel.
This reduces how much ankle dorsiflexion you need and usually makes it easier to squat deeper while staying balanced and keeping your torso more upright.
There's nothing wrong with squatting this way. Weightlifting shoes are specifically designed with an elevated heel partly for this reason.
However, if you also want to work toward movements like pistol squats or shrimp squats, it's useful to improve the ankle mobility itself since you won't always be able to rely on heel elevation.