Heel-elevated squats are one of my favorite squat variations for women in perimenopause, menopause or post menopause because one small setup change can completely change how the exercise feels.

By lifting the heels on a wedge, slant board, or small plates, you allow the knees to travel farther forward and the torso to stay more upright.

That usually means more quad emphasis.

They help with stairs, hiking, running, getting up from the floor, knee stability, balance, and maintaining strength as muscle mass and force production become harder to hold onto with age.

What it works:

Quads, glutes, adductors, calves, core, and the hip and ankle stabilizers that help control knee tracking.

How to do it:

Place your heels on a stable wedge, slant board, or small weight plates.

Stand hip-width to shoulder-width apart.

Keep your ribs stacked over your pelvis.

Lower by bending the knees and hips together.

Let the knees travel forward, but keep them tracking in line with your toes.

Stay tall through your chest.

Push through your whole foot to stand back up.

At the top, squeeze your glutes without aggressively tucking your pelvis under.

Common mistakes:

Going too heavy too soon, letting the knees cave inward, pushing only through the toes, rushing the bottom position, or using a heel lift that is too high.

Think: knees forward, ribs down, chest tall, control the bottom, drive the floor away.

More exercises, progressions, and full strength and endurance training plans are inside my exercise library under “Posts.”