If you ever considered doing proper heel-elevated squats, the squat wedge vs slant board dilemma must have fallen onto your radar. You can use a gym plate to raise your heels, of course, but to have full control, you should get a tried and true piece of exercise equipment.
Should you go with a slant board that offers more angles, or do you go with the squat wedges, which are separated? And, is there a difference when it comes to heel-elevated squatting with one of these?
Let’s talk about it.
Table of Contents
Heel Elevation as a Solution for Unstable Squatting
Let’s get one thing straight right away – not everyone needs to squat with their heels elevated, but everyone can benefit from it. So, what gives?
When you start descending into a squat, it’s paramount that you activate both your posterior and anterior leg muscles (i.e. hams, glutes, and quads). The rest of your body’s musculature plays the stabilizing role, while the leg muscles carry the load.
Due to a lack of ankle mobility, quite a few athletes have an issue with the two large muscle groups not staying in sync. As a consequence of unbalanced biomechanics, you are either bound to not squat at all or to risk injury. Some people experience this as but wink, while some keep falling forward trying to keep it together while squatting.
If you elevate your heels (in a safe manner), your body will adapt and distribute the load more evenly. By allowing for a better ankle-knee-hip placement, it will also let you work around the lack of ankle mobility.
And no, heel-elevated lifting shoes are not the answer. The point is to develop your own ankle mobility, not compensate endlessly. At Hybrid Athlete, we believe that minimalist barefoot shoes are the way to go, be it for running or lifting.
Squat Wedges vs. Slant Board - What’s the Difference?
While both provide heel-elevation, there are nuances to both of these exercise tools.
Squat Wedges - Industrial rubber that handles big loads
Squat wedges are designed to help you elevate your heels separately. They come as a two-piece and can be neatly packed in a bag (included with the Hybrid Athlete Squat Wedges). This allows you to use them virtually anywhere.
But the biggest strength of the squat wedges is not their portability, but the load they can handle – you can use them for barbell squats if you want and they won’t budge.
Lastly, you can use a single squat wedge to perform unilateral squats, like the pistol squat. Of course, the slant board gives you that option as well. However, some people prefer a single wedge to a slant board when doing single-legged heel-elevated exercises.
Slant Board - A versatile mobility tool and a great calf stretcher
Now, you might think – why should I get a slant board if the squat wedges provide all the support I need? The answer is – adjustable angles!
The Hybrid Athlete Slant Board gives you the option to choose between three incline angles – 20°, 30°, and 40°). This makes it great for heel-elevated squat progressions (remember, the goal is to get to a flat surface), but it also makes it great for all sorts of calf raises, stretches, and lower-leg mobility work in general.
Compared to squat wedges, the slant board gives you a wider range of exercises, with a slight disadvantage of not being able to handle 100kg+ loads on the bar.
Squat Wedges vs Slant Board - Which One Should You Get?
Let’s summarize, and put this squat wedges vs slant board debate to bed:
- Heel-elevated squatting is a great way to train your body to engage all the muscle groups, helping you with knee-hip alignment as well
- Squat wedges are more inclined (pun intended) towards barbel squatting and heel-elevated squatting under load
- Slant boards come with adjustable angles (at least ours does), and it’s more of a tool for lower-body mobility, ankle stability, and knee bulletproofing
Bulletproof Your Body With The Best KOT Exercise Equipment:
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