to stop your feet turning out when you squat
Foot turnout during a squat is one of those little things that creeps into your lifting without you noticing, especially if you train at busy commercial gyms in Sydney or Melbourne where the squat racks are crammed together and you can't always step back to check your form. After a few warm-up sets, your heels lift, your knees cave, and the whole lift ends up looking like a polite curtsy rather than a proper squat.
The simplest fix I've come across is a tiny heel elevation, often called a squat wedge or heel raise, paired with a deliberate "screw the floor outwards" cue. It isn't a magic gadget, it doesn't cost much, and it works on everything from a heavy back squat in a Brisbane strength gym to a casual goblet squat at a Bondi outdoor training session. The rest of this note walks through why feet drift out, how to apply the trick, and what to pair it with.
Why feet drift outward when you squat
Most people who end up with toes pointing like a ballet dancer at the bottom of a squat aren't doing it on purpose. The pattern usually comes from a combination of tight ankles, overactive hip external rotators, and a habit of sitting at a desk all day in an Australian CBD office before heading to the gym. When ankle dorsiflexion is limited, the body looks for the next easiest way to get depth, and that's often to flare the feet and let the arch collapse.
A quick self-test: stand barefoot on a hard floor and try to squat to parallel without your heels lifting. If they peel up after about half the range, ankle mobility is probably part of the story. Add in glute amnesia from long commutes on the M2 or the Monash, and the knees end up chasing the toes, which only reinforces the outward turn.
The heel-elevated squat drill
The trick itself is straightforward. Slip a 2–3 cm wedge, a small pair of weight plates, or a purpose-made squat shoe under your heels before you load the bar. Most lifting shoes sold at Rebel Sport or specialist stores in Melbourne's fitness district have a hard heel built in for exactly this reason. With the heels supported, the shin can stay more vertical, the knees track over the mid-foot, and the feet have a much easier time staying straight or only slightly turned out.
The cue that ties it together is to "spread the floor" with your feet, as if you're trying to tear the ground apart between your heels and your toes. This drives the hips into external rotation without letting the feet actually rotate. Start the session with two or three light sets of 8–10 reps using the wedges, then move into your working weights. Within a few weeks, you can usually drop the wedges on lighter days and only need them when you're going heavy or stiff from a long shift.
| Without the trick | With the trick |
|---|---|
| Heels lift early, knees collapse inward | Heels stay grounded, knees track forward |
| Lower back rounds as depth increases | Chest stays taller, depth feels easier |
| Glutes switch off, quads dominate | Glutes engage, quads and adductors share the load |
| Hard to feel the "screw the floor" cue | Cue becomes natural within a few sets |
A quick banded warm-up to reset hip rotation
Wedges alone won't fix the underlying tightness, so a short banded sequence before squatting helps a lot. A mini-band around the knees for two sets of 15 banded squats, followed by 90/90 hip switches on the floor of the change room, is enough to wake up the glutes and remind the hips how to rotate the right way. Keep the band light, around the resistance of a thick loop band, and focus on slow, controlled reps rather than speed.
If you train at an outdoor setup like the free gyms dotted along the Yarra or at South Bank, take the band with you. It packs flat in a gym bag and turns a quick warm-up into a proper hip reset, especially on those sticky Brisbane summer evenings when your muscles feel half-cooked from the heat.
Footwear choices that reinforce the fix
Outside the gym, your everyday shoes quietly shape your squat pattern. Australians who spend years in flat thongs, classic Volleys, or stiff work boots tend to end up with stiff ankles and weak foot arches, which feeds straight back into that outward turn. Rotating in a pair of minimalist shoes for daily wear, or going barefoot at home on the tiles, helps the small foot muscles do their job.
For lifting, a flat-soled canvas option or a dedicated heel-elevated shoe both work. The flat shoe builds ankle strength over time, while the heeled version lets you squat heavier today without your form falling apart. Most Sydney strength studios will let you try both styles in a session, which is a smart way to feel the difference before spending up.
Pairing the trick with your weekly training
The wedge and the band work best when they slot into a routine you already follow. Two squat sessions a week, each preceded by the banded warm-up, is plenty for most recreational lifters juggling work and a weekend game of AFL or cricket on the side. On deload weeks, drop the wedges entirely and squat in flat shoes to check whether the new pattern has stuck.
The practical takeaway is simple: stop chasing the squat with a turned-out stance and start training the squat your ankles and hips actually have. A small wedge, a band, and a little patience will usually do in a month what years of "knees out" shouting never managed, and your knees will thank you when you next load the bar.