Adductors exercise
Cossack SquatHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Also works
- Hamstrings
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
How do you do the Cossack Squat?
- Stand with your feet very wide, toes turned out a little.
- Shift your hips to one side and sit down over that foot.
- Keep the other leg straight and let its toes point up.
- Lower as far as your heel stays down and your back stays flat.
- Push back up to the middle and repeat on the other side.
Cues
- Bent-leg heel stays glued to the floor.
- Knee follows your toes.
- Chest up, back flat.
Common mistakes
- Letting the heel of the bent leg lift.
- Bending the straight leg to get lower.
- Rounding your back at the bottom.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
Stand tall in a very wide stance, feet about 1.1 m apart (centre to centre), toes turned out a little, whole feet flat. Hands clasped loosely in front of the chest, elbows down. Shoulders down and back, trunk braced, gaze ahead. Numbers are for the 1.75 m avatar.
The movement
Shift the hips towards the right foot and sit down and back over it, bending the right hip, knee and ankle. The right heel stays flat and the right knee travels out over the right toes. The left leg straightens fully; as the hips sink, the left foot pivots on its heel until the toes point up. The trunk tips forward from the hips with a flat back and the chest stays up; the clasped hands drift forward a little as a counterweight. From the bottom, press the whole right foot into the floor and rise back to the centre, letting the left foot settle flat again. Repeat to the left.
End position
Bottom: right thigh at or a little below parallel, right heel down, left leg straight with the heel on the floor and toes up. A straight leg of about 0.95 m (hip to heel) reaching 0.87 m across to the left heel drops the hips to about 0.38 m, about 7 cm below the bent knee. The stance is wider than the lateral lunge's 0.90 m step and close to the 60%-of-height step in [3]. Because the bent shin leans forward about 35° and the thigh sits below level, knee flexion is well past the lateral lunge's 90°, as in a full squat [4].
Tempo
Per side: 1.5 s down, 0.3 s pause at the bottom, 1.2 s up, 0.3 s standing in the middle.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toe-out, bent-leg foot | 20° | 10–30° | [4] |
| Bent knee over the foot, front view | over the 2nd–3rd toe | within 3 cm | [1][4] |
| Bent-leg heel | flat throughout | no lift | [1][4] |
| Straight knee flexion at the bottom | 0° | 0–10° | [1] |
| Straight-leg foot at the bottom | on the heel, toes up | toes 45–90° up |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Cossack Squat is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
Sources
- ACE, Lateral Lunge
- Escamilla et al. 2022, Int J Sports Phys Ther, "Patellofemoral joint loading during the performance of the forward and side lunge with step height variations"
- Riemann et al. 2013, J Sports Med Phys Fitness, "Biomechanical comparison of forward and lateral lunges at varying step lengths"
- Myer et al. 2014, Strength Cond J, "The back squat: a proposed assessment of functional deficits and technical factors that limit performance"
