Cossack Squat
A deep sideways squat on one leg with the other leg extended straight, worked in the frontal plane.
How to do it
- Stand with your feet well outside shoulder width and toes pointing forward.
- Brace your abdominals and lift your chest tall.
- Shift your weight over one leg and bend that knee, sitting the hips back and down.
- Keep the other leg straight and let its foot roll onto the heel with the toes up.
- Descend only as far as your hips and ankles allow with the loaded heel flat.
- Push through the bent leg to return to center, then repeat on the other side.
Key technique cue
Keep the straight leg long with toes up; go only as deep as mobility allows, no back arching.
Common mistakes
- ✕ Arching the lower back to reach depth, which loads the lumbar spine instead of the hips.
- ✕ Letting the heel of the squatting leg lift, which is an ankle mobility limit, not a strength one.
- ✕ Bending the extended leg, which removes the adductor and hamstring stretch.
- ✕ Rushing the transition between sides, which loses control at the deepest position.
Benefits
- ✓ Trains strength in the frontal plane that forward facing leg work misses.
- ✓ Loads the adductors and hamstrings of the extended leg through a long stretch.
- ✓ Builds hip, knee and ankle range that carries over to every squat pattern.
Progression: from easier to harder
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Step 1 You are here - Cossack Squat
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Step 2
About the exercise
The Cossack squat takes a wide stance and shifts the whole body over one leg. That leg goes into deep hip, knee and ankle flexion while the other stays straight with the foot rolled onto its heel, which puts the inner thigh and hamstring of the extended leg under a long stretch. Because the movement runs side to side rather than front to back, it trains the frontal plane that most leg exercises leave alone. It demands real hip, knee and ankle range, so depth should follow available mobility rather than being forced.
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