The Cossack squat is a wide-stance squat where all of your weight sits down onto one leg while the other stays straight out to the side, heel on the floor and toes pointing at the ceiling. It is the deepest sideways position most adults ever put their hips into, and it is coached here with a hand on the rack until the bottom is somewhere you can breathe.
It is the full-depth end of the lateral family that starts with the lateral lunge, and it earns its slot for anyone whose sport moves sideways: skiing and boarding, hockey and skating, and climbing, where a high step or a drop knee is a Cossack squat with a wall in front of it.
What it trains
The adductors of the straight leg through a long stretch under load, the glute and quad of the working leg at a depth the goblet squat never reaches, and the ankle of the working side, which has to stay flat while the knee travels well forward. It also trains hip control in the frontal plane, which is the plane most lifting ignores and most North Shore sports live in. Within the squat pattern it is the specialist for range rather than load.
Setup
- Stand side-on to a rack upright with a wide stance, toes pointing forward or slightly out, one hand lightly on the post.
- Shift your weight fully onto the leg nearest the rack and sit straight down over that foot, knee tracking over the toes, heel glued to the floor.
- As you descend, let the other leg straighten out to the side and turn its toes up so only the heel is on the floor.
- Sit as deep as the heel and a tall chest allow, hold for a breath, then push through the whole working foot to stand. Repeat all reps on one side, then face the other way.
The cues we use
- Toes up on the straight leg: that is the whole exercise
- Sit down over the foot, not across toward the rack
- Own the bottom: breathe there before you stand
Common faults, and the fixes
| Fault | Why it happens | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Working heel lifting | Ankle range runs out before hip range does, and the heel pops to buy the last few centimetres of depth | Stop at the depth where the heel stays down and hold there; the range grows from the bottom you can hold, not the one you fall through |
| Straight-leg foot rolling flat | Toes falling flat lets the leg rotate inward and the adductor stretch disappears, which makes the movement easier and much less useful | Toes to the ceiling before you descend and again at the bottom; if they will not stay up, the stance is too wide for today |
| Hanging off the rack | The hand takes half the body weight and the hips never learn to own the bottom | Fingertips only, and a set every session with the hand hovering off the post; the rack is a spotter, not a handrail |
| Bouncing out of the bottom | The stretch reflex fires and the rep rebounds up before the hip has done any work | A one-second pause at the bottom on every rep; the pause is where the strength gets built |
The ladder
Easier: Lateral lunge — When full depth is not available yet or the straight leg keeps bending; the lunge covers the same direction at a range the hips can already control
Harder: Goblet Cossack squat — When rack-free reps stay heel-down and toes-up for a full set, a light dumbbell held at the chest arrives, and it makes depth easier before it makes the leg work harder
How it is loaded here
Bodyweight, for longer than people expect, and then a light dumbbell held at the chest, which acts as a counterweight first and a load second. Sets run five to eight per side, slow, with the pause at the bottom doing more work than the number on the dumbbell ever will. In a coached session it lives in the warm-up before squats or in the mobility slot at the end, and the coach sets the range for each person on the day rather than asking everyone to reach the floor. On the small group strength floor it shows up more in the months before ski season, when hips that will spend weekends edging on Cypress and Seymour need the sideways range first and the sideways strength second. Climbers get it year-round; hockey players usually notice they needed it in the first week.
When we swap it
- a groin or adductor that flares: Split squats and reverse lunges keep the single-leg work while the sideways range rests, and anything sharp gets the assessment-first treatment
- knees that dislike the deep sideways sit: The lateral lunge to a short, controlled range, and the depth comes back a centimetre at a time
- no rack free: A short-range Cossack with the hands clasped in front as a counterweight, or the lateral lunge for the day; the mobility routine for lifters runs Cossack squats with no equipment at all
Common questions
Why keep the toes up on the straight leg?
Because toes-up locks the straight leg into the position that stretches the adductor and stops the hip rotating inward to escape it. With the foot flat, the same movement becomes a wide squat that the hips can cheat through. The toe position is the difference between a mobility exercise and a wide stance.
Should I hold the bottom or move through it?
Hold it. The bottom position is where the range and the strength are both earned, so every rep pauses for at least a breath, and the first sets of a warm-up often hold for three or four. Moving through quickly trains the bounce, not the hip.
When can I let go of the rack?
When a full set stays heel-down and toes-up with only your fingertips on the post. Most people wean off it over a few weeks by lightening the touch each session; some keep a hand nearby for balance permanently and lose nothing, since the rack is there for control, not for cheating depth.
