FITBODY Exercise Library · Legs
Cossack Squat
The Cossack squat is a side to side movement that builds lower body strength while dramatically improving hip, knee, and ankle mobility, and it is one of the most valuable things a woman over 40 can add to her training.
What Is a Cossack Squat?
The Cossack squat is a side to side bodyweight movement that strengthens the lower body while dramatically improving hip, knee, and ankle mobility. Unlike traditional squats, the Cossack squat shifts your weight laterally, engaging your inner thighs, glutes, hamstrings, quads, and core.
For women over 40, this exercise is especially helpful for enhancing flexibility, building strength in all planes of motion, and protecting joints as you age. Most of what we do in the gym happens front to back, and this is one of the few movements that trains you sideways, which is exactly where hips tend to get stiff.
How to Do a Cossack Squat
Go only as low as your mobility allows. Over time, aim to increase depth without compromising form. And here is what I tell my clients who feel unsteady on this one, hold a light dumbbell out in front of your chest as a counterbalance. It sounds backwards to add weight when you are struggling, but it shifts your center of gravity forward and most women immediately sit deeper and feel more stable!
What Muscles Does the Cossack Squat Work?
The Cossack squat activates multiple lower body muscle groups at once, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus and medius, adductors, and calves. It also requires real engagement from the core and spinal stabilizers to maintain posture and balance, which makes it a compound, functional movement rather than a stretch. The adductors are the star here, because very few exercises load the inner thigh through a deep range the way this one does. If you want a fuller picture of the muscles involved, Cleveland Clinic has a good overview of the thigh muscles.
See the full muscle breakdown
- Adductors: the inner thigh muscles, lengthened under load on the straight leg and working hard to control the descent on the bent side.
- Gluteus maximus: drives you back up out of the bottom position on the working leg.
- Gluteus medius: stabilizes the hip and keeps the working knee from caving inward.
- Quadriceps: control the deep knee bend and extend the leg on the way up.
- Hamstrings: assist at the hip and stretch through the bottom of the range.
- Calves and ankle: demand real dorsiflexion to keep the working heel flat, which is why ankle mobility is often the limiting factor.
- Core and spinal stabilizers: hold your torso upright while your base of support keeps shifting.
Benefits of the Cossack Squat
- Improves hip and ankle mobility. The deep lateral position asks for range in exactly the joints that stiffen up first.
- Builds lower body strength, especially through the glutes and inner thighs, which are hard to load any other way.
- Enhances balance and stability by making you control your body through a shifting base of support.
- Supports joint health and injury prevention by training you in the frontal plane rather than only front to back.
- Increases flexibility in the hamstrings and adductors while you are actually strengthening them.
This is a movement that pays off long term, especially for active women in midlife who want to stay strong and mobile. It fits naturally into a lower body day built around progressive overload, and it supports the kind of full body strength work that drives body recomposition.
Sets and Reps
How you program this one depends on whether you are using it for mobility or for strength. Both are valid, and the difference is mostly depth, load, and where it sits in your session.
| Goal | Sets | Reps per side |
|---|---|---|
| Mobility and warm up | 2 | 6 to 8 |
| Lower body strength | 3 to 4 | 8 to 10 |
| Loaded, holding a dumbbell | 3 | 6 to 8 |
Two to three sessions per week works well for most women. Use it as part of a warm up or mobility circuit on lighter days, and treat it as a working lower body exercise on strength days. Progress by adding depth first, then adding load. Worth knowing, a 2023 meta-analysis found that resistance training improved range of motion about as effectively as stretching, but the same analysis found no significant range of motion improvement from bodyweight-only work, so holding even a light dumbbell may be what turns this from a stretch into a genuine mobility builder.
Variations and Modifications
Supported Cossack Squat
Hold a TRX strap, a squat rack upright, or the back of a sturdy chair and let your arms take some of your weight. This is where I start most women, because it removes the balance demand entirely so you can focus on finding depth. Reduce how much you lean on the support as you get stronger.
Heel Elevated Cossack Squat
If ankle mobility is your limiter, elevate the working heel on a small plate or wedge. This reduces the dorsiflexion demand and still lets the hips and knees load properly, so you get the full benefit of the movement without fighting your ankles for it.
Goblet Cossack Squat
Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell at chest height. The counterbalance genuinely helps most women sit deeper and stay upright, and it adds real load to the adductors and glutes. This is my favorite progression once the bodyweight version feels controlled.
Cossack Squat with a Reach
At the bottom of each rep, reach one hand toward the opposite foot before pressing back up. This adds a thoracic rotation component and turns the movement into a full lower body and spine mobility drill. Save this for once your depth is solid.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Letting the working heel come up. Rising onto the ball of the foot shifts the load off the glutes and into the knee. Elevate the heel on a plate instead so you can keep it planted.
- Folding the chest forward. If your torso collapses toward the floor to reach depth, you have gone past your available range. Come up a few inches and hold a clean position instead.
- Letting the knee cave inward. Track your knee out over your toes on the working side. A knee that drifts in usually means the glute medius is not holding up yet.
- Chasing depth too fast. This is a mobility movement first, and depth comes from consistent practice rather than forcing it in one session. Range improves faster than most women expect when they stop rushing it.
Cossack Squat FAQs
Why is it called a Cossack squat?
The name comes from the traditional training and dance practices of the Cossacks, a group of Eastern European horsemen known for their agility, strength, and combat skills. This lateral squat variation mimics movements used in their martial arts and folk dances, which emphasized deep hip mobility, balance, and control. Today it is used in strength training to build functional lower body strength and flexibility. The name stuck because the position genuinely does look like the deep side to side movements in those dances.
What muscles does the Cossack squat work?
The Cossack squat activates multiple lower body muscle groups, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus and medius, adductors, and calves. The adductors of the inner thigh do the most distinctive work, since they are loaded through a deep range on both the bent and the straight leg. Your core and spinal stabilizers also engage throughout to maintain posture and balance as your weight shifts side to side. That combination makes it a compound, functional movement rather than just a stretch.
Is the Cossack squat good for beginners?
Yes, when performed with proper form and a scaled range of motion. Beginners should start by using support such as a TRX strap, a squat rack upright, or the back of a chair, and work in a partial range of motion rather than chasing depth. Elevating the working heel on a small plate also helps if ankle mobility is the limiter. Build depth gradually over several weeks rather than forcing it, and reduce how much you lean on the support as your strength and balance improve.
Can I do Cossack squats if I have tight hips or limited flexibility?
Yes, and it may actually help. Start with a shallow depth and progress gradually rather than forcing the bottom position. Use support for balance and elevate the heel if your ankles restrict you. Doing a few minutes of dynamic warm up beforehand makes the movement more comfortable and safer. Consistency matters far more than depth here, and most women find their range improves noticeably within a few weeks of regular practice.
How often should I do Cossack squats?
Two to three times per week is ideal, particularly as part of a warm up or mobility circuit before lower body training. The movement responds well to frequent, low volume practice because you are training a position as much as a muscle. On strength days you can treat it as a working exercise with a dumbbell held at chest height for 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps per side. Always work both sides evenly, since side to side differences are common and worth addressing.
What if I cannot keep my heel flat or I lose balance?
If ankle mobility is the limiting factor, elevate the heel on a small plate or wedge. This reduces the dorsiflexion demand and still allows the hips and knees to load properly. If balance is the problem, hold a light dumbbell out in front of your chest as a counterbalance, which shifts your center of gravity forward and helps most women sit deeper immediately. Holding a support with one hand works too, and there is no reason to rush away from it.
References
- Alizadeh, Shahab, et al. “Resistance Training Induces Improvements in Range of Motion: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Sports Medicine, vol. 53, no. 3, 2023, pp. 707 to 722, doi.org/10.1007/s40279-022-01804-x. Resistance training improved range of motion comparably to stretch training, though bodyweight-only training did not produce a significant improvement.
- Behm, David G., and Anis Chaouachi. “A Review of the Acute Effects of Static and Dynamic Stretching on Performance.” European Journal of Applied Physiology, vol. 111, no. 11, 2011, pp. 2633 to 2651, doi.org/10.1007/s00421-011-1879-2. Supports the use of dynamic movements rather than prolonged static holds in a warm up.
- Elzanie, Adel, and Judith Borger. “Anatomy, Bony Pelvis and Lower Limb, Gluteus Maximus Muscle.” StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538193.
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I’m Julie Lohre, an IFBB Fitness Pro and certified personal trainer and nutrition specialist. For more than 20 years I have helped women over 40 get stronger, leaner, and more confident through personalized online coaching built around their real lives.