Lower body exercise is neglected

What Benefits do Cossack Squats provide? (Note: Video is at the bottom of the article)

Quite frankly, there’s so many, that we’ll skip the anatomy lesson and provide a comprehensive list of benefits and capabilities you will achieve if you start doing cossack squats. They are;

Increased flexibility in the hips, quads, hamstrings, glutes and ankles

Increased hip mobility
Increased knee stability
Increased dynamic strength
Increased core strength and stability

Improved starting position for deadlifts (think guys who round their back too quickly and under-utilise the hamstrings)

Improved squat depth

Excellent “3D” movement for athletes who turn quickly or even kick in combat

Development of unilateral strength

Ok, so I’ve probably got your attention. That’s great, because you’re about to find out exactly why this movement is so awesome.

Should I do Cossack Squats?

Are you suffering to some degree in one of the aforementioned benefits of doing cossack squats? The chances are probably yes. Let’s be honest for a minute. We are living in a society where a lot of us are deskbound, resulting in not only problems such as anterior pelvic tilt, but also innumerable problems with general health issue’s that are detrimental to overall life quality. Are you a mother or father who seriously struggled to crouch down and speak to your child on their level? Perhaps you feel embarrased that kneeling over at a vending machine is enough to make you feel like crumbling. These are not good problems to be having; we haven’t evolved to live like this. If you’re tight, inflexible, or suffering from one of these crucial aspects of performance, then you’re selling yourself short on a simple movement that will help rectify all.

I speak anecdotally from experience that adherence to cossack squats done consistently have completely transformed my training. I no longer struggle to hit squat depth in pain; my hip mobility is fantastic despite being desk bound at my job; my adductors chronic tightness is aleviated massively; my unilateral leg strength is not imbalanced leading to structural problems; my dynamic strength and explosiveness has increased.

All of these problems were rectified by simply using a few sets of cossack squats a week alongside my general warm-ups for legs, and using a light weight at the end of my lower body workouts to really open the hips up. Need more convincing? Here’s one of the world’s best athletic coaches, Joe De Franco (known as the pro creator of NFL players) on why cossack squats should be an imperative and fundamental movement in your routine.

“This exercise is an ALL-STAR in it’s ability to develop incredible hip mobility and strength…especially in the long adductors! (This video shows The Asshole performing the “slide” technique variation of this movement.)

You can perform this exercise with little or no weight at the beginning of your workout to “open up” the hips before squatting or deadlifting…

Or you can perform it at the end of your workout (w/ added weight) so you don’t leave the gym feeling “locked up” after a heavy lower body day.

It doesn’t matter WHEN you choose to do them; JUST MAKE SURE YOU DO THEM!! Although they’re not fun, you will feel incredible afterwards! Every athlete, powerlifter and weekend warrior should be doing these. Period.”

How to Perform Cossack Squats

Although the video embedded to this article provides a perfect illustration, here’s the man himself Joe going over a brief outline of how to perform cossacks properly:

Start by taking a wide, “sumo” stance with your toes pointing out

Squat down and then start the motion by shifting your weight to one side

Make sure your knee tracks over your toes and the foot on the “working side” stays flat on the ground. The opposite leg should be straight and you want to lift your toes off the ground and point them to the ceiling as the heel remains on the ground. (This provides an incredible stretch on your adductors!!)

I prefer the “slide” technique, as opposed to standing up, as you go from side to side. “Sliding” basically means staying down and level, insteading of coming up and down with each rep. Sliding keeps constant tension on the legs and provides an insane stretch on the adductors (where most athletes are horribly tight)! You will literally feel this stretch from high up in your groin, all the way down to the inside of your knee!

When to Perform Cossack Squats

Without a shadow of a doubt, you should perform them as part of a dynamic flexibility warm-up for lower body days including deadlifts and squats. You can simply slide using your bodyweight, or hold a fence or apparatus of some sort for stability until you get comfortable with the movement. You can also use weight towards the end of your workout as prescribed by Joe; I personally like to use them this way as well. In fact, I incorporate cossacks in my warm-ups AND as a finisher with weight towards the end (if you don’t have chains or a weighted vest, simply hold a dumbbell out in front of you).