Cossack Squat
adductors
What moves the load, and what it costs
5.0MET
अॅडक्टर्स is the prime mover, with the quadriceps, glutes assisting. A deep lateral squat that trains the adductors through a long range and exposes ankle and hip restrictions immediately.
Cue: From a wide stance, sit down on one side with that foot flat, keeping the other leg straight with the toes up.
स्रोत·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·वजनी स्क्वॅट्स गटात नोंद·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
SHARED AXIS · SEVEN VALUES FROM ONE TABLE · HIGHLIGHTED ROW IS THIS MOVEMENT
The compendium files cossack squat under a category, not a lift. Read the ladder as position, not precision: this is heavier work than sitting quietly by a factor of 5.0, and middling for conditioning work.
Turning that MET value into a real energy cost
- Map the movement to a published category. The compendium measures categories of conditioning work, never individual lifts, so cossack squat is filed under Resistance (weight) training, squats, slow or explosive effort.
- Take the category's MET value — 5.0. One MET is the cost of sitting quietly, so this is 5.0 times resting metabolism.
- Multiply by 3.5 to get millilitres of oxygen per kilogram per minute, the unit the MET is actually defined in.
- Multiply by your bodyweight in kilograms and divide by 200. The result is kilocalories per minute of work.
- Count working minutes only. Under load, not under the roof — a set of eight is about 25 seconds of the hour you were there.
kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × body mass (kg) ÷ 200 Cossack Squat: 5.0 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 = 6.13 kcal/min
स्रोत·ACSM metabolic equation + 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·REFERENCE BODY MASS 70 KG·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
What is actually doing the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| अॅडक्टर्सAdductor magnus, longus, brevis, gracilis | Prime mover | Pull the thigh towards the midline, and (adductor magnus especially) extend the hip. A wide-stance squat loads them heavily. |
| Quadricepsरेक्टस फेमोरिस आणि तीन वास्टी | Synergist / stabiliser | गुडघा सरळ करतो. रेक्टस फेमोरिस खुब्यावरूनही जातो आणि तो वाकवतो, त्यामुळे स्क्वॅटमध्ये त्यावर लेग एक्स्टेंशनपेक्षा वेगळ्या प्रकारे भार येतो. |
| GlutesGluteus maximus, medius आणि minimus | Synergist / stabiliser | हिप ताणतो (maximus), आणि तो बाजूला नेतो व स्थिर ठेवतो (medius आणि minimus). शरीरातील सर्वात बलवान एकच स्नायुगट. |
The prime mover produces the movement against the resistance; synergists assist and stabilisers hold a joint still without moving it. An exercise trains the whole muscle it loads — there is no way to work only part of a muscle, and no exercise removes fat from the area around it.
Set up, then earn the rep
Bodyweight, Kettlebell. Every rep should look like the first one. The moment it stops looking like the first one, the set is finished.
पॅटर्न · स्क्वॅट
- Hold the kettlebell close to the chest with the elbows tucked underneath it.
- Set the feet shoulder-width or a little wider with the toes turned out 15 to 30 degrees — whatever lets your hips travel between them.
- From a wide stance, sit down on one side with that foot flat, keeping the other leg straight with the toes up.
- Take a big breath into the belly, brace as if bracing for impact, and screw the feet into the floor.
- Sit down between the hips, keeping the whole foot loaded, until the hip crease passes below the top of the knee or until your position starts to fail.
- Drive up by pushing the floor away, keeping the chest and hips rising together, and breathe out at the top.
Where this one breaks down
Not theory. These are the faults you correct on a gym floor, and the correction that actually works.
Knees caving inward on the way up.
It is usually the hardest rep that exposes it. Think about screwing the feet outward into the floor and stop the set when it appears.
The hips rising faster than the chest.
The squat becomes a good morning and the lower back takes the load the legs were supposed to. Reduce the weight and drive the chest up out of the hole.
Cutting the depth as the weight climbs.
A half squat trains a half range. Load whatever depth you can hold position through, then work on the position.
Heels lifting off the floor.
Usually ankle mobility. Widen the stance slightly, work on the ankles, or squat in flat shoes with a small heel wedge — do not just fight it.
Regress it, or progress it
Regress — earn it first
Progress — the next demand
इथल्या प्रगतीक्रमात हा सर्वात वरचा आहे. नवीन व्यायाम शोधायला जाण्याआधी वजन वाढवा, हालचालीची व्याप्ती वाढवा, गती कमी करा किंवा एका हाता-पायावर करा.
Prescription: load, reps, rest
Read off the goal, then hold the technique constant as the load climbs. Derived from the movement's mechanics, not invented for this page: a compound lift loads several joints, so it tolerates heavy loads and needs long rests.
| Goal | Sets | Reps | Rest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3–5 | 3–6 | 3–5 min | Heavy loads need long rests. Cutting rest to two minutes turns a strength set into a conditioning set. |
| Muscle size | 3–4 | 6–12 | 90–180 sec | Take most sets to within one to three reps of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle matters more than the exact rep number. |
| Endurance / fat loss | 2–4 | 12–20 | 45–75 sec | Lighter loads and shorter rests. Fat loss is decided by the diet; this preserves muscle while it happens. |
| First month | 2–3 | 8–10 | 2 मिनिटे | Well short of failure, same weight every set, until the movement looks the same on the last rep as the first. |
Time under load, in kilocalories
Read these as minutes of work, not minutes in the building. A set of eight takes about twenty-five seconds; the rest of the hour is rest, chalk and queueing.
Mapped category: रेझिस्टन्स (वजन) ट्रेनिंग, स्क्वॅट्स, संथ किंवा स्फोटक प्रयत्न — 5.0 MET. That is the published category this movement is filed under, not a measurement of this specific lift.
Worked at 5.0 MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 = 6.13 kcal per working minute for a 70 kg adult. Scale it by your own bodyweight; the equation is linear. The full activity dataset lives at BurnLab.
स्रोत·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·CATEGORY VALUE, NOT A PER-EXERCISE MEASUREMENT·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
If the rack is taken
Substitutes train the same prime mover through the same pattern with different kit. Computed from the muscle and pattern data on this card, not hand-picked to fill a grid.
Where it sits in a week
One movement is not a programme. The twelve templates put these in order, including 6 that need no gym at all.
The questions that come up on the floor
What muscles does the cossack squat work?
Cossack Squat is a compound movement in which the adductors is the prime mover, assisted by the quadriceps, glutes. Pull the thigh towards the midline, and (adductor magnus especially) extend the hip. A wide-stance squat loads them heavily.
Is the cossack squat good for beginners?
Not on day one, but it is reachable within a few weeks. It rates 3 out of 5 for technical demand. Work up through the easier versions listed on this page first, starting with the sumo squat.
What can I do instead of the cossack squat at home?
This movement is difficult to reproduce without equipment. Where a bodyweight substitute does not exist, progress by slowing the tempo and using single-limb versions instead of adding load.
How many sets and reps of the cossack squat should I do?
For muscle size, 3–4 sets of 6–12 with 90–180 sec rest. For strength, 3–5 sets of 3–6 with 3–5 min rest. In your first month, 2–3 sets of 8–10, stopping well short of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle group matters more than the exact rep number in any of these ranges.
Does the cossack squat burn fat from the adductors?
No. No exercise removes fat from the area it trains — spot reduction has been tested repeatedly and does not happen. Training the adductors builds the muscle underneath; where body fat is lost from is decided by an overall calorie deficit and by your genetics, not by which exercise you chose.
Muscle roles follow standard kinesiology references and are described by joint action rather than by gym convention — see how this site is built. Energy figures are derived from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Every reference is named and dated on the sources page. General information only — not medical or coaching advice. Load, form and progression should be adjusted to your own experience and any injury history. When in doubt, get coached in person.
स्रोत·Published exercise references·MUSCLE ROLES ASSIGNED BY JOINT ACTION·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
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