If your hips feel stiff after sitting for hours or you struggle to move comfortably from side to side during exercise, Cossack squats may be worth exploring. This wide-stance exercise combines a controlled lateral squat with a stretch for the inner thigh, challenging your hips, legs and balance at the same time.
But does performing 50 Cossack squats every day improve hip mobility or ease lower-back discomfort? The answer is more nuanced than a simple yes or no.
Cossack squats can help you practice moving your hips through a challenging range of motion while strengthening several lower-body muscles. However, there is not enough direct evidence to conclude that doing exactly 50 repetitions daily produces superior results, prevents groin injuries or treats lower-back pain.
What Are Cossack Squats?
A Cossack squat is a side-to-side squat performed with a wide stance. Instead of lowering your body equally over both legs, you bend one knee and move your hips toward that side while keeping the opposite leg relatively straight.
The exercise challenges several areas of movement and muscular control, including:
Hip mobility: Your hips must accommodate bending and rotation as you lower into the position.
Inner-thigh muscles: The adductors help control the position of your legs and hips.
Leg strength: The working leg supports your body as you lower and rise.
Balance and coordination: Moving laterally requires control that ordinary forward-facing squats may not emphasize as much.
Your available range of motion depends on factors such as anatomy, strength, previous injuries and your familiarity with the movement. Not everyone will be able to squat equally low, and that is not necessarily a problem.
How to Perform a Cossack Squat With Good Form
Start with the bodyweight version before attempting to add weights.
Step 1: Take a wide stance. Stand with your feet comfortably wider than shoulder-width apart. Keep your posture upright and your toes pointing forward or slightly outward, as feels natural.
Step 2: Shift your weight to one side. Bend one knee and move your hips backward and toward that side, as though sitting into a lateral squat.
Step 3: Keep the opposite leg extended. Allow the non-working leg to straighten comfortably. You may need to adjust your foot position to find a natural, controlled movement.
Step 4: Lower only as far as you can control. Keep your chest lifted and your working foot firmly supported on the floor. Do not force a deep squat or push through sharp pain.
Step 5: Return to standing. Press through the working foot to rise, then repeat on the other side.
Move slowly enough to maintain balance and control. Your depth may differ between sides, especially when you are learning.
How Many Cossack Squats Should You Do?
There is no established universal dose of Cossack squats that guarantees better mobility. Fifty repetitions a day is a personal challenge, not a medically established requirement.
If you are new to the exercise, start with a small number of comfortable repetitions on each side. For example, you could try five controlled repetitions per side and assess how your body responds. This is a conservative starting example, not a clinically validated prescription.
Increase the number or depth gradually only when your technique remains comfortable and controlled. You do not need to reach 25 repetitions on each side to benefit from practicing the movement.
Remember that more repetitions are not automatically better. Fatigue can make it harder to maintain balance and technique.
What Benefits Can Cossack Squats Offer?
1. Practicing Hip Mobility
Cossack squats take your hips through a combination of bending and movement toward the side. Practicing a movement within a comfortable range may help you become more familiar with that position and improve your control over time.
However, hip mobility is not determined by one exercise alone. Your anatomy, existing movement restrictions, strength and overall activity also influence how comfortably you move.
A deeper squat is not necessarily a better squat if you have to force your body into the position.
2. Training the Inner-Thigh Muscles
The adductor muscles are located along the inner thigh. They help bring the legs toward the body's midline and contribute to controlling the hip during movement.
Cossack squats challenge these muscles as the hips move into a wide, lateral position. This makes the exercise useful as one option for developing lower-body strength and movement control.
Research on other adductor-strengthening exercises supports the value of training these muscles. However, evidence from those exercises cannot automatically be applied to Cossack squats or used to promise injury prevention from this particular movement.
3. Developing Side-to-Side Strength and Control
Many common lower-body exercises emphasize forward-and-backward movement. Cossack squats introduce a more pronounced side-to-side challenge.
This can be useful for people who want to practice lateral movement as part of a broader exercise routine. The movement also requires coordination between the working leg, the opposite leg and the trunk.
It should complement rather than replace a balanced strength-training program.
Can Cossack Squats Relieve Lower-Back Pain?
This is where it is important to distinguish a plausible explanation from a proven treatment.
The hips and trunk work together during everyday activities such as walking, bending and lifting. If your hip movement is restricted, you may change how you perform certain movements. Improving movement options can be useful, but lower-back pain has many possible causes.
There is insufficient direct evidence to say that Cossack squats specifically relieve lower-back pain or that tight hip muscles are always responsible for it.
Some people may find the movement comfortable as part of a general mobility routine. Others may experience discomfort, particularly if they force the depth or already have a hip, groin or back problem.
If your back hurts during the exercise, stop and reassess rather than trying to push through the discomfort. Persistent or worsening symptoms deserve assessment by a qualified healthcare professional.
What Can a One-Week Challenge Really Tell You?
A week of practicing Cossack squats may help you notice changes in your movement, comfort or confidence. It can also reveal differences between your left and right sides.
But those observations do not establish that the exercise caused a lasting improvement. Short-term changes may reflect practice, warm-up effects, day-to-day variation or increased familiarity with the movement.
A single person's experience also cannot determine whether the same routine is suitable for other people.
If you want to track your progress, pay attention to whether you can move with better control, maintain balance and reach a comfortable depth without forcing the position. Compare similar conditions rather than relying only on how deep you can squat on one particular day.
How to Make Cossack Squats Easier
You do not need to start with a deep squat.
Reduce the depth: Lower only as far as you can maintain a comfortable position.
Use support: Hold a sturdy, stable support if you need help with balance.
Adjust your stance: Experiment with a comfortable foot position rather than forcing your toes or knees into an unnatural angle.
Slow down: Controlled repetitions are more useful than rushing through the movement.
Skip added weights initially: Learn the movement with your body weight before increasing the challenge.
If you have a recent injury, ongoing hip or groin pain, or have been advised to restrict certain movements after surgery, seek individualized guidance from a qualified professional before trying deep lateral squats.
How Often Should You Practice?
Cossack squats can be included in a broader strength or mobility routine, but daily practice is not essential for everyone. The appropriate frequency depends on your training experience, recovery, comfort and other activities.
The World Health Organization recommends that adults perform muscle-strengthening activities involving the major muscle groups on at least two days per week, alongside recommended aerobic activity. These general recommendations do not establish a specific schedule for Cossack squats.
For general fitness, combine appropriate strength exercises with regular movement and other activities suited to your ability. Progress gradually rather than chasing a fixed daily repetition target.
The Bottom Line
Cossack squats are a useful exercise to consider if you want to practice lateral movement, challenge your inner-thigh muscles and explore your available hip range of motion.
But 50 repetitions a day is not a magic number, and one week is too short to establish lasting improvements or prove that the exercise prevents injuries or treats lower-back pain.
Start with a comfortable range, focus on controlled technique and increase the challenge gradually. The goal is to move well and build strength over time, not to force your body into the deepest possible squat.
Medical Disclaimer: This article is for general educational purposes only and does not provide individualized medical advice. Health decisions should be discussed with a qualified healthcare professional.
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