Cossack Squat unweighted foot?

Hi,

In Cossack squats, should the toes of the unweighted foot come up or should you try to keep them on the floor? In the video the toes look like they're coming up a little bit but I wasn't sure if that was incidental or deliberate.

Thanks.

Hi Hansenator, 

I believe it is okay for the toes to come up.  Looking at the video again it looks like he is trying to maintain plantar flexion (toes pointed) as the toes come off the floor.  I probably wouldn't let them come up more than necessary for you to complete the movement. 

I'm no expert so hopefully someone else will chime in soon.  

I've always let them come up fully.  I don't think there's any real problem either way.

But I would recommend you spend some time in the bottom position.  Practice both foot positions, and try moving through internal and external rotation.  Good fun.

Thanks.

I wasn't sure if I should be trying for a Taming the Tiger stance type of thing or not.

The Hansenator said:

I wasn't sure if I should be trying for a Taming the Tiger stance type of thing or not.

Well, I know that external rotation helps increase flexibility, so it stands to reason that internal rotation (like the link) would make the exercise more challenging.

I'll play around with it tomorrow and let you know what I think.

Bipocni said:

I'll play around with it tomorrow and let you know what I think.

No.  For two reasons.

1: I really don't like the sensation along the outside of my knees.  That's a weird pain.

2: External rotation seems to be largely controlled by the glutes, whereas during internal rotation the glutes act as antagonist muscles, and would need to be turned off in order to facilitate the stretch.  This is why arch body holds are so hard.  Given Coaches stance on glute activation in lunges as outlined in the most recent chalk talk, I can't imagine he would agree with a lunge variation that requires them to be sleeping.

So there you go.