Speed skater squat question

Is it permissible to put the arms out in front of you when doing this exercise? I tried that tonight and it seemed to help me quite a bit. A related question of mine is, are we supposed to be shifting our weight somewhat forward to come up? Because if I try to stay on my midfoot, these are incredibly difficult, and if I shift my weight a bit forward they become much easier. I can post a video if anyone needs help visualizing what I'm talking about. What do you all think? What has your experience been with this exercise?

Oz

I think that you should try to do it with minimal leaning forward. You should feel more tension in the VMO, the inner part of your quads. You can lift the foot heel at the bottom so as to get it. A video  would be the best.