Sissy Squat
The sissy squat is a bodyweight quad exercise in which you rise onto the balls of your feet, keep your hips straight and lean your whole body back as your knees travel forwards and bend deeply. It trains the quadriceps at long muscle lengths, including the rectus femoris, which a seated leg extension cannot stretch in the same way.
Also called: Sissy Squats, Bodyweight Sissy Squat, Sissy Squat (Bodyweight), Knee-Over-Toe Sissy Squat · Equipment: bodyweight · Pattern: squat
Step by step
- Stand with your feet about hip-width apart beside a sturdy upright, such as a rack post, and hold it lightly with one hand for balance. Some lifters hook their feet under a pad or bar instead.
- Rise onto the balls of your feet, brace your trunk and squeeze your glutes so your shoulders, hips and knees form one straight line.
- Let your knees travel forwards and down while you lean your whole body back as one unit. Keep your hips straight throughout, with no sitting back or bending at the waist.
- Sink slowly until your knees are deeply bent and you feel a strong stretch through the front of your thighs, going only as deep as you can control.
- Pause briefly at the bottom without relaxing.
- Drive your knees back and pull your body up to the start position, keeping the straight line from knees to shoulders.
- Breathe out as you rise, finish standing tall on the balls of your feet, and repeat for the set.
- After the last rep, settle your heels back to the floor and let go of the support.
- Knees forwards, hips straight
- One straight line from knees to shoulders
- Lean back as one unit
- Sink slowly into the stretch
- Drive the knees back to stand
- Light hand on the support, for balance only
In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.
What it trains
| Muscle | Role | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Quadriceps: rectus femoris | Prime mover | C |
| Quadriceps: vastus lateralis | Prime mover | B |
| Quadriceps: vastus medialis | Prime mover | B |
| Quadriceps: vastus intermedius | Prime mover | C |
| Gluteus maximus | Stabiliser | C |
| Rectus abdominis | Stabiliser | D |
| Tibialis anterior | Stabiliser | D |
| Hip flexors | Dynamic stabiliser | D |
Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.
What goes wrong, and the fix
Bending at the hips and sitting back
Fix: Keep one straight line from knees to shoulders and move only at the knees.
Dropping into the bottom
Fix: Sink slowly, pause briefly at the bottom, then drive up.
Heels flat with little knee travel
Fix: Rise onto the balls of your feet and let your knees travel forwards.
Going deeper than you can control
Fix: Go only as deep as you can rise from smoothly, and add depth over time.
Pulling on the support
Fix: Hold the support lightly, for balance only.
Hips sagging forwards and back arching
Fix: Brace your trunk and squeeze your glutes to keep your hips straight.
What the research says
Muscle growthGeneral fitnessEndurance
- Research — There is no direct research on the sissy squat and muscle growth. An 8-week study of the reverse Nordic, a similar hips-straight, knee-bending exercise, found growth and longer fascicles in the rectus femoris, though it had no control group.
- Long muscle length — Training studies find that working a muscle at long lengths gives equal or greater growth than working it short. In the leg extension, a more upright hip position, which stretches the rectus femoris further, grew it more.
- Reps and effort — Research finds growth is similar across a wide range of loads when sets are taken close to failure, and true failure adds only a small extra benefit. Common practice is 2–4 sets of about 8–15 slow reps, finishing a rep or two short of failure.
- Volume — Research links more weekly sets for a muscle to more growth, with diminishing returns. The sissy squat is commonly added after the main squat or leg press work, once or twice a week.
- Progression — Many lifters start with more hand support or a partial depth, build to full depth, then hold a weight plate to the chest.
Swap it mid-workout
With VALDA Pro, FLEX offers alternatives like these when you swap an exercise mid-workout.
Log the sissy squat in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.
General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.