CalisthenicsIn review

Sissy Squat

A knee-dominant squat with no hand support: the heels rise, the knees go forward and the body leans back in one line.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Knee extension
Modality: Calisthenics
Difficulty: Advanced
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Bilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Stand tall with the feet hip-width apart and the arms forward or crossed on the chest.

Do the rep

Rise onto the balls of the feet and push the knees forward.
Lean the body back in one straight line from the knees to the head, as far as you control.
Push the knees back and return to a tall stand.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when the knees travel forward with the hips straight and the body in one line, and you return to a full stand.

One rep starts standing tall, bends the knees forward while the heels rise and the body leans back in one line from the knees to the head, and ends at a full stand.

Breathing

Breathe in as you lower; exhale as you stand.

Cues

Keep the hips straight.
Knees forward, shoulders back.
Use the assisted sissy squat if you cannot control the depth.

Common mistakes

Bending at the hips
What you seeThe hips move back and the body folds forward like a normal squat.
FixSqueeze the glutes and keep one line from the knees to the head.
Straight hips keep the load on the front of the thighs.
Falling back
What you seeThe body tips back and you cannot return to the stand.
FixLower less deep, or use the assisted sissy squat with one hand on a wall.
Control at the bottom keeps the knees safe and the stop safe.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain in the knee.
Stop if you lose balance backward.
End the set when you cannot keep the hips straight.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Quadriceps · moderate confidence

Assisting

Deep core / trunk stabilizers · moderate confidence

Equipment

Bodyweight

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Camera candidate

How this page was checked

Draft. A coach reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 4, written from the blueprint CSV row and the Wave 2 rules page of 2026-10-12. No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the rules page; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Anatomy uses the CSV planning hints; the assigned review tier must confirm it.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_leg_extension, the closest Wave 1 record.
Exception to rule 2: the CSV says squat. The hips stay straight and only the knees bend, so the record uses the knee-extension pattern and the isolation_target role (rule 2, knee isolation), as ex_leg_extension.
Skill tier advanced: the sissy squat needs high thigh strength for the body weight and balance without a support (rule 3). The CSV says beginner. Failure cost moderate: the user must control the lean back.
The optional box-step from the CSV is dropped; it does not fit the movement.
The CSV muscle list is the family hint; the record keeps the quadriceps and the deep core only.

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-2 blueprint CSV.

Train it in Allena

Allena plans your week around the days you can train, logs every set, and coaches your form from the camera.

Get the app