Overhead Squat - Balance and Flexibilty is Key

It doesn't matter what sport you are playing or if you are just trying to stay in the best shape possible, stretching does wonders for you and the overhead squat is a critical movement that you need to perfect. It showcases your flexibility core strength and balance.

The CrossFit journal states, "The overhead squat is the ultimate core exercise, the heart of the snatch, and peerless in developing effective athletic movement. This functional gem trains for efficient transfer of energy from large to small body parts – the essence of sport movement. For this reason it is an indispensable tool for developing speed and power." 

I'm focusing on the overhead squat in this post but from playing football, basketball and baseball I can't stress enough how important your flexibility is especially when dealing with athletics. You want to create dynamic flexibility which will improve your mobility and performance. “Weight training can make you tighter if you perform movements incorrectly or overload them in a way that inhibits range of motion. However if you use loads that allow you to complete and get stronger through the entire range of the lift you will gain dynamic flexibility. And while this may not get you significantly better at touching your toes (I’m still struggling to see why this is so important to people) it will allow you to improve your mobility and performance in the gym and on the court, track and field." (Men's Fitness)

I remember my sophomore summer when I went to IMG academy in Bradenton, FL to train for baseball, the first test they did in the weight room was the overhead squat (with no weight on the bar). They wanted to test our blance and flexibility right from the get go. The overhead squat was new to me at the time but ever since then I have developed the movement and feel pretty confident when it's called upon in our WODs. Once developed, the overhead squat is a thing of beauty – a masterpiece of expression in control, stability, balance, efficient power, and utility. Get on it (CrossFit Journal). 

The key I believe to the overhead squat is balance and flexibility. You need to keep your arms locked, the weight perpendicular to the floor and push your head through. It's essential that you stabilize and hold this position as you drop into the squat position. The second the weight comes too far forward or too far behind you will lose your balance. Again, stability is the key and keep your arms in the locked position. Move up in weight slowly, gain confidence as you add on plates. The limiting factor is how you get the weight overhead. Usually you'd snatch the weight then over head squat, if you can do this you will gain the most benefit.

Here are seven steps to perform the overhead squat as defined through the CrossFit Journal:

1. Start only when you have a strong squat and use a dowel or PVC pipe, not a weight. You should be able to maintain a rock-bottom squat with your back arched, head and eyes forward, and body weight predominantly on your heels for several minutes as a prerequisite to the overhead squat. Even a 15-pound training bar is way too heavy to learn the overhead squat. 
2. Learn locked-arm “dislocates” or “pass-throughs” with the dowel. You want to be able to move the dowel nearly three-hundred and sixty degrees starting with the dowel down and at arms length in front of your body and then move it in a wide arc until it comes to rest down and behind you without so much as slightly bending your arms at any point in its travel. Start with a grip wide enough to easily pass through, and then repeatedly bring the hands in closer until passing through presents a moderate stretch of the shoulders. This is your training grip. 
3. Be able to perform the pass-through at the top, the bottom, and everywhere in between while descending into the squat. Practice by stopping at several points on the path to the bottom, hold, and gently, slowly, swing the dowel from front to back, again, with locked arms. At the bottom of each squat slowly bring the dowel back and forth moving from front to back. 
4. Learn to find the frontal plane with the dowel from every position in the squat. Practice this with your eyes closed. You want to develop a keen sense of where the frontal plane is located. This is the same drill as step 3 but this time you are bringing the dowel to a stop in the frontal plane and holding briefly with each pass-through. Have a training partner check to see if at each stop the dowel is in the frontal plane. 
5. Learn to find the frontal plane with the dowel from every position in the squat. Practice this with your eyes closed. You want to develop a keen sense of where the frontal plane is located. This is the same drill as step 3 but this time you are bringing the dowel to a stop in the frontal plane and holding briefly with each pass-through. Have a training partner check to see if at each stop the dowel is in the frontal plane.
6. Very slowly lower to the bottom of the squat, keeping the dowel in the frontal plane the entire time. Have a training partner watch from your side to make sure that the dowel does not move forward or backward as you squat to bottom. Moving slightly behind the frontal plane is O.K., but forward is dead wrong. If you cannot keep the dowel from coming forward your grip may be too narrow. The dowel will not stay in the frontal plane automatically; you’ll have to pull it back very deliberately as you descend.
7.  Practice the overhead squat regularly and increase load in tiny increments. We can put a 2.5-pound plate on the dowel, then a 5, then a 5 and a 2.5, and then a 10. Next use a 15-pound training bar, but only while maintaining perfect form. There’s no benefit to adding weight if the dowel, and later the bar, cannot be kept in the frontal plane. 

* Important: Having the right lifting shoes will do wonders, they allow you to stay firm and balanced on the ground. Not having the right gear can hinder your progress. Put yourself in a position to be successful. 

 GET YOUR SHOES HERE!!