In part one we covered five reasons why you’re still struggling with the overhead squat. This is what we found:
1. Your core strength needs more work
2. Lack of control and stability
3. You’re not focused enough
4. Weak overhead stability
5. Here we go: flexibility issues
Read the whole post here: Overhead Squat: 5 Reasons Why You’re Still Struggling Part 1
In the second article we asked for advice on how to improve it.
Tom Dunphy, CrossFit Waterford
Tom Dunphy is the owner and head coach at CrossFit Waterford, Ireland. He has a background in kickboxing, muay thai and karate, but has been coaching and training Crossfit for the last five years.
BOXROX: Tom what would be your tips for improving and progressing with the overhead squat (especially for beginners)?
As discussed in the first article, mobility plays a massive part in athletes’ success with executing the overhead squat effectively. Most adult’s strength to mobility ratio is way off which basically means we can develop strength quite quickly, but our mobility is vastly lagging behind.
If we weigh up how much time we lift and do workouts to that which we spend increasing joint and tissue mobility, we will more than likely find the mobility work doesn’t even come close. People can bring their squat numbers up very quickly (and also achieve good numbers with the overhead lifts), but when those two become tied in as in the overhead squat, their mobility fails them and even an empty bar can be impossible to lift. My top tips for correcting this issue would be:
1. Find a good coach or physiotherapist
Find an expert who offers functional screening so the areas of restriction can be identified and the necessary drills can be worked on. Once you get the drills to fix the problems, work on them regularly until the mobility restrictions are fixed.
Here’s a video of a 16 year-old girl with no mobility issues. Saoirse is one of the young athletes from CrossFit Waterford. Her mobility is extremely good and she can easily hit 45 kg for three reps.
2. Hammer the mobility
What I mean here is try spending as much time and effort working on your mobility as you do on your workouts. Invest in some yoga tune up balls, a foam roller and a matt to use at home.
Related: Overhead squat mobility help with Kelly Starrett
3. Start with the 5 kg training bar
Try to get your hands on a 5 kg training bar. PVC pipe can be too light and the grip position on it is unrealistic (there’s no ends or markings). A 5 kg bar can be the bridging gap between the PVC pipe and the 15 kg barbell, and can be loaded with any weight in between.
4. Practice every day: put it in your warm up
Overhead squat is a skill like any other and the more time we spend doing it, the better we become. Put it in your warm up every day and you’ll see great improvements in a short period of time.
Related: Movement series How-to overhead squat
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