Wednesday, April 22nd 2014

Melissa L: The elusive overhead squat: many dread it. It causes some crossfitters nightmares (ok, so that may be slightly over dramatic, but you get the point). The fact of the matter it is, I see it as one of the most demanding lifts because it involves the ENTIRE BODY. Let’s start at the bottom of the chain:

1. The ankles: Do your feet rotate out excessively? If so, you may be lacking the (dorsiflexion) range of motion in the ankles causing increased toeing out (which can lead to the other problems such as knee pain).

2. The knees: do you have some “gunky” quads that need to be rolled or smashed? Do you find yourself coming up onto balls of feet vs. keeping weight in the heels?  If so you said yes to the latter,  you’re most likely not engaging your posterior chain. The gluteus maximus is one of the strongest muscles in the body, yet we often don’t use it and over compensate with our quadriceps.

3.  The hips: that’s a given for any squat: can you get your “ass to grass”? If not, better hit those hips with some banded mobilizations.

4. The spine: Can you keep your chest upright? If not, you may need to work on core stability.

5. The shoulders: we must consider the entire shoulder girdle: the collarbones, the shoulder blades, the thoracic spine, and the shoulder joints themselves.  Both shoulder mobility and strength are necessary to maintain the bar overhead.

Tonight we are going to address some common faults. Remember, Rome wasn’t build in a day…we can’t expect our overhead squat to be either. Be diligent in your mobility and keep the faith!