Overhead Squats?

widmer3

I tried Overhead Squats for the first time today; tried first with an empty 45 lb bar, and failed miserably. I had to sulk over to the smaller bars and tried them out with 20 lbs.

What I'm mostly confused about is shoulder placement. Straight across like with OHP? Or shoulder blades squeezed together in the back, kinda locked in?

3laine75

I'd go more for shoulders tight and squeezed back so the bar is kind of, slightly behind your head (with a very wide grip) - but bear in mind, I'm far from an expert in these. I only added them a couple of weeks ago and after landing on my backside a couple of times with the empty bar have also had to revert to a smaller, lighter bar. :laugh:

JoRocka

I don't do them at this point- but yes- they are brutal- I need to do them for mobility- I think it would really help my regular squats if I did light weight warm ups- and did them regularly with them.


I tend to lean toward shoulders packed back and in- but not forced back over head- but I do prefer the stability.

I've played around with both- holding it more up requires so much more strength and I feel like the shoulder isn't protected. And when you watch the clean and jerk/snatch- oly lifts- that's where they land- with the slightly packed in shoulder.


I feel like there is a difference also worth nothing between packed shoulder- and just shoving your arms back over head to get the "feel" of that. And learning how to actually pack the shoulder without just shoving the weighted bar back is worth noting the difference so you don't get pulled over backwards one day LOL.