Workout of the Day:
“Nancy”
Five rounds for time of:
400 Meter Run
15 Overhead Squats, 95/65 lbs.
Natalie Woolfolk - Olympian and Sage's sister-in-law
The Importance of Overhead Squats
Written by Sage Burgener
Overhead squats are the one exercise that can really haunt us in our sleep. At first we think, “How hard can it be?” placing something as light as a PVC pipe or broomstick over our head and squatting down. No problem, right? But as the pools of sweat start to form at our feet after about five reps, we quickly realize that the seemingly simple movement can actually reveal our biggest weaknesses.
By doing one overhead squat you can tell how flexible your shoulders, ankles, hips and calves are. First off, if you cannot place the bar directly overhead while pushing your shoulders up into your ears without the bar coming forward, we know you have problems with shoulder mobility. Second, if your back is rounding as you descend into the bottom of the squat and you are unable to keep your chest up, we know your hips are tight. Third, if your heels come off the ground as you lower your body down into a squat, then we know you have issues with ankle and calf flexibility. But don’t worry, all of these things can be fixed! How? By doing even more overhead squats! Doing overhead squats with the bar (or PVC) directly overhead, your shoulders shrugged, your heels on the ground, and your chest up for multiple repetitions is the best way to loosen up those tight muscles and the best way to get them in the positions they need to be in.
Aside from improving flexibility, overhead squats have other benefits as well. As your technique and flexibility improves and you are able to put a little weight on the bar, overhead squats are GREAT for strengthening your overhead position. And because it is critical to stay tight and stabilize the weight overhead as you squat your body down, the movement is extremely beneficial for strengthening the core. With a strong overhead squat position and a strong core comes a strong receiving position for the snatch. And that is what us Olympic weightlifting Crossfitters are after!
So, if you are having flexibility issues and you want to improve your functional strength, overhead squat, overhead squat, and overhead squat! Even if it is with a PVC pipe, I guarantee that just doing the movement will benefit you in the long run. By doing 50,40, even 30 overhead squats a day you will see a significant difference in your flexibility. Remember, you don’t have to pump these reps out as fast as you can. Slow the movement down and stay in the bottom of the squat to stretch everything out. If you feel the burn and endure the pain, success will come!
Sage, you’re a stud. I agree with almost everything said in this article, with one caveat. I believe the prescription for more squats presupposes the ability to perform correctly at least one overhead squat with little to no load. I believe the OHS is a superb diagnostic tool and therapeutic movement as you explain above. But if deficiencies such as the three examples you discuss above (shoulder/hip/ankle mobility) are so severe that the proper movement pattern cannot be achieved, I believe the dysfunction needs to be addressed more directly. There are many ways we can do that. We will be exploring some of these in future articles on our blog. But assuming we correct the dysfunction enough to get athletes performing at least one overhead squat correctly, I couldn’t agree more with your prescription of overhead squats, overhead squats and more overhead squats.
Sage or CJ, What say you about when to begin with the OHS? Would you not start it until an athlete has a fairly solid air squat or would you allow them to OHS without a solid air squat?
CFI gets some Affiliate Blog love today on the main website!
I got to see Josh in action this morning…..HOLY CRAP! Backward (reverse?) double-unders that were effortless and big box jumps with a kettlebell in EACH HAND were just a few of his moves. Truly lovely to watch.
So nice to see that Lori is finally with us at CFI!!!! Hope you can hit up a 6 a.m. class with us soon.
I have a love hate relationship with the OHS. Love them because I know how beneficial they are – hate them cause they kick my booty every time.
Great to see Lori today. Welcome to CFI girl. So happy to have you.
I have to give a shout out to the Masterful Mmmm Good Queen. I did a little budget shuffling and decided to spend less money on groceries (I buy a ton of food and then it rots in my fridge) and use that money for Mmmm Good breakfasts and dinners. Totally worth it. I have saved a ton of time, I know that I’m getting the right amount of blocks and I think in the long run it will be more cost effective for me. Not to mention I was the guinea pig for some nut/apple (wanna be oatmeal) concoction – it was insanely delicious. Okay I am done pimpin’ Mmmm Good. Just had to give props!
Hope everyone has a great day.
I just got sick reading what the WOD is today. I cannot imagine doing 75 OHS with anything heavier than a section of PVC. See you at 5:30…ugh.
CJ- you are totally right.. if the flexibility issues are severe, you HAVE to do as many other things as you can to get those problems fixed. I guess what I should have said is to do those stretches in conjunction with overhead squats and your bound to see results. thanks!
POS- it depends on what the problem is, but since i teach the Burgener warm up first to all of my clients, I have them overhead squatting before I have them air squatting. If the problem is that they can not get down far enough in the air squat, sometimes a little weight overhead is good because it can help to push them down and stretch that bottom position.
Dani- OHS kick my booty everytime too girl!
CJ and Sage,
Question: At the complete bottom phase on the OHS, by how much are the knees tracking forward beyond the toes?
Great post Sage. As a coach, the OHS is indispensable to me as both a diagnostic tool and an exercise. Time can be limited in a training session, using the OHS allows me to quickly assess the bilateral mobility of the ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, as well as the thoracic spine. Although, I think you get the greatest benefit from using the OHS as an exercise.
Hey, I understood what Calvin wrote! (No habla Latin)
Today was the second time I did the “Nancy” workout. I improved my time by 3:45. I guess all of the hard work is paying off! Maybe next time I’ll hit the prescribed weight too
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Michelle I tried the orange shot this morning because there weren’t anymore apple cinnamon, I was equally impressed mmmmgood.
Thanks Sage!
Made up Monday’s WOD, What a butt kicker. 8 rounds scaled. I need me an Invictus shot! I have to agree that I think the OHS is such a great exercise.
To be clear, POS scaled up to 115 and modified the time domain to 15 minutes instead of 20. 8 rounds is quite good.