The combination of mobility, strength, control, and coordination needed for the overhead squat makes it one of the most difficult for many ...Social21JanUltimateGuidetoImprovingYourOverheadSquatPostedat13:21hinCore,CrossFit,Exercises,InjuryPrevention,LowerBody,Mobility,PhysicalTherapy,UpperBodybyzlongdpt61shares53Facebook8Twitter0Pinterest0LinkedInYouwalkintoyourgymandonthewhiteboardthereitis…theoverheadsquat.Whileafewathleteswillbethrilledtoseethismovementmostofuswon’t.Thecombinationofmobility,strength,control,andcoordinationneededforthisexercisemakesitoneofthemostdifficultformanyCrossFitathletes. Butthereishope.Withtheassessmentsandmobilitydrillsoutlinedbelowyoucanformagameplantoturntheoverheadsquatintooneofyourfavoriteexercisesinsteadofoneyoudread!.UnderstandingtheOverheadSquatByplacingtheweightoveryourheadinthissquatvariationwe’vesignificantlyincreasedthestabilitydemandsoftheoverheadsquat.Whenyourpositioninggetsevenslightlyofftrack,theexercisebecomesdrasticallymoredifficulttoperform.Sooptimizingourpositioningisstepone.Ourbestpositioninghappenswhenwecanstackmultiplejointsontopofeachotheranduseacombinationofmusclestrengthandboneyalignmenttomaximizebarbellstability.Todothiswewantthebarbell,shoulderjoint,hips,andanklesstackedascloseontopofeachotheraspossible. Toachievethisstackedposition,we’llwanttokeepanuprighttorso,whichcanonlybeachievedifwepushthekneesoverthetoesduringthesquat.Whenanklemobilityislimited,itmakesitimpossibletoachievethispositionasshownbelow.Thetorsowillthendropforward,placingtheshoulderinpositionofhyperabduction.Thisputslotsofstressontheanteriorshoulderstructuresandmakesstabilizingheavyloadsoverheaddifficult.ThefollowingvideoofaPVCpipeOHSdemonstratesthispointwherethesquatinfrontofaboxsimulatessomeonewithstiffanklesperformingthismovement. ViewthispostonInstagramApostsharedbyZachLong,PT,DPT,SCS(@thebarbellphysio).GripWidthintheOverheadSquatYourgripwidthisanimportantconsiderationwiththeoverheadsquat.Itypicallystartwiththebelowtestasitpositionsourgripa