How to Do an Overhead Squat (Video Included)

The overhead squat is among those workouts that actually does target the whole body. When done appropriately, it can enhance strength, versatility, and also flexibility that you can move to other workouts as well as day-to-day life.

The obstacle with the overhead squat is that it commonly highlights weak points in squat kind, including hip as well as ankle mobility. This can make the exercise really feel awkward to do, especially as you’re discovering the appropriate mechanics. Yet persevere, as it has lots of benefits for your body.

Targets: Overall body: Glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, core, shoulders, upper back
Equipment Needed: Barbell and also plate weights
Degree: Intermediate.

Exactly how to Do an Overhead Squat

To perform an overhead squat, you will need a barbell. Depending on your form, strength, and comfort level, you may or may not need weight plates to add resistance to the exercise.

Key Points

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointed slightly out.
• Shift your hips slightly back and begin to bend your knees, squatting to a comfortable position while maintaining control, as if you were trying to sit on your heels (keep your hips from pushing too far back). Keep your core tight and your elbows fully extended. It is important to keep your chest up, look straight ahead or lean slightly upward, and keep your upper body as straight as possible as you squat.
• Press through your feet and fully extend your knees and hips using your glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, and core as you return to the starting position. Exhale as you stand up. Perform the movement slowly, keeping your knees slightly parallel to your toes;
• Complete the entire movement, then carefully bend your arm joints and lower the barbell back to your shoulders. From here, rack the barbell safely.

Benefits of the Overhead Squat

The charm of the overhead squat is that it aids you recognize locations of weak point. After that you have the possibility to slowly create the strength as well as wheelchair to perform the exercise appropriately.

The overhead squat is an outstanding method to reinforce all the significant muscular tissue teams of your lower body. Unlike the air squat or the back squat, the overhead squat requires you to keep your torso a lot more upright. This hires the quadriceps greater than other variations of the squat. The overhead squat also requires a significant interaction of the core as well as upper body to support the barbell overhead.

The overhead squat can make you much better at workouts like the snatch or overhead press by constructing shoulder as well as abdominal stability. Incorporating overhead squats can equate to better performance in your chosen sport gradually if you’re a strength or fitness athlete.

As you squat down, you’ll uncover extremely rapidly whether your hips as well as ankles are mobile enough to enable you to move with a complete range of motion without leaning onward. Otherwise, you’ll either be forced to reduce the range of motion short, or you’ll take the chance of dropping the barbell before you as it shifts as well far forward in front of your body as your upper body favors the ground.

By progressively servicing the overhead squat with proper form, you can boost adaptability and also mobility with your ankles and hips, at some point permitting you to move with a higher range of motion.

Other Variations of the Overhead Squat

If you’re just starting, you may want to miss the hefty resistance and opt for an unloaded barbell or even a broomstick or PVC pipe to see exactly how the exercise feels. You’ll hold the bar overhead, with your elbow joints locked and your arms developing a “Y” angled out from the shoulders prior to moving with a complete squat.

What you’ll most likely see quite promptly is that holding a barbell thus forces you to maintain your torso a lot more upright as well as stable than when executing various other squat variations. This positions even more tons on the quadriceps rather than the glutes while additionally requiring even more considerable core, shoulders, as well as upper back engagement.

Attempt consisting of the exercise with light resistance as part of an active workout for a lower-body strength training routine. As you master correct type as well as can move via a more complete series of motion, begin adding resistance and include the activity as part of your strength training protocol.

You can perform this exercise in different ways to satisfy your ability level and objectives, accommodate the equipment you have offered, or add range.

Single-Arm Overhead Squat

As soon as you’ve mastered correct type with the barbell overhead squat, take into consideration attempting the single-arm dumbbell overhead squat. The squat activity and core/shoulder stability are specifically the same, however as opposed to sustaining a barbell overhead with both arms, you maintain a dumbbell overhead with one arm at a time.

This weight balanced out assists establish independent (discriminatory) shoulder security, reducing the probability that your dominant arm makes up for weaknesses present in your non-dominant arm while doing the barbell overhead squat. Maintain your core involved

Keep the dumbbell locked overhead throughout the entire activity.

Overhead Plate Squat

Stand with your feet a little bigger than shoulder-width apart. Hold a weight plate in front of you with a solid grip, involve your core, and keep your chest up
. Push home plate right over your head, locking out your elbow joints
. Drive your hips back, flexing your knees and also keeping your core engaged
. Lower till your upper thighs are parallel with the ground or a little listed below
. Push back up gradually, going back to the beginning placement. Make certain to keep that plate fixed overhead throughout the whole activity.

Overhead Dumbbell Squat

Drive the dumbbells straight overhead as well as lock out your elbow joints
. Gradually drive your hips back, flexing your knees, maintaining your core limited till your thighs are identical to the flooring or lower.

Typical Blunders

Be alert to these errors to ensure that you can avoid them and do the exercise safely and properly.

Leaning Too Far Forward

Most likely the most usual mistake seen with the overhead squat is an onward tip of the torso during the downward stage of the squat. It is noticeable when the barbell changes ahead in front of your body as you squat down.

The objective is to keep the barbell stacked over your feet throughout the activity, which implies your torso should remain upright. If you feel like you’re off-balance, or if you see in the mirror that the barbell has shifted before your shoulders, minimize your range of motion and also focus on maintaining your core tight.

Even if you simply squat down a few inches, pressing your hips back as you try to rest toward your ankles, you can slowly increase your series of motion with time. It’s better to start with a little range of motion as well as proper kind than threat injury by leaning ahead as you squat.

Permitting the Knees to Cave Inward

Knee valgus, or the internal breaking down of the knees as you squat, is a common problem seen with all squat variations. It’s frequently because of a lack of involvement of the glutes, specifically the gluteus medius.

Enjoy on your own in the mirror as you do the exercise. If you discover, especially as you transition between the upward as well as down stage of the squat, that your knees collapse towards your body’s midline, focus on engaging your glutes to pull your knees outside to keep them lined up with your toes as you relocate with the squat.

Safety as well as Preventative measures

Done with appropriate type as well as an ideal degree of resistance, overhead squats can be appropriate for virtually every person. The challenge, of course, includes the fact that this is a full-body exercise that requires control, control, a baseline degree of strength, and good mobility and also security of all the significant joints and also muscle teams.
If you’re going to try the exercise for the first time, significantly reduce the weight you would utilize when executing a standard squat, or merely utilize a PVC pipeline or broomstick to obtain accustomed to the movement.

View on your own in the mirror, and also if you observe any of the typical errors, reduce your variety of motion and focus on keeping your shoulders and core stable as you slowly establish higher movement via your hips, ankles, and shoulders.

The overhead squat is a superb means to reinforce all the significant muscle mass teams of your lower body. Unlike the air squat or the back squat, the overhead squat needs you to keep your upper body extra upright. The overhead squat likewise needs a substantial interaction of the core and upper body to maintain the barbell overhead.
Possibly the most usual blunder seen with the overhead squat is a forward tip of the upper body throughout the down stage of the squat. It is recognizable when the barbell changes onward in front of your body as you squat down.