The Overhead Squat

The overhead squat is the ultimate core exercise, teaches athletes how to use an active shoulder position to support a load and demands, and develops functional flexibility. Mastery of the overhead squat is also a critical prerequisite for learning the snatch.  Read further to learn everything you need to know about the overhead squat:

• What Is the Overhead Squat?
• Overhead Squat Benefits
• Muscle Groups Worked
• How to Prepare for the Overhead Squat
• Equipment Needed for the Overhead Squat
• How to Warm Up for the Overhead Squat
• How to Perform the Overhead Squat
• Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
• Overhead Squat Modifications
• Overhead Squat Variations
• Common Overhead Squat Workouts
• Get Started Today!

What Is the Overhead Squat?

The overhead squat is one of the nine foundational movements in CrossFit and also a critical assistance movement for developing the snatch. The overhead squat requires the athlete to support a barbell at arms length overhead as they move from a standing position to a squatting position, where the crease of the hips goes below the top of the knees, and back up to a standing position. 

With the load supported overhead, the overhead squat places a tremendous demand on the core to stabilize the midline as the athlete moves through the full range of motion. The overhead squat also demands great functional flexibility as every joint is involved in the movement simultaneously, from the ankles to the shoulders.

The overhead squat is a versatile movement that can be used in many different types of workouts, incorporating every variation from heavy loads and low reps to light loads and high reps or in combination with snatches in “complexes.”

Overhead Squat Benefits

The overhead squat develops tremendous core strength, supporting strength overhead through an active shoulder, and mobility.

Core Strength

With the weight supported at arm’s length overhead in the overhead squat, the lifter’s center of gravity is significantly higher than in a regular squat. This results in a tremendous demand on the athlete’s core as they work not only to keep the bar overhead but to keep the bar aligned in the frontal plane throughout the entire range of motion.

Active Shoulder

In the overhead squat, to support the bar, athletes use an active shoulder position. This means they push up on the bar and lock the elbows with the armpits facing forward and the elbows pointing toward the ground. The active shoulder position is a strong position for supporting loads overhead as it allows for both muscular and skeletal support. The active shoulder position also reduces the chance of impingement at the shoulder in overhead movements.

Mobility

If an athlete can perform an overhead squat through the required range of motion while keeping an upright posture and stable midline to keep the bar balanced in the frontal plane, they are displaying adequate functional mobility for almost any activity or sport. Through the entire movement pattern, and especially in the bottom position, the overhead squat challenges the mobility around every joint in the body simultaneously. Learning and improving your overhead squat is a great way to develop functional mobility.

Muscle Groups Worked

The overhead squat incorporates every major muscle group in the body, especially the legs, core, upper back, and shoulders.

Legs

As the athlete moves from a standing position to the bottom of an overhead squat and back up again, especially under heavy load, the muscles of the legs, including the hip flexors, quads, hamstrings, and glutes, receive a tremendous stimulus. 

Core, Upper Back, and Shoulders

During the overhead squat, the muscles of the core, including the abdominals, obliques, and spinal erectors, contract isometrically to lock the spine in place so the bar stays overhead and aligned in the frontal plane. At the same time, the muscles of the upper back and shoulders, including the deltoids, rhomboids, lats, and traps, engage to push up on the bar to create an active shoulder position, allowing the athlete to support heavy loads overhead.  

How to Prepare for the Overhead Squat

Preparing to overhead squat requires assembling the proper equipment and performing a general and specific warm-up to get the body ready to move through the range of motion required. 

Equipment Needed

To train the overhead squat, an athlete can use a PVC pipe or barbells of various weights, from 10 to 45 lb, as needed. The weights used should be rubber bumper plates in case the athlete needs to drop the barbell on a “missed” lift.

How to Warm Up for the Overhead Squat

To warm up for the overhead squat, the lifter should perform general movements that work every joint through its full range of motion. Air squats, ring rows, lunges, shoulder circles, and pushups are good choices for the general warm-up. For the specific warm-up, a great option is goblet squats with a pause in the bottom position. Another one is a three-to-five-second tempo squat on the way down and a one-second count on the way up, with a PVC pipe or empty bar. For the shoulders, PVC or band pass-throughs are an excellent warmup drill. The athlete should then be ready to transition to their warmup sets in the overhead squat. 

How to Do the Overhead Squat

Performing an overhead squat involves mastering the setup, the descent, and the return to the start position. 

Setup

To set up for the overhead squat, the athlete can either snatch the bar from the floor to get it overhead or get the bar on their back from the rack and push press it overhead. In either case, the hands should be set at a wider than shoulder-width grip with the athlete pushing up on the bar to set the active shoulder position. With the bar locked out overhead, the athlete sets their feet at the desired width, usually shoulder width, with the toes flared slightly out. Finally, the athlete takes a deep belly breath and braces their abs. They are now ready to squat.  

Descent

The athlete initiates the descent in the overhead squat by pushing the hips back slightly as they squat down. This movement is very similar to sitting back in a chair. Throughout the movement, the athlete ensures their weight is shifted back towards their heels, their lumbar curve is maintained with a “chest up” posture, and their knees track in the same direction as their toes, meaning the knees do not cave in. In the overhead squat, the athlete must strive to keep their torso as vertical as possible. Any movement of the bar forward of the frontal plane caused by the athlete’s torso leaning forward makes it almost impossible to prevent the bar from falling to the ground. The athlete reaches the bottom of the squat once the crease of the hips is below the top of the knees.  

Stand

To stand, the athlete maintains a good squat position – torso vertical, lumbar curve maintained, and knees tracking over the toes – and drives the heels into the ground. Forces travel from the ground through the stable and engaged midline or core, through active shoulders and locked-out arms, and into the bar, allowing the athlete to rise from the bottom position. The repetition is complete once the athlete stands all the way up to full extension of the legs and hips. 

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

There are several common overhead squat mistakes lifters should be aware of and avoid, including loss of the lumbar curve, shifting the weight into the toes, not going low enough, knees caving in, an inactive overhead position, and an improper bar path where the bar moves forward of the frontal plane. 

Loss of Lumbar Curve

During the execution of an overhead squat, it is not uncommon for the athlete to lose their lumbar curve into flexion. This “rounding” of the low back is a vulnerable position for loading the spine and may put the athlete at a greater risk of injury. By losing the proper lumbar position, the athlete is also losing midline stability, and the forces generated as the legs drive into the ground will not be efficiently transferred to the bar, making the lift hard to complete. To avoid losing the lumbar curve, athletes should focus on maintaining a tall, “chest up” posture, with their torso as vertical as possible, as they squat down. Adequate stretching and mobility work for the hamstrings will help ensure tight hamstrings are not pulling the athlete into a rounded position. Finally, setting the feet in a wide enough stance (approximately shoulder width) allows the athlete to squat down to proper depth without sacrificing their lumbar position. 

Weight in the Toes

When an athlete squats and their weight shifts toward the balls of the feet, they decrease the contribution of the powerful muscles of the posterior chain (glutes and hamstrings) to the lift. To eliminate this inefficiency, athletes should focus on sitting back as they sit down when executing an overhead squat. In the bottom position, they should focus on driving through the heels to stand.

Not Going Low Enough

The standard for the bottom position of the squat is for the athlete to reach a depth where the crease of the hips is below the top of the knees. Achieving this depth ensures the athlete strengthens the muscles and joints through their full intended range of motion. If an athlete cannot reach the bottom position, they may have to widen their stance, drive their knees out more, sit back more to initiate the squat, work on hip and hamstring mobility, lighten the load, or any combination of these factors. 

Knees Caving In

The knees should track with the toes through the full range of motion in the overhead squat. When the knees cave in, forces are not being efficiently directed into the ground or back up the chain into the bar. Furthermore, as the knees cave in, they are put in an orthopedically compromised position that may lead to knee pain over time. To keep the knees tracking with the toes, the athlete should keep pushing out on the knees throughout the entire rep. Initially, the athlete may have to slow their descent to maintain control of the knees, and/or they may need feedback from a band or trainer’s hand to learn how hard they need to push out on the knees. If the athlete is struggling to prevent the knees from caving in, even with constant cueing, the load should be reduced. 

Inactive Overhead Position

An inactive overhead position is demonstrated either with flexed elbows and/or shoulders that have dropped or rounded forward because the athlete is not pushing up on the bar. To remedy this inactive position, the athlete should be cued to press up on the bar. Tactile cues can also be used to guide the athlete toward straightening their elbows, pushing through their upper back to raise the entire shoulder girdle as they push into the bar, and to rotate the armpits forward.

Improper Bar Path

During every inch of an overhead squat, the lifter must fight to prevent the bar from falling forward. Any movement of the load forward of the frontal plane increases the moment about the hip, or the tendency for the hip angle to close. Put simply, the bar moving forward collapses the athlete forward, and the lift is lost in the blink of an eye. To help an athlete keep the bar balanced in the frontal plane, they should be cued throughout the rep to keep pushing up on the bar and to keep pulling the bar back to a position directly overhead.

Overhead Squat Modifications

The overhead squat requires strength, flexibility, and mobility. In training, modifications can be made to the stance, grip, and load to accommodate any lifter.

Stance

In order to achieve the proper depth, lift the heaviest loads, or accommodate current flexibility and mobility, athletes can alter their squat stance as needed. Generally, a narrower stance requires greater hip flexibility to achieve full depth than a wider stance (especially with the bar overhead), but athletes may find a narrower stance allows them to lift more weight and prevent their knees from caving in. Athletes should experiment with their stance width to see what allows for the best comfort, performance, and technique. Athletes may also want to experiment with raising their heels with lifting shoes or small plates to see if this improves their line of action or body position in the short term.

Grip

The overhead squat generally requires a wide grip on the bar. One of the drawbacks of this wider grip is that it may cause shoulder pain and/or wrist pain, especially in lifters new to the movement. Bringing the hands in slightly can help alleviate these issues, but the narrower grip requires greater shoulder flexibility, especially in the bottom position. Lifters have to experiment with finding a grip width that does not cause pain but also allows them to achieve the desired positions. 

Load

When learning the overhead squat technique, a PVC pipe is a great tool to allow the athlete to move properly without concern for the bar’s weight. Using a PVC pipe also allows the athlete to perform a high volume of reps without breaking down due to fatigue.

Overhead Squat Variations

The overhead squat with a loaded barbell is a very challenging lift. The PVC overhead squat is a great variation that allows anyone to learn and practice this lift. For those with wrist, elbow, or shoulder injuries, the one-arm dumbbell overhead squat might be more suitable. 

PVC Overhead Squat

This variation of the overhead squat is exactly like a regular overhead squat with a barbell, except it is performed with a PVC pipe. To set up, the lifter stands tall, with knees and hips extended and the PVC pipe locked out at arm’s length overhead. The feet are set at shoulder width with toes flared out slightly, and the hands grip the bar wider than shoulder width. To initiate the descent, the athlete sits back and down until the crease of the hips is below the top of the knees. The athlete then drives the heels into the ground to stand back up.  

One-Arm Dumbbell Overhead Squat

In this variation, the athlete sets up standing tall, knees and hips fully extended, with one arm fully extended overhead, holding a dumbbell. The feet should be set at shoulder width with the toes turned out slightly. The hand not holding the dumbbell remains out at the athlete’s side to assist with balance, but does not come in contact with the body to brace. To initiate the descent, the athlete sits back and down and shifts their weight slightly away from the side, holding the dumbbell in order to accommodate the unbalanced load. The athlete reaches the bottom position once the crease of the hips is below the top of the knees, and then they drive through the heels to stand up. 

Common Overhead Squat Workouts

Nancy: Complete 5 rounds for time of: 400-meter run/15 overhead squats (65/95 lb)

Josh (Hero WOD): For time: 21 overhead squats (65/95 lb)/42 pull-ups/15 overhead squats/30 pull-ups/9 overhead squats/18 pull-ups

Open Workout 15.2:
For as long as possible: 

From 0:00-3:00
2 rounds of: 10 overhead squats (65/95)/10 chest-to-bar pull-ups

From 3:00-6:00
2 rounds of: 12 overhead squats/12 chest-to-bar pull-ups

From 6:00-9:00

2 rounds of: 14 overhead squats/14 chest-to-bar pull-ups

Continue in this manner, adding 2 repetitions to each movement in each 3-minute section until you can no longer complete the prescribed work in under 3 minutes.