Video Demo: Overhead Squat

Posted March 28, 2016

“The overhead squat is the ultimate core exercise, the heart of the snatch, and peerless in developing effective athletic movement. This functional gem trains for efficient transfer of energy from large to small body parts – the essence of sport movement. For this reason it is an indispensable tool for developing speed and power”. -CrossFit Journal Articles

The overhead squat is a difficult technical lift that is one of the hardest squats to master. They can be especially challenging for those who sit at a desk all day— pulling their shoulders forward— and have corresponding issues being comfortable with their arms behind their head.

Overhead squats increase mobility, flexibility, and stability as well as strength. Learning to do them well will help improve all your lifts, and greatly reduce the chances of injuring yourself while moving weight overhead day-to-day (a perfect example of what we mean by functional fitness).

Here’s Coach Kirsten going over the key elements of this fundamental movement.