So, trying to get lower in the overhead squat and right now I have like all of two inches. Looking to increase flexibility in my shoulders. Right now I just can’t get then back far enough (that and keeping an upright spine). Are scapular raises right for this?
Thanks
how wide is your grip? You want a snatch grip for overhead squats.
Can you hit a ATG squat while staying fairly upright?
the shoulder flexibility will come once you start working on it often.
[quote]romanaz wrote:
how wide is your grip? You want a snatch grip for overhead squats.
Can you hit a ATG squat while staying fairly upright?
the shoulder flexibility will come once you start working on it often.
[/quote]
I can hit ATG just fine on back squats, how should i work on the shoulder flexibility though?
[quote]FutureGL wrote:
romanaz wrote:
how wide is your grip? You want a snatch grip for overhead squats.
Can you hit a ATG squat while staying fairly upright?
the shoulder flexibility will come once you start working on it often.
I can hit ATG just fine on back squats, how should i work on the shoulder flexibility though?[/quote]
do you do any kind of warmup for the shoulders? Like shoulder dislocates and work with a broomstick or PVC pipe to get into the postition.
Use a broom stick, and for shits n giggles use a clean grip to save your shoulders, you’re obviously not doing this for olympic competition, and the only reason they use a snatch grip is to reduce the distance the bar has to travel.
[quote]GHOSTrun wrote:
Use a broom stick, and for shits n giggles use a clean grip to save your shoulders, you’re obviously not doing this for olympic competition, and the only reason they use a snatch grip is to reduce the distance the bar has to travel.[/quote]
What does bar travel have to do with overhead squats?
Much more flexibility is required (especially shoulder) performing a clean grip OHS then a snatch grip OHS.
Using a broom stick to do OHS is a good way to start, but it really is too light to have effect on balance/flexiblity issues.
[quote]Rick Jakubowski wrote:
GHOSTrun wrote:
Use a broom stick, and for shits n giggles use a clean grip to save your shoulders, you’re obviously not doing this for olympic competition, and the only reason they use a snatch grip is to reduce the distance the bar has to travel.
What does bar travel have to do with overhead squats?
Much more flexibility is required (especially shoulder) performing a clean grip OHS then a snatch grip OHS.
Using a broom stick to do OHS is a good way to start, but it really is too light to have effect on balance/flexiblity issues. [/quote]
but it does get you used to positioning for the shoulders. Then you can move up to a bar and then add weight when you can
Shoulder dislocates. Start with a very wide grip and as your flexibility increases, incrementally bring your grip in over time. That, lots of bar work and overhead shrugs for stability should do it. It did for me anyways.
over head squats are tough on my wrists, anyone try using wraps or tape? Or will this mess up balance, I’m always afraid to go heavy on over head squats because think it will mess my wrist up-I admit I haven’t been doing them very long like 2-3 weeks-
[quote]romanaz wrote:
Rick Jakubowski wrote:
GHOSTrun wrote:
Use a broom stick, and for shits n giggles use a clean grip to save your shoulders, you’re obviously not doing this for olympic competition, and the only reason they use a snatch grip is to reduce the distance the bar has to travel.
What does bar travel have to do with overhead squats?
Much more flexibility is required (especially shoulder) performing a clean grip OHS then a snatch grip OHS.
Using a broom stick to do OHS is a good way to start, but it really is too light to have effect on balance/flexiblity issues.
but it does get you used to positioning for the shoulders. Then you can move up to a bar and then add weight when you can[/quote]
I agree. I guess upon reading over what I wrote, I didn’t explain myself clearly. What I meant to say is that it that a clean grip OHS is much harder to perform than a snatch grip OHS, most people don’t have the flexibility to do a CG OHS correctly and using a broom handle can mask that because it’s so light (most people can squat while holding a broom handle straight out). Using a broom handle for dislocates, and doing dislocates while squating is a great way to learn proper shoulder position.
[quote]Rick Jakubowski wrote:
romanaz wrote:
Rick Jakubowski wrote:
GHOSTrun wrote:
Use a broom stick, and for shits n giggles use a clean grip to save your shoulders, you’re obviously not doing this for olympic competition, and the only reason they use a snatch grip is to reduce the distance the bar has to travel.
What does bar travel have to do with overhead squats?
Much more flexibility is required (especially shoulder) performing a clean grip OHS then a snatch grip OHS.
Using a broom stick to do OHS is a good way to start, but it really is too light to have effect on balance/flexiblity issues.
but it does get you used to positioning for the shoulders. Then you can move up to a bar and then add weight when you can
I agree. I guess upon reading over what I wrote, I didn’t explain myself clearly. What I meant to say is that it that a clean grip OHS is much harder to perform than a snatch grip OHS, most people don’t have the flexibility to do a CG OHS correctly and using a broom handle can mask that because it’s so light (most people can squat while holding a broom handle straight out). Using a broom handle for dislocates, and doing dislocates while squating is a great way to learn proper shoulder position.
[/quote]
Hello Rick,
Well, you are right in that it is ‘harder’ and would require more ‘flexibility’, so for someone who has never done it before they would know no difference and should start by tackling the bull by the hornes…imo anyway, that’s how I like to approach my own training 
[quote]GHOSTrun wrote:
Hello Rick,
Well, you are right in that it is ‘harder’ and would require more ‘flexibility’, so for someone who has never done it before they would know no difference and should start by tackling the bull by the hornes…imo anyway, that’s how I like to approach my own training :)[/quote]
Taking the bull by the horns while admirable, doesn’t factor in training goals, or the level of person’s overall strength/mobility/balance. For most people it’s easier to fix/learn new movement patterns a little at a time, doing too much at once can become frustrating and lead to injuries.
If a CG OHS is the ultimate goal, then learning the ‘easier’ SG OHS allows one to increase their mobility over time, while getting the benefits of performing a full range OHS.
[quote]Rick Jakubowski wrote:
GHOSTrun wrote:
Hello Rick,
Well, you are right in that it is ‘harder’ and would require more ‘flexibility’, so for someone who has never done it before they would know no difference and should start by tackling the bull by the hornes…imo anyway, that’s how I like to approach my own training
Taking the bull by the horns while admirable, doesn’t factor in training goals, or the level of person’s overall strength/mobility/balance. For most people it’s easier to fix/learn new movement patterns a little at a time, doing too much at once can become frustrating and lead to injuries.
If a CG OHS is the ultimate goal, then learning the ‘easier’ SG OHS allows one to increase their mobility over time, while getting the benefits of performing a full range OHS. [/quote]
good post.
[quote]Rick Jakubowski wrote:
GHOSTrun wrote:
Use a broom stick, and for shits n giggles use a clean grip to save your shoulders, you’re obviously not doing this for olympic competition, and the only reason they use a snatch grip is to reduce the distance the bar has to travel.
What does bar travel have to do with overhead squats?
Much more flexibility is required (especially shoulder) performing a clean grip OHS then a snatch grip OHS.
Using a broom stick to do OHS is a good way to start, but it really is too light to have effect on balance/flexiblity issues. [/quote]
Olympic lifters use snatch grip because it benefits them - they only have to jerk the bar 6" as apposed to more if they were using a clean grip.
Now a snatch grip is more taxing on the shoulders(then a clean grip - directly overhead, lol proof of this is in the recent article about cable directions & vectors), and in terms of balance I have tried both, my initial thoughts were “how the hell can you do it with a clean grip?!”, then I tried it, and it was actually more stable, funny enough maybe because there is only one force vector - downwards, as apposed to a snatch grip at 45degrees which has both down and sideways). On my 3rd ever attempt at doing clean grip overhead squats I managed to C&P bodyweight and squat it 8 times below parallel, there is a video of it on here in the other overhead squats thread. I wouldn’t say that it is overly difficult it is just a bit weird and takes a bit of getting used to. Now I don’t train the lift but IMO if you were to get someone doing these from day one they would grow to be very strong structurally.
Rubbish. Get the person to put their hands in the air and sit on a low chair, then add the broom stick, then start adding weight. People will always find excuses to get out of working harder.
Add weight, it’s not rocket science o_O
[quote]shizen wrote:
over head squats are tough on my wrists, anyone try using wraps or tape? Or will this mess up balance, I’m always afraid to go heavy on over head squats because think it will mess my wrist up-I admit I haven’t been doing them very long like 2-3 weeks- [/quote]
-give it a few more weeks,
-keep taking ur fish oil (i know I’ve said it before, but it helps)
-warmup the wrists,
do u use a “hook grip” on the bar? The minute I did it made stabalizing the bar overhead A LOT easier.
I sometimes get a “slight” pain when I start with OHS/Snatch Balance warmups, but later I don’t have any problems.
oh my…I have contradicted myself again…must be the split personality thing
I suppose a relevant question to ask would be shizen how much weight are you using that is causing your wrists to hurt?
[quote]GHOSTrun wrote:
Rick Jakubowski wrote:
GHOSTrun wrote:
Use a broom stick, and for shits n giggles use a clean grip to save your shoulders, you’re obviously not doing this for olympic competition, and the only reason they use a snatch grip is to reduce the distance the bar has to travel.
What does bar travel have to do with overhead squats?
Much more flexibility is required (especially shoulder) performing a clean grip OHS then a snatch grip OHS.
Using a broom stick to do OHS is a good way to start, but it really is too light to have effect on balance/flexiblity issues.
Olympic lifters use snatch grip because it benefits them - they only have to jerk the bar 6" as apposed to more if they were using a clean grip.
Now a snatch grip is more taxing on the shoulders(then a clean grip - directly overhead, lol proof of this is in the recent article about cable directions & vectors), and in terms of balance I have tried both, my initial thoughts were “how the hell can you do it with a clean grip?!”, then I tried it, and it was actually more stable, funny enough maybe because there is only one force vector - downwards, as apposed to a snatch grip at 45degrees which has both down and sideways). On my 3rd ever attempt at doing clean grip overhead squats I managed to C&P bodyweight and squat it 8 times below parallel, there is a video of it on here in the other overhead squats thread. I wouldn’t say that it is overly difficult it is just a bit weird and takes a bit of getting used to. Now I don’t train the lift but IMO if you were to get someone doing these from day one they would grow to be very strong structurally.
Rubbish. Get the person to put their hands in the air and sit on a low chair, then add the broom stick, then start adding weight. People will always find excuses to get out of working harder.
Add weight, it’s not rocket science o_O[/quote]
It ain’t rubbish. I saw ur video doing them and u have an awesome flexibility, it will take me a few more months to get there.
The problem is that I have to bring my arms towards my face instead of keeping them behind my head when I get in the bottom of the OHS with CG. I can go deeper now, but will take time. Just as it took me time to stop my lowerback from rounding at the bottom.
(if u ask me to bring my arms up perpendicular to the floor I will do a MAJOR back arch in order to get the arms behind my hears. As I separate the arms the smaller the back arch gets.)
[quote]GHOSTrun wrote:
Rick Jakubowski wrote:
GHOSTrun wrote:
Use a broom stick, and for shits n giggles use a clean grip to save your shoulders, you’re obviously not doing this for olympic competition, and the only reason they use a snatch grip is to reduce the distance the bar has to travel.
What does bar travel have to do with overhead squats?
Much more flexibility is required (especially shoulder) performing a clean grip OHS then a snatch grip OHS.
Using a broom stick to do OHS is a good way to start, but it really is too light to have effect on balance/flexiblity issues.
Olympic lifters use snatch grip because it benefits them - they only have to jerk the bar 6" as apposed to more if they were using a clean grip.
Now a snatch grip is more taxing on the shoulders(then a clean grip - directly overhead, lol proof of this is in the recent article about cable directions & vectors), and in terms of balance I have tried both, my initial thoughts were “how the hell can you do it with a clean grip?!”, then I tried it, and it was actually more stable, funny enough maybe because there is only one force vector - downwards, as apposed to a snatch grip at 45degrees which has both down and sideways). On my 3rd ever attempt at doing clean grip overhead squats I managed to C&P bodyweight and squat it 8 times below parallel, there is a video of it on here in the other overhead squats thread. I wouldn’t say that it is overly difficult it is just a bit weird and takes a bit of getting used to. Now I don’t train the lift but IMO if you were to get someone doing these from day one they would grow to be very strong structurally.
Rubbish. Get the person to put their hands in the air and sit on a low chair, then add the broom stick, then start adding weight. People will always find excuses to get out of working harder.
Add weight, it’s not rocket science o_O[/quote]
ill be picky here, but we don’t jerk w/ a sntach grip unless your a crazy russian or asian guy. A lighter weight Russian snapped his elbow at this years worlds because his jerk grip was so wide. We snatch wide because it reduces ROM and u dont need as much flexiblity to squat that low w/ the weight.
hmmm, is it flexibillity in the shoulders or the ankles though?
If you prop your heels up on blocks does that help at all?
It’s just weird like I’m a ‘regular’ guy lol(nothing special etc), I can’t do the splits or anything so I didn’t think that my flexibility was anything out of the ordinary 