Overhead Squat Weight

Yeah well you’ll find your overhead squat to usually be lower than you could ever expect, it just has a learning curve to it where you have to get used to the weight over your head…

[quote]Chewie wrote:
That seems highly unlikely for a 250 lb man. Note, I said unlikely, not impossible. I looked on the “Olympic Lift Numbers/Log” thread and only found 1 person who could snatch more than 300 lbs and they are listed as an olympic weightlifting coach.
[/quote]

Yeah, but most people can front squat more than they can clean, so I’d imagine that most people (who know how to do it) can OHS more than they can snatch.

Not that I’m disagreeing about BW OHS for reps being impressive.

I think upper back strength (even more than flexibility/balance/technique) is my biggest limitation in doing them. Any experienced overhead squatters know any good accessory exercises for the relevant upper back muscles?

BW x 5 is what I would consider “decent”. I’m not quite there yet, but I’m going to put them into my next 5x5 routine and hope to make it.

I found that initially I sucked a lot at OH squats. Then came a quantum jump when over the course of a couple of weeks I figured out the weight distribution and found “the sweet path” for the bar (and myself).

[quote]olinerules87 wrote:
I met a guy named Matt Bruce (?) who works with Coach Gayle Hatch and he could overhead squat over 400 pounds. obviously most people can’t do this but its pretty damn amazing[/quote]

that guy competes @ 77kg !

thanks guys. I really do suck at these huh.

I think my left shoulder is the limiting factor. I’m still getting it right after a decent bout of impingement syndrome…(I couldnt lift a tissue above my head for a few months last year).

I’m working on my overhead pressing witrh a single dumbbell and slowly getting back on track.

I’ll give the ‘stretch the bar’ method a go on Monday. That will be my second overhead squat workout.

I guess I just assume this but everyone should know how to bail out from a bad OHS. Better to get yelled at by the gym staff than get hit by a weighted bar overhead.

IMO it is best to throw the bar forward and have you body go back. I’m not a huge fan of the bar going behind me and myself going forward.

[quote]Andrew Dixon wrote:
thanks guys. I really do suck at these huh.

I think my left shoulder is the limiting factor. I’m still getting it right after a decent bout of impingement syndrome…(I couldnt lift a tissue above my head for a few months last year).

I’m working on my overhead pressing witrh a single dumbbell and slowly getting back on track.

I’ll give the ‘stretch the bar’ method a go on Monday. That will be my second overhead squat workout. [/quote]

Are you doing band/broomstick dislocates? Helped me out a ton with my flexibility.

As well as pulling apart on the bar, try and push your traps up towards your ears, and get the crooks of your elbows facing forward as much as you can.

[quote]ninearms wrote:
Andrew Dixon wrote:
thanks guys. I really do suck at these huh.

I think my left shoulder is the limiting factor. I’m still getting it right after a decent bout of impingement syndrome…(I couldnt lift a tissue above my head for a few months last year).

I’m working on my overhead pressing witrh a single dumbbell and slowly getting back on track.

I’ll give the ‘stretch the bar’ method a go on Monday. That will be my second overhead squat workout.

Are you doing band/broomstick dislocates? Helped me out a ton with my flexibility.

As well as pulling apart on the bar, try and push your traps up towards your ears, and get the crooks of your elbows facing forward as much as you can.
[/quote]

What are you talking about?

[quote]Airtruth wrote:
What are you talking about?[/quote]

I’m talking about rotating the arms so the elbows are back and reaching high.

[quote]ninearms wrote:
Airtruth wrote:
What are you talking about?

I’m talking about rotating the arms so the elbows are back and reaching high.
[/quote]

Oh for the OH Squat? I thought you may have been talking about exercises for shoulder flexibility. Specially with the bar/band dislocates comment.

I will have to try this next time I do them.

[quote]Chewie wrote:

That seems highly unlikely for a 250 lb man. Note, I said unlikely, not impossible. I looked on the “Olympic Lift Numbers/Log” thread and only found 1 person who could snatch more than 300 lbs and they are listed as an olympic weightlifting coach.

If you can do your bodyweight 15 times in the OHS, that is VERY impressive. [/quote]

BW 15 times would be very impressive, but lots of Olympic lifters can do well over 300 pounds. I believe the world record snatch is still 216 kg (something like 475 pounds) and the US record is 197.5 (435 or so).

These definitely are a very humbling exercise.

Here’s another nod to trying to pull the bar apart, it really helps in getting locked-in so you can focus on not falling down.

[quote]mroseland wrote:
These definitely are a very humbling exercise.

Here’s another nod to trying to pull the bar apart, it really helps in getting locked-in so you can focus on not falling down.[/quote]

Learn something new every day.

[quote]ninearms wrote:
Andrew Dixon wrote:
thanks guys. I really do suck at these huh.

I think my left shoulder is the limiting factor. I’m still getting it right after a decent bout of impingement syndrome…(I couldnt lift a tissue above my head for a few months last year).

I’m working on my overhead pressing witrh a single dumbbell and slowly getting back on track.

I’ll give the ‘stretch the bar’ method a go on Monday. That will be my second overhead squat workout.

Are you doing band/broomstick dislocates? Helped me out a ton with my flexibility.

As well as pulling apart on the bar, try and push your traps up towards your ears, and get the crooks of your elbows facing forward as much as you can.
[/quote]

The dislocates may fuck my shoulder, not sure.

I realized today that its flexibility not injury. I cant keep my arms vertical as a go near parallel.

I’ll work on it.

Cheers

[quote]Andrew Dixon wrote:
The dislocates may fuck my shoulder, not sure.

I realized today that its flexibility not injury. I cant keep my arms vertical as a go near parallel.

I’ll work on it.

Cheers[/quote]

I had exactly the same problem, same shoulder too. When I first started doing dislocates my grip was nearly 5ft apart because my shoulders were so tight.

Lots of dislocates at home and at the end of every gym session have helped a ton, so I can actually squat snatch now. Surprisingly they didn’t aggravate my shoulder like I thought they would, so definitely give them a try and see how it feels.

The band ones are definitely more gentle. Rear delt work has also helped me with getting back to a pain free shoulder.

[quote]ninearms wrote:
Andrew Dixon wrote:
The dislocates may fuck my shoulder, not sure.

I realized today that its flexibility not injury. I cant keep my arms vertical as a go near parallel.

I’ll work on it.

Cheers

I had exactly the same problem, same shoulder too. When I first started doing dislocates my grip was nearly 5ft apart because my shoulders were so tight.

Lots of dislocates at home and at the end of every gym session have helped a ton, so I can actually squat snatch now. Surprisingly they didn’t aggravate my shoulder like I thought they would, so definitely give them a try and see how it feels.

The band ones are definitely more gentle. Rear delt work has also helped me with getting back to a pain free shoulder.

[/quote]

Thanks dude.

I’ve been working on my shoulder for years. I’ve got every trick in the book I think. I feel my external rotation is adequate,maybe thoracic extension is limited.

Or possibly my tight hips are keeping me from good alignment.