Squatting with barbel above head

[Bruce L]

Hi again, Ive tried to do squats by holding the barbell above my head with straight arms rather than behind my head on my shoulders.

Is this bad? I find i cant go down very far and its hurts/stretches my back.

Does anyone do squats like this or is it a big no no?

Churs.

[PeterDolan]

Hi again, Ive tried to do squats by holding the barbell above my head with straight arms rather than behind my head on my shoulders.

Is this bad? I find i cant go down very far and its hurts/stretches my back.

Does anyone do squats like this or is it a big no no?

Churs.

You can't do them because you do not have the flexibility so yes, this is a big no no! Over head squats should only be attempted by experience athletes that also have an experienced trainer to supervise. Also, these really are rather unnecessary exercise for most people, so unless there is a reason you are doing these, I say drop them from your routine immediately and just squat the way the iron Gods intended

[Calvin]

Hi again, Ive tried to do squats by holding the barbell above my head with straight arms rather than behind my head on my shoulders.

Is this bad? I find i cant go down very far and its hurts/stretches my back.

Does anyone do squats like this or is it a big no no?

Churs.

You can't do them because you do not have the flexibility so yes, this is a big no no! Over head squats should only be attempted by experience athletes that also have an experienced trainer to supervise. Also, these really are rather unnecessary exercise for most people, so unless there is a reason you are doing these, I say drop them from your routine immediately and just squat the way the iron Gods intended

But Dolan.. what about Crozzfitz?

[PeterDolan]

Hi again, Ive tried to do squats by holding the barbell above my head with straight arms rather than behind my head on my shoulders.

Is this bad? I find i cant go down very far and its hurts/stretches my back.

Does anyone do squats like this or is it a big no no?

Churs.

You can't do them because you do not have the flexibility so yes, this is a big no no! Over head squats should only be attempted by experience athletes that also have an experienced trainer to supervise. Also, these really are rather unnecessary exercise for most people, so unless there is a reason you are doing these, I say drop them from your routine immediately and just squat the way the iron Gods intended

But Dolan.. what about Crozzfitz?

Pls defer such questions to NZBB's hottest crossfitter, tomsammce

[Riccardo]

Depends on what you are wanting to get out of a squat, if you are trying to learn the snatch then over head squatting is all good or if you wanna get really good at overhead squatting then all good also. But sounds to me like you are probably lacking flexibility in your shoulders, back and hips. You need to stretch and look at some weightlifting mobility drills and stretches.

[Darkmanx]

Overhead squats is predominantly a technique and exercise to better your snatch(olympic lift). Mobilty/flexability is key here though so if you lack mobility you are going to have a tough time doing them and doing properly.

Like reccardo says, only for serious and well experienced athletes that have coaches or trainers with them at the time. Its taken me years to get it right. But i now do it about twice a week to get my snatch perfect and it has given me great flexability in my hips too along with some realy deep kettlebell swings.

[Bruce L]

Ok thanks, looks like my flexiability is lacking.

What stretches should i do to help me be able to do these squats properly?

Also, why does an experienced trainer need to be there?

[In_Flames]

You can't do them because you do not have the flexibility so yes, this is a big no no! Over head squats should only be attempted by experience athletes that also have an experienced trainer to supervise. Also, these really are rather unnecessary exercise for most people, so unless there is a reason you are doing these, I say drop them from your routine immediately and just squat the way the iron Gods intended

But Dolan.. what about Crozzfitz?

Pls defer such questions to NZBB's hottest crossfitter, tomsammce

Lol.

[ohjoshua]

try a wider grip on the BB. this helps with flexability alot

[PeterDolan]

What stretches should i do to help me be able to do these squats properly?

Others may have another take on this but I'm not a fan of prescribing stretches to one body part, I recommend stretching the whole body out but giving a little more attention to the "problem" areas. For you this will likely be your hips, shoulders and probably calves. Do both static (stretch and hold like they would have you do at sports games) and dynamic (lunges etc). I'd look through the powerlifting journals as they have quite a lot of this stuff in there.

Also, why does an experienced trainer need to be there?

'Cause if you have bad technique, you're gonna have a bad time! This exercise is easier to f*ck up than you may believe. Sure, you may start out light, learning the movement and just getting stronger at it but you'll eventually wanna go heavy and if you watched to Olympic Weightlifting last month, you would have witnessed just how dangerous this exercise has the potential to be. So have the experienced guy there for the first 2 months or whatever just to be sure

[tomsammce]

It's a good exercise. One of the best full body exercises you can do in the gym. Much harder than a set of back squats.

[Dr Squat]

It's a good exercise. One of the best full body exercises you can do in the gym. Much harder than a set of back squats.

Maybe harder but is it better?

I would suggest mastering the back squat first.

[tomsammce]

Cf on espn now kids

[Dr Squat]

Cf on espn now kids

Followed by spelling bee and cheerleading. :roll: