Featured Exercise of the Month

September 2005 - The Overhead Squat

Client Model = Sheri L.
Age = 40
Sheri leads an active life full of ranching and horseback riding, and has exercised reasonably consistently throughout her life. However she, like most people, did her "favorite" exercises which left entire groups of muscles neglected while others were overdeveloped. Over the past 8 months we've gotten her body back into balance. Sheri lost 12 lbs on the scale, 8% body fat, and went from size 6 jeans to size 2. Isn't she fabulous!?
 

The overhead squat is a wonderfully challenging exercise often used in athletic training camps to develop muscles of the hips and legs, flexibility, and balance.

The primary muscles worked are the quadriceps along the front of the thighs. However, since this is a compound movement, your lower back, hamstrings, calves, glutes and shoulders are ALL involved! You get a lot of bang for the buck with the overhead squat and it has become one of my favorite exercises.

Start with a broom or dowel stick and progress to dumbbells or a Bodybar (we are using a 15 lb Body Bar in the photo above).

1) Assume a squat stance with your feet shoulder-width apart, abdominals tight, slight low back arch, and a stick resting across your upper traps. Your grip should be much wider than your normal squat grip (about twice the width of your shoulders). Placing your heels on small weight plates allows for a deeper squat if you find you have reduced flexibility in your ankles and calves.

2) Raise the bar directly overhead and squeeze your shoulder blades together tightly to keep the bar in place.

3) Squat down while keeping the bar directly overhead and your arms in line with your ears. (In the photo above we have Sheri posed with the bar slightly forward so that you can see an example of the incorrect form that most people will use... you want to keep your arms STRAIGHT and the bar slightly behind the midline of your head).

4) While keeping your chest and head up, drive evenly out of the bottom position by pressing your weight through the heels of your feet.

5) Repeat for three sets of 15 reps at a 2-1-2 tempo (2 second decent, hold at bottom for 1 second, 2 seconds back up to the top).

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