Overhead Squats

[Guest guest]

Larsen Daehnick kindly gave me permission to share this private letter with

our group. Many thanks, Larsen!

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Okay, there are two reasons I remember May 21, 1988. The first, in case my

wife is reading this, is that we celebrated one-week wedding anniversary on

this day. The second relates to the single greatest athletic learning

experience of my career.

Coach Ralph Maughan of Utah State University was retiring as head track

coach. For the record he had made the Olympics as a hammer thrower, played

professional football with the Detroit Lions, and won a Purple Heart at the

Battle of the Bulge in World War II. I know, I know, other than that, what

has he done? Well,...

After five decades of coaching at Utah State, Coach Maughan was retiring. His

family organized a very fitting tribute: a surprise track meet. Utah State

had developed champions in the hurdles, 800 meters, pole vault, shot put, and

hammer but the program was noted worldwide, for discus throwing. At this

tribute meet, alumni from all over the United States and Canada returned. The

discus throw had former world record holders, national collegiate champs,

Olympians from two nations, and hosts of league champs. Every alumnus had

reached at least 180 feet/55 meters in the discus and the roll call neared

two dozen.

Standing around between throws, we had all decided to do shot, disc and

hammer no matter what the age on the driver's license said, I had a chance to

talk with half of century of throwing excellence. It was a chance to dispel

myths and respond to rumors. Glenn Passey, who set the national record at

190'9 " , weighing only 174 pounds, had attained mythological status among the

others. The story that had been going around is that he never lifted weights.

" Is that true? "

" Well, " Glenn answered, " I didn't lift weights like you guys do now. I just

did the Olympic Lifts all winter, you know, Clean and Press, Snatch, and

Jerk. In the summers, I threw hay up into lofts for eight hours a day. "

The Olympic Lifts all winter and hay tossing ( " Dino-style " if you wish)

sounds like a perf!

ect training program for a thrower

Other athletes talked about the importance of quarter squats (squats in a

rack doing just the top portion of the lift), putting weight over head " any

way you want doesn't matter, just do 'em, " and the importance of staying away

from more than three sessions in the weight room a week. One of the " young "

guys, Hatch, a 200 foot hammer thrower and 60 foot shot putter but

still in his twenties, and I discussed lifting.

" I would only do one exercise, if I could do it all over again " told me.

" Really? Which one? "

" Overhead Squats "

I thought he was joking. Sure, I had done a few and I thought they never

really amounted to anything.

" This coach in California won't let his guys throw until they can do fifteen

reps with bodyweight. "

" What? Fifteen? "

" It makes you one piece, an animal. "

Monday found me in the weight room. I thought I would just " toss " in a few

overheads, just to see what he was talking about. I knew I had to do a few

warm ups, so I tossed a 45 on each side of the bar. I thought I would knock

off a quick ten or so. I went to the rack, stepped back and let my hands

slide out to the inside collars (at just over six feet tall, this is my usual

snatch grip), then push jerked the weight up to arms length. Locking my

elbows and really trying to pull the bar apart while holding it straight over

my head, I sank between my knees, dropped to rock bottom and came back up.

I thought: " Huh? Must not be warmed up enough. "

Rep Two. " Whoa "

Rep Three. " Aren't my legs stronger than this? "

What I was discovering was that the overhead squat requires total

concentration, total lockout and perfect positions. There is no cheating; one

can't squirm, roll the knees or hips, or let other body parts help kick in.

It builds " Dad Strength. "

When my friends and I used to lift the old six foot bar with cement filled

weights, we all thought we were pretty strong. Then, Dad would ask us !

to help him move a car engine, or open a rusted jar of nuts and bolts, or put

the ping pong table up on a rack for storage. Yes, I was the strongest kid in

the four-house area, but every Dad had that scary kind of strength that

allows allows one to pick an engine out of a Pontiac station wagon and carry

it to the lawn.

Overhead squats build that kind of strength. For an athlete, it turns your

body into " one piece " Unfortunately, for the past few years, misguided

athletes have been taught to do upper body one day, lower body another. Of

worse, front of the thighs one day and back of the thighs another. One day

soon, people will be asked to train the muscles that pull the left thigh in,

then rest that overfatigued muscle for the next 21 days. Wait, you're right.

It is already happening.

I got five reps and the bar started to move and shake too much for safety. I

bent my knees, unlocked my arms, slowed the bar down a little with my upper

body and caught the bar on the back of my shoulders using my legs like shock

absorbers. I then realized the wisdom of fifteen reps with bodyweight in this

exercise. First, you can't fake it. Nobody, NOBODY, just walks in and does

this without training hard and steady. The ability to do this standard can

only come from hard, steady work. Hard work, although some may deny this, is

the number one factor in success in sports and life.

Second, the athlete must be balanced in both senses of the word. Certainly,

the ability to steady the bar overhead is a balance exercise. Throwers need

excellent balance, but so do Highland Gamers participants, Olympic Lifters,

and every other athlete. One needs balance too, in the sense of the upper

body and the lower body need to be able to work in symphony do those fifteen

reps. Lots of guys, unfortunately, squat what they bench. You just can't do

that with this drill.

Third, the athlete who completes this task will have strong, flexible legs.

You can send your athletes to all the yoga classes in the world, but the ove!

rhead squat develops athletic flexibility. As for leg strength, that is the

only way to get out of the hole in this exercise. You can't lean forward,

twist, bounce or cheat in any way. The bar will come off the top and you will

have to start again. Maybe next week.

So, overhead squts became a staple in my athletic diet and coaching method.

Pretty soon, other coaches began asking questions.

" How can that skinny sophomore ( Norway weighed 155) throw the discus 182

feet? "

I wanted to answer " Brilliant Coaching! " but chimed in " Overhead Squats "

He explained that it " held him together throughout the throw " Later, he would

throw 214 as a senior. Another young man wanted to be a football player. He

had no racks at home and his football coach wouldn't let him lift free

weights at the school, I kid you not. So, he would Power Snatch the weight

and do an Overhead Squat. Soon, he started rushing for over a hundred yards a

game. In the off-season, away from his enlightened coaches who were having

them lift five days a week on a bodybuilding program, he did what he called

" The Exercise " ; a Power Snatch followed by an Overhead Squat, usually in sets

of five. He just finished his junior college career as the league's leading

rusher. He has been highly recruited and I hope he finds a University that

allows him to lift in the school's facilities rather than having to hid

behind closed doors.

So, what did I learn on May 21, 1998? Five decades of champions seemed to

agree on a few points regarding the weight room. First, train the whole body.

Although lifting fashion tends to come and go, overall the successful

throwers used whole body exercises. Cleans, snatches, squats, and many

variations of overhead lifts were the fundamental movements of this group of

athletes. Second, train at most, three days a week in the weight room, IF you

are a thrower. There may be times and reasons one can spend more time in the

gym, but be sure you have a good reason. Universally, this group found th!

at too many days in the weight room led to injuries and staleness. Coach

Maughan noted that any more than three days a week and the athlete is just

fooling around every day in the weight room. If you train hard three days a

week, you won't be sneaking in the other four days. You'll be recovering.

Third, take Hatch's advice and try the Overhead Sqaut. You will wonder

if you ever lifted before. For a a beginner, try the bar for a few sets and

make sure there is nothing breakable near the platform.

Never Let Go

Dan "

-----------------

Dr Mel C Siff

Denver, USA

Supertraining/

[Guest guest]

After reading Larsen Daehnick's inspiring and interesting post on overhead

squats, I decided to add them back into my squatting arsenal. I've found that

the only exercise that I can do with regularity that does not bother my

somewhat temperamental right ITB band is squats. I also decided that I really

don't want my thighs any larger than they already are, so taking the advice of

the many posts on this list about training for strength alone, I decided to

train with heavy weights for sets of not more than 5 reps.

Being somewhat of a weenie, doing squats leg day after leg day with a heavy

bar across my back is, after the fact, bothering the thoracic region of my

back. Back squats used to bother my lower back, but now being able to place

the bar in the correct position, my lower back seems able to handle the load

without complaint. Possibly, if I work into this, the rest of my back will

adjust as well. Any thoughts or advice on this from anyone?

I've always liked front squats and they make a good alternative, although they

can also bother the thoracic region of the back because of having to hold the

bar in place. I use my Sting Ray when I have to add more than about 10# on to

the bar because my shoulders can't handle it. The bar tends to rest on a

little knob of bone on the collarbone. Possibly this will also remedy itself

as time goes by because previously I couldn't hold the empty bar without the

Sting Ray whereas now I can.

Before I go on, I owe you one, Mel. A couple of years ago, we had a big fuss

on Weights about front squats. At that time there was no way I could bend my

wrists backward and thus used the crossed arms position. I was loathe to

stretch my wrists uncomfortably because I already had a right wrist problem

and my livelihood required I be able to type all day. A few weeks ago, not

worrying any longer about typing for a living, I decided to give the bent

wrist hold a try with an empty bar. Lo and behold I managed to hang on to

the bar through a set of 5 reps without it crashing down on to my toes. After

I racked the bar, my wrists definitely ached and I thought I had once again

exacerbated my slightly strained right wrist condition. However, just the

opposite was true as this over-stretch seemed to relieve whatever it was that

caused the problem and I haven't used wrist straps since for anything. I

don't know as I'd advise this as a cure-all for everyone with a bum wrist, but

it sure did work for me.

Back to overhead squats, I notice that even using baby weights, i.e. 8-10#

bells, my arms seem to want to lower themselves as I squat down even though

the bells don't feel heavy. In fact the hardest part of the move seems to

keep the load at a straight arm's length overhead. Would holding a bar

relieve this problem (Gold's has a 10# EZ curl bar) or do I just need to keep

practicing? Any advice or clues, gang?

Rosemary Wedderburn-Vernon

Venice, CA

[Guest guest]

> Back to overhead squats, I notice that even using baby weights,

i.e. 8-10#

> bells, my arms seem to want to lower themselves as I squat down

even though

> the bells don't feel heavy. In fact the hardest part of the move

seems to

> keep the load at a straight arm's length overhead. Would holding a

bar

> relieve this problem (Gold's has a 10# EZ curl bar) or do I just

need to keep

> practicing? Any advice or clues, gang?

>

> Rosemary Wedderburn-Vernon

> Venice, CA

If there's one thing I've learned with working with PL's, OL's and

squat freaks, it's that squatting is a very learned skill, and

overhead squats are the strongest totem of that. Practice has done

wonders for all my squats, practice and research, including working

with Mel and researching Westside methods. Even on non-lifting days,

I'll squat, only with " baby weights, " just to practice the movement.

My biggest sticking point was the snatch. Getting under the bar with

any depth was tough, but now I can deep squat it with full overhead

extension. At the last training camp, Mel had me overhead squat to my

greatest comfortable depth (which wasn't much)and then very slowly go

just a little deeper and hold it. Continuing this on my own has

increased my flexibility and mental ability to go deep. Practice. It

will come.

Chip Conrad

Sacramento, CA

[Guest guest]

Thanks to both Mel and Chip Conrad for their suggestions. The next time I do

" legs, " I'll go get one of the 6' long black metal bars that weighs all of 2#

that people use for trunk twists and use it to practice. When I have no load,

i.e. I just raise my arms straight up in the air, they don't drift downward.

I'm not sure Gold's would appreciate having the bar dumped on to the floor and

unfortunately they don't have rubber bumpers on anything, unlike the new

World's. However, they do have three racks with adjustable safety's which I

always use for any kind of squatting, so I could always just position them

high and then sit the bar down on them if I get stuck.

Like you, Chip, I seem to have a very difficult time squatting much past

parallel unless I hold on to something or use one of those safety squat bars.

Gold's also has another very old Icarian affair that the membership won't

allow them to remove, that has a roller under which you place your feet.

There is another small pad that fits in behind the backs of the calves. The

device is balanced by a long metal bar so you don't fall over backward when

you squat down. This mimics the feeling of a front squat. I can do these

holding a 25# plate for reps and go all the way down until my butt touches the

balancing bar, the top of which is about 4 " off the ground.

Possibly my inability to squat down low is more a matter of learning balance

than lack of flexibility, or maybe it's just both! So I will practice just

sitting at the bottom for a couple of counts without weight.

Ya know, Mel, I wouldn't mind trying my hand at OL. I actually get under the

bar to put it on the pins to do squats rather than slow curling or upright

rowing it into position. I do the same thing when I do EZ bar standing

shoulder presses. But from everything I've read on the various lists, OL is

not something you should try to learn to do without a good coach. I also

wonder if it's something better left to the young and supple, at least when

starting to learn.

Rosemary Wedderburn-Vernon

Venice, CA