Overhead Squats take a lot of not only mobility, but good control of that mobility. You want to have good ankle and hip mobility so that you can simultaneously drive the knees forward and in line with the toes as you sit down. You also want to be able to have a nice smooth slight symmetrical curve through your back with arms up overhead so that the weight stays stacked over your midfoot. Shoulders must stay engaged/active and be in line just behind the ears. Any part of that breaks down, and somewhere else will have to compensate which often ain’t pretty. (Ankle and Thoracic spine are the most common mobility restrictions I see. See this blog on how poor ankle mobility can cause shoulder compensation as an example).

So, needless to say, a good warmup that not only takes you through the mobility, but also helps get the stabilizing muscles firing will help dramatically! This is obviously not all inclusive, but it hits just about everything (If you have stiff ankles, throw something from this post in your warm up as well)

1. Hip Opener with Thoracic Twist

   Starting off here with the only unloaded warmup movement to just get things moving. Each rep, try to get your elbow a little closer to the ground and then reach up a little higher.

2. Tspine Arm Bars

Bonus points if you hold the kettlebell bottoms up to get an extra shoulder stability warmup! (Note: you won’t be able to do nearly as much weight with this added, so adjust accordingly). You actually start laying flat on your back, holding the weight straight up towards the ceiling, elbow straight, in one arm. The same knee bent up. I find it helpful to find a spot on the ceiling to focus the weight on. Then, roll onto the opposite shoulder, punching the weight further up towards that spot. Once you’re all the way over, use your free hand to grab the knee that’s up - this will not only help with stabilization, but it will lock out the low back to help focus on the mid/upper back. Ok, now for the main part that you see in the vid here: keeping your lower body twisted over and your arm/the weight pointing at the same spot on the ceiling, bring that shoulder blade back down towards the ground. How close you get to the ground will completely depend on your available range of motion, so don’t force yourself to get all the way to the ground. Just go as far as you can. Hang out for a couple breaths at your end range, and then punch back up onto the opposite shoulder.

3. Tall Kneel OH press

This one is especially good if you tend to overarch your low back with OHS. Big thing here is to stay stacked…don’t let your ribs flare out/back arch. Again, you want to have a good active overhead position - punching up towards the ceiling with your arms just behind your ears in a side view - with this exercise, the resistance from the band may make it feel like you’re further forward than you actually are, so videoing yourself can help!

4. Squat Y’s

The band is super helpful to stay in a solid squat while doing this, but if you’re able, by all means do it without! Alternate raising your arms into the overhead Y position, either on their own or with a weight (2.5# or 5# plates will be PLENTY). You want to be able to do this WITHOUT shifting or twisting your lower body #tougherthanitlooks

5. Face Pull + Y Press - option to go into a squat as well at the end, which I demo on a few reps!

Here I’m using the Crossover Symmetry bands, 7#, for this. I do love these knockoff ones as well though if you want some of these at home but don’t wanna drop the hundreds of dollars that the “official” ones cost. (Bonus: the link is for a small AZ based company and they are just as solid as the original brand ones. There are cheaper options, but I cannot speak to how well they hold up)

Again, staying stacked and not letting the ribs flare is key. Another key is to keep the elbows in line with the shoulders - hence the name face pull - the elbows should stay high and your hands should come back to your face. From there, you’re keeping the elbows high and going into the “touchdown” position, and finally, pressing out into a Y. Then returning in the reverse order. Option to stay in the Y and hit an overhead squat with the resistance bands fighting you before starting the return sequence!

Next time you have overhead squats, try 2 rounds of 8 of everything above (4 each if it’s a one side at a time thing) as a warmup and see how much better you feel moving!

Even better - I’ve not only given you a killer OHS warmup, but you can take these same drills and create an awesome accessory EMOM for upper back mobility and stability, if that’s something you struggle with (hint: if you struggle with maintaining front rack at the bottom of a squat or clean, do this).

Here’s an example:

20’ EMOM with 30” on / 30” off:

1. Assault Bike max cal

2. Tall Kneel OH Press

3. Tspine Arm Bars (moderate weight)

4. Squat Ys with 2.5# plates