Mikhail Koklyaeve-doing a snatch grip push press + overhead complex. If you don’t know who he is, he’s an all around bad ass- 6x Russian National Weightlifting Champ, strongman, and powerlifter competitor. Snatch: 210kg Clean and Jerk: 250kg

There are MANY benefits to the overhead squat for weightlifters of all levels. In particular for the novice and intermediate weightlifters, it has a very high correlation to the snatch by:

• Developing stability in the correct positioning for the snatch.
• Developing strength in pretty much the same joints angle of the catch position for the snatch.
• Developing confidence and comfort in the bottom position.

While this doesn’t always work for EVERY weightlifter, it does encompass a significant population of novice and intermediate weightlifters. As with any lifter, the weightlifting coach will have to decide what auxiliary exercises have the highest carry over to the Olympic lifts.

Implementation

Teaching

I use the overhead squat as a progression to help build body and bar awareness throughout the overhead squat for novice lifters. Building this awareness can help the lifter give you better feedback and for the weightlifter to make self corrections quicker. The faster the lifter builds this type of awareness the easier the transition to the full classical lifts are.

Strength

While some coaches see the back squat and front squat as the main squat or leg strength training exercises to utilize, I believe the overhead squat has it’s place too (depending on the lifters needs). For some of my lifters, I’ve found increasing the overhead squat strength had high translation to the snatch by developing strength in similar joint angles to the snatch. While for other lifters, increasing the overhead squat didn’t help much. For my own training, I found increasing my overhead squat strength had carried over well to my squat snatches and even drop snatches. Of course there will be a limitation to this and as stated earlier, it’s all relative to the needs of the lifters and mindset.

Programming

There are many variable to take into account such as length of time per training session, amount of sessions per week, ratio of technique vs. strength for auxiliary and classical lifts, and recovery.With that said, *generally speaking* when attempting to increase the overhead squat strength, we perform anywhere from 1’s-3’s on a front squat day or sometimes stand alone.

Ex:

1. Snatch 5×2
2. Clean 4×3
3. Clean DL 3×2
4. OHS 1’s or 3’s
5. FSQ 5’s
6. Push Press 3×3

If we’re trying to develop comfort and stability in the bottom of the overhead squat, we’ll typically add them in as “primers” or add them as an general strength auxiliary movement with low-medium volume and intensity.

Final Thoughts

While we’ve found the overhead squat to be beneficial for some and not for others, we don’t write the whole exercise off. There may be blocks within the program that the lifter may benefit from the overhead  squat. It all comes down to the needs of the lifter and what the coach and weightlifter find to be the most effective for the lifters skill set and at that particular time. As the weightlifter progresses their development in their technique and awareness in the lifts, some auxiliary exercises such as the overhead squat may become irrelevant for the lifter.

Stay strong,

Team Fusion Weightlifting