Overhead Squat (Barbell)

How to do it

1. Get the bar overhead with a grip wider than your shoulders and lock your elbows.
2. Set your feet about shoulder-width apart, toes turned out slightly, and brace your trunk.
3. Push your hips back and down while the bar stays over the middle of your foot.
4. Squat to full depth, at least until your hips are below the top of your knees.
5. Drive through your feet to stand up fully with the bar still locked out overhead.

Key cues

• Push up into the bar
• Elbows locked the whole time
• Chest up
• Bar over the base of your neck
• Balance over your whole foot

Common mistakes

• Bending the elbows so the bar sags
• Letting the bar move relative to your upper body
• Chest dropping and the trunk folding forward
• Cutting depth short

Muscles worked

Primary

Quads, glutes, adductors and lower back

Secondary

Calves and traps

Equipment

Barbell and weight plates.

References

1. StrengthLog: Overhead Squat
2. Catalyst Athletics: Overhead Squat