Did some snatches and overhead squat work today, worked up to 90x2. Here is a vid

I'll be at 100 soon my first attempt didnt go to well and i had to drop it which caused it to hit the back of my head. Was pritty painful, but 5 min later I bust out 2 reps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jCUY8sNw0M

enjoy

wow

is that a bad wow? or a good one

Very impressive. Nice work.

It's not ATG though. It's good depth parallel (quad parallel).

Nice.

A bit wobbley, but that's not surprising.

Good work Matt, very impressive..


Elvis called btw, he wants his legs back

nice

Forms alittle off imo. Grip should be wider (snatch grip), head should be through, shoulders back. And get your arse down.

Great effort though. It shows good flexibility being able to OH squat with a narrow grip, although it's easier to stabilize.

Karlos wrote:Forms a little off imo. Grip should be wider (snatch grip), head should be through, shoulders back. And get your arse down.

On second look that is spot on. Grip is certainly not Snatch grip.

But once again, big respect for this; it's still a great lift. I don't think I could do it.

Impressive lifting Matt

Personally I find the wider grip more comfortable, although you can lift more with a narrower hand positioning... is just more wobbly. I also find it very hard to go fully ATG on overheads when the grip is narrow... perhaps practise going ATG with a lower weight & wider grip and then build back up... looks like you have good core strength which is vital for overheads.

I tried a wider grip, I couldnt do 80 as it kept going off balance, I feel alot more stable with it closer in. We all prefer it differently

I'll go for even lower next time with same goal of 90x2, i'll record it as well so its proper ATG

The wider grip (snatch) will help you with your Power Snatches. Clean grip overhead squats don't have that much carry over to other exercises. Again, esp since you're doing Olympic lifts a fair bit.

Just keep the weight down and practice

That's very impressive lifting Matt, although form was slightly off. Careful with your knees as well.

Matt wrote:I tried a wider grip, I couldnt do 80 as it kept going off balance, I feel alot more stable with it closer in. We all prefer it differently

I'll go for even lower next time with same goal of 90x2, i'll record it as well so its proper ATG

The thing i find is the narrower grip is more stable on the upper part of the movement and allows greater weight there, but is far less stable when 'in the ATG hole', and so limits how deep you can go. I like to always go fully ATG so prefer the wider grip overall... although if wasn't going ATG I would use the narrower position to enable more weight.

I find overhead squats horrendously difficult. That's impressive to me.

Impressive stuff. Your obviousl gettint very strong for a fanny

As everybody has said, form looks off, knees look like Elvis and you weren't ATG, just barely parallel - more importantly though IT WENT UP.
Really great work.

Rilla wrote:As everybody has said, form looks off, knees look like Elvis and you weren't ATG, just barely parallel - more importantly though IT WENT UP.
Really great work.

I beg to differ on the barely parallel.. but if you think so then ok. I have to practise my Elvis impression some where, my mum yells at me when I do it at home

Well done for working on a difficult lift! It is one that very few people can do with acceptable form

As far as the critique goes it looks like you have some excessive lumbar arching (although admittedly hard to tell at that angle), in which case it would be worth working on mobility elsewhere, the lumbar spine tends to make up for tension discrepancies lower down i.e. hip or ankle. An easier way to spot it would be to test barefoot with a broomstick. The overhead squat is fantastic for identifying any imbalances in the body and using some weight can make the lift easier by taking joints into a range of motion you wouldn't be able to obtain otherwise. You may find it easier using the snatch grip as the narrower your grip is the more mobility you need to have.

For improvements you will find it hard to keep moving up without working on the squat numbers as it is a much easier lift to improve. Obviously the stronger this is the more likelihood you are going to have of achieving some heavier weight with the overhead version.

Congratulations on achieving something very few people can do and good luck on improving it!