Barbell Overhead Squat

The barbell overhead squat is a squat performed with a loaded barbell held at arm's length above the head. It trains the quads and hamstrings like any squat, but the overhead position turns the lift into a whole-body stability test: the shoulders, upper back and core have to keep the bar in a fixed line over the midfoot while the hips sink. How much weight should you use? Far less than your back squat. Most lifters start with an empty bar and stay there until they can reach full depth without the bar drifting forward. The movement is a staple of Olympic weightlifting, where it builds the receiving position of the snatch, and it shows up constantly in CrossFit programming. Restricted ankles or a stiff upper back reveal themselves within the first rep, which makes this lift as useful for diagnosing mobility as for building strength.