FRIDAY FITNESS TIP
Overhead squats
Overhead squats are one of the more complex exercises to perform properly. They require great hip and shoulder mobility, core and shoulder stability, and when done with good form are a great addition to your program.
In the sport of Motocross, being strong through motion is key, not only when it comes to controlling the bike, but also in regards to injury prevention. With the forward leaning position of the rider in motocross, we tend to see a lack of overall shoulder mobility due to tightness in the pec, and lack of mobility in the thoracic spine.
In this two part series, I’m going to give you some pointers on how to increase the mobility through your thoracic and shoulders, as well as your hips. By doing these warm up movements, you’ll be able to safely add overhead squatting to your program.
Part one: shoulder dislocations.
Before you think I’m crazy and wanting you to dislocate your shoulders, you have to realize this is just the name given to the first movement we are going to work on.
You’ll need two things: a lighter resistance band, and a 6ft. long, light wooden dowel. On the left you’ll see how to how to perform the shoulder dislocates with the resistance band or tubing. Make sure to keep your arms straight and your head upright. Do 3 sets of ten repetitions.
You should do these after you’ve gone through the Dynamic warm up before each workout.
When you can do 3 sets of 10 repetitions with the band or resistance tubing, we can move on to performing these with a wooden dowel.
Make sure that the dowel is not heavy. You don’t want to do these with a bar or something heavy as it will put too much strain on the shoulder. The motion is the same – keep your arms straight through the entire movement, and keep your head upright. You can do 3 sets of 10 reps after the DWO before each workout.
Next week we will look at getting your hips to move with an exercise called wall squats. For more information, contact me at drew@evolvednutrition.com.
http://www.evolvedconditioning.com/#!fit-tips/c248a
