Mark Rippetoe is a well published strength coach and is revered in the CrossFit world. Here, Coach Rippetoe goes over the third major variation of the squat, the overhead squat. This is great for warm-ups since you are working everything from your shoulders to your hamstrings. A PVC pipe is the perfect implement to use when learning the overhead squat. The overhead squat (OHS) is also a part of the “Snatch” which is an olympic movement similar to the clean and jerk, except in the snatch the weight goes from ground to overhead in one explosive movement. Due to lack of shoulder flexibility in the average person, this movement can take some time to get used to However, some good shoulder mobility drills combined with some practice and we can all OHS.

The Clean is an olympic weightlifting movement that combines two of the exercises illustrated below, the deadlift and the front squat. In the olympics, the clean is combined with the jerk, where the weight goes from the ground to overhead. Different implements can be cleaned including but not limited to a barbell, kettlebells, sandbags, dumb bells and medicine balls. The medicine ball is a great implement to use to learn the clean due to it’s portability and less intimidating nature.

The Front Squat is a variation of the squat where the load is carried across the front of the body on the muscles of the shoulders. It is an integral part of the “Clean” which is where the weight is picked up from the floor and placed on the shoulders. In the front squat the torso stays more upright than in the back squat, but all of the other principles remain. Keep your feet shoulder width apart, feet turned slightly out, weight on the heels, maintain lumbar curve, knees track the toes, hips drop below the knees and keep the chest and elbows up. This is one of the movements you will learn during the Fundamentals course.

The Shoulder Press or simply “Press” is the foundation of these three movements.  The main reason for the three different movements is to lift more weight or in CrossFit terms, move larger loads over a long distance quicker.  With the press you are solely relying on your upper body to move the weight.  The Push Press uses a “hip drive” to help pop the weight off the shoulders, giving the lifter the ability to move more weight.  Finally, in the Push Jerk, the lifter use hip drive and then proceeds to drop under the bar to help get the body low enough to land with arms locked out overhead in a quarter-squat position.  Then the lifter can rely on the larger, stronger muscles of the legs to help stand the weight up while still balancing the weight overhead.

Mid-Deadlift

The Deadlift sounds scarier than it is. Many are unfamiliar with the movement as it seems to have been relegated to the dark corners of bodybuilding gyms, but in CrossFit everyone deadlifts. It is one of the best exercises you can do to build strength through your posterior chain (i.e. lower back, glutes and hamstrings). It is as functional as it gets since 99% of people drop things and have to pick them up.  Learning to do this movement properly is fantastic for injury prevention since the above mentioned muscles groups tend to be weak due to lack of training in the average person. Check out this video from the crew at CrossFit.com and listen to Greg Glassman, co-founder of CrossFit, explain his views on the deadlift.