Movement Screening – The Overhead Squat
The overhead squat is probably one of my favourite movements to use to screen someone. It requires coordination, mobility and stability of the upper body, core and lower body and one can break down the overhead squat to identify where there may be more specific issues around mobility, stability or motor control.
In the video below I have posted a short video of myself performing the overhead squat. The great thing about this video is that it highlights quite a few areas to further assess to determine if there is a mobility, stability or motor control issues. Off the top of my head I would say, thoracic spine, hips and ankles.
For those of you who are regularly training or perhaps working with clients on a daily basis, I would suggest getting each and every client to start performing the overhead squat as part of your movement screen as it is a very quick and useful movement that can tell us a lot about the body and how one moves.
This blog post was written by osteopath Heath Williams of Principle Four Osteopathy. Heath has an interest in movement screening and strength and conditioning. He has completed post grad studies in the FMS, SFMA, CAFS, 3DMaps and Australian Strength and Conditioning Association.