I had the whim so I grabbed the barbell, put my barefeet on the grass, and started.
15 reps, do a 180° as the “flooring” wasn’t perfectly level, and 15 more.
A set of 30, just an empty barbell, but the bar overhead the entire time, and the 30 reps being done not slow but not fast either.
It’s decent time under tension.
30 done I stood and took 4 or 5 deep breaths before dropping the bar to hip height, and putting it away.
You notice a lot during a mini session like this, some of it being renoticed :
The overhead squat makes it very clear that you possess quads and a back.
Even the most stork legged amongst the bench brethren responds favorably after just one application.
It hits the low back in a way that very much makes you resilient, while your mid back and lats get a better pump than anything back specific ever causes.
(Pushups felt better tonight the mid/upper back being primed from the overhead squats a few hours prior.)
It’s higher level of upper body stimulus makes it more of a full body exercise than other squat variations which are heavier on the lower body but without upper body pumps to be had.
For this reason it’s a better choice within a very streamlined program.
Frankly it can cover everything, a one movement workout and one movement program if you were to so choose.
I like it for sets of 30 or 50.
Personal preference…and that I know these rep ranges to be the true gold standard of reps per set.
Ken Leistner was right.
You do overhead squats for reps, and immediately you realize the power of the breathing squats protocol, taking multiple deep breaths between reps, as a major growth stimulus.
With this I find myself thinking “of course Weldon Bullock was bull strong”, and realize I’ll always be able to be like this with a light barbell done anywhere.
“Light” overhead squats are incredible if you have the guts to admit the possibility, test it out, and push the reps high, to the 30-50 rep range if not higher.
A barbell and handful of plates is pretty easy logistically anywhere. In the tiniest of apartments – store it just inside the door, and well you have the parking lot to lift overhead in if the height of the apartment ceiling conspires against you.
Winter is coming up, I’ve lately had less urge to go to pf, these two combine nicely with the above paragraph. I’ll be like Weldon Bullock, once or twice a week do high rep breathing overhead squats and reappear scarier come spring as far as those at pf can tell coming in only twice or thrice weekly to tan, curl, handstand pushup, weighted pushup, pullup, and wall sit.
“Damn dude, you nearly disappeared from the gym over the winter, you’re now 280 with abs, how!?!?!?!”
“By doing high rep overhead squats twice a week and adding 5lbs every second or third session, you saw the rest.” – me in a high probability future
I’m intrigued as to what the protocol would do for a girl’s legs, I have the feeling many gym dudes (including myself) would like the results, I picture it working better for girls than guys, which is saying something as it has worked very well for my sample size of me. I expect it to build big athletic lumps of thigh found on some girls from sports, oly, and/or hiking, and amongst the girls with THOSE (ie can breed an entire rugby team while looking good) type genetics, the only physical type of woman that can pull off a thigh tattoo.
Until tomorrow,
-J