Improving Your Overhead Lifts for Denver Crossfit and Fitness Athletes
This week I asked a good friend of mine, Dr. Josh Beagle, a performance physical therapist in Macon, GA with Elite Movement Specialists to help me out with one of his areas of expertise and share his wisdom on fitness athletes. While I have experience and enjoy treating crossfit and fitness athletes, Josh's background and knowledge is bar none. Enjoy!
One of the more complex movements to master and feel safe doing is the overhead Olympic lifts. In Olympic weightlifting, the Snatch and Clean & Jerk force the lifter to end with a substantial amount of weight perfectly balanced overhead for several seconds until judges signal them to lower it to the ground. Meanwhile, in Crossfit, the athletes perform the above exercises, along with movements such as overhead squats, thrusters, and/or overhead walking lunges with much higher volume in what is referred to as cycling the bar. As a side note, with the Crossfit Open starting at the end of February you can be guaranteed to see one of these movements performed.
Because these movements require the athlete to master and control multiple moving body parts, it is not uncommon for newer athletes to report feeling shoulder or back pain and much weaker in these workouts. But rest assured, anyone and everyone can safely master these lifts. As a performance physical therapist here are some common weak points we find in the bodies of our lifters who struggle with overhead movements as well as a bonus cue I give my lifters to get better stability out of their shoulders.
First, they lack access to the full range of motion of their shoulder joint. If their joints are stiff, they will force their body into awkward positions to “catch the weight,” putting abnormal forces on their back, hips, and knees and the rear portion of their shoulders.
Secondly, they need to have a mobile mid-back. Also referred to as your thoracic spine. A stiff mid back will force the either the shoulders to over-exert to catch the weight safely overhead or they will overextend their low back and eventually reports back pain.
Lastly, athletes need to have mobile ankles, specifically in what is called dorsiflexion. This is the act of bringing your knees forward past your toes. Often time’s athletes with stiff ankles will report hip and lower back pain anytime they attempt to lift heavier weights.
When athletes first start to lift overhead it is common to hear that they are having difficulty balancing the weight overhead. As soon as they start to lower their hips to the floor they find that the bar wants to pitch forward. To help keep my athletes engaged and to know what proper form feels like I tell them to “break the bar” at the top. This means when the bar is overhead, I want them to push up to the ceiling and try to bend the bar in half. Picture how you would bend a pool noodle to float on. This simple target gets the athletes to turn on all of the rotator cuff, shoulder, and upper back muscles. The more muscles activated, the more secure the shoulder joint becomes. This keeps bones from rubbing on each other, potentially causing other “tendonitis” or “impingement-type injuries.
I understand this is a 10,000 foot view of some pretty complex movements. If you would like help addressing your weak points please reach out to consult with us at Tundra Performance and Physical Therapy where we are experienced at creating customized and individualized rehabilitation programs fit to you and your goals.
Find more information about Dr. Josh Beagle and his practice: https://elitemovementpt.com/
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