An Ultimate Guide to Overhead Squat Flexibility
If you have tried the Overhead Squat for the first time, you have probably realized, that the Overhead Squat isn’t as easy to execute as it looks and you might not have sufficient Overhead Squat flexibility.
This article takes a closer look at
- Overhead Squat flexibility
- The Overhead Squat flexibility test
- Common Overhead Squat flexibility issues
- Overhead Squat flexibility exercises
Overhead Squat Flexibility
The Overhead Squat is just such a nice movement if you are able to perform it correctly. Just look at this example from Track Cyclist Steffie van der Peet, Overhead Squatting a 100 kg
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It’s like poetry in motion.
However, in order to be able to execute this movement effectively and efficiently, you need to have appropriate levels of flexibility and mobility in literally every part of your body.
How to Improve Overhead Squat Flexibility
If you are committed to learn and master the Overhead Squat you asked yourself ‘How to improve Overhead Squat flexibility?’
The hard truth is, the Overhead Squat is one of the most challenging strength exercises when it comes to stability, mobility, and flexibility. Especially, if you get into the full squat position (check out the different squat positions and what a full squat is), you will feel the difficulties.
Just check out this post Flexibility for the Overhead Squat from Catalystathletics, that describes the challenges of the Overhead Squat most people experience.
How do I improve my Overhead Squat flexibility?
The simple answer is by doing Overhead Squats.
Are you not convinced?
Let’s ask someone who is much smarter and has already figured out how to get better at the Overhead Squat and how to improve Overhead Squat flexibility more than 2000 years ago.
Aristotle famously said ‘We are what we repeatedly do. Greatness then is not an act, but a habit.’
Aristotle famously said ‘We are what we repeatedly do. Greatness then is not an act, but a habit.’
To be honest, I don’t think Aristotle was referring to Overhead Squat flexibility exclusively, however, the takeaway lesson from this is, if you want to get better at the Overhead Squat, you need to practice the Overhead Squat.
I have seen that over and over again, the athletes that have taken the time to practice the Overhead Squat and persisted in practicing the Overhead Squat, everyone has learned to master the movement.
How can I improve Overhead Squat Flexibility?
Ok, now you started practicing the Overhead Squat and realized you have difficulties performing the Overhead Squat due to flexibility issues.
A common approach to this problem and related problems is to stop doing Overhead Squats, work on the Overhead Squat flexibility issues with the right Overhead Squat flexibility exercises and once your Overhead Squat flexibility has improved you restart doing the Overhead Squat in your training.
A word of caution from my side, if you chose to follow that approach you might not get where you want to get ever.
A much better approach is to continue practicing the Overhead Squat and add the appropriate Overhead Squat flexibility exercises.
What are the right Overhead Squat flexibility exercises?
I will get to that at a later point, the first step is to identify the weak spots that require some attention.
How do you identify the weak spots?
Pretty simple, do an Overhead Squat flexibility test
Overhead Squat Flexibility
The aim of the Overhead Squat flexibility test is to assess the movement competency to perform an Overhead Squat.
What is an Overhead Squat Flexibility Test
The Overhead Squat Flexibility Test assesses whether every segment that is involved in the Overhead Squat has sufficient flexibility and mobility to perform an Overhead Squat.
The Overhead Squat Flexibility Test is quite unique as it doesn’t really allow for any compensations and is a true ‘Head-To-Toe’ test, which literally tests everything from head to toe and also shows whether all links in the chain work in conjunction to successfully execute the OHS.
What does the Overhead Squat Flexibility Test assess?
The Overhead Squat Flexibility test assesses everything between the bar overhead and the toe.
From the bottom-up, the OHS test looks at the ankle, knee, hip, lower back, thoracic spine, shoulder and elbow, and wrist.
How to execute the Overhead Squat Flexibility Test
There are different variations of the Overhead Squat Flexibility test on the market, such as the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), that uses a grading system on a 1 – 3 point scale, the Movement Dynamics, that grades the OHS on a 1-5 points scale and probably a few more.
I don’t think it’s that important which Overhead Squat test you chose, it’s more important, how you execute it, where you look at, how you interpret the results and most importantly how you use the information in your training practice. Check out a very simple and good version of the Overhead Deep Squat Assessment from ExRx.net, which outlines it doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective.
Let’s have a look how the Overhead Squat test looks in practice.
The Overhead Squat Flexibility test in practice
If you want to skip the intro and explanation, go right to minute 02:18
As you could see, I try to keep things simple, without overcomplicating, by looking at the entire movement from the side view, as well as from the front view.
The different angles give you different perspectives.
As an example from the front view, it would be difficult to see, whether the lower back rounds in the bottom position, whilst from the side view, you wouldn’t be able to see, if the knees drop in, especially if it’s the knee further away from you.
Secondly, check the different segments that I outlined – ankle, knee, hip, lower back, thoracic spine, shoulder, elbows and wrist and then observe whether you see flaws or deficiencies in the Overhead Squat movement.
Grading the Overhead Squat Flexibility test
There are different ways to grade the Overhead Squat flexibility test, we use a set of criteria.
Criteria 1: Overhead Squat depth achieved?
Does the athlete achieve full squat depth, where the crease of the hip is lower than the midpoint of the knees and the upper thighs are less than parallel with the ground, from the side view.
Criteria 2: Back alignment
Is the back properly aligned?
What is proper alignment?
Well, it’s the natural and anatomical ‘curvature’ of the spine, lordotic lumbar spine, kyphotic thoracic spine and lordotic cervical spine from the side view.
Please note that I mentioned natural and anatomical ‘curvature’ of the spine, which means the spine needs to be maintained in this position, no excessive lordosis or kyphosis.
Criteria 3: stick/bar centered
Is the bar or stick right above the head from the side view?
Ideally, the bar should be centered over the middle of the foot throughout the entire movement.
Criteria 4: Knees aligned
Are the knees aligned over feet from front view? No varus, nor valgus?
If any of the criteria are not met, we address the flexibility issue with the appropriate Overhead Squat Flexibility and mobility exercises.
Please check out the post The Overhead Squat Assessment from the Fitness Trainer Academy, which goes much more into detail with their grading system.
One question always comes up.
Is the Overhead Squat test a strength & conditioning assessment or a physiotherapy screening?
The simple answer is ‘both’.
As a strength & conditioning coach, I use the Overhead Squat flexibility test to assess movement quality and movement competency, and in most cases, the test reveals simple movement deficiencies, that can be cleaned up through attention to detail and appropriate practice.
As a physiotherapy screening, the Overhead Squat flexibility test also looks at movement quality, but if any movement deficiencies are diagnosed the physiotherapist dives much deeper into the root cause as the strength & conditioning coach could.
Overhead Squat Flexibility issues
By now, you probably realized that the Overhead Squat is a real head to toe exercise or even better wrist to toe exercise, everything between the bar and the ground has to work.
With this in mind the Overhead Squat Flexibility issues are manifold, let’s go through them step-by-step.
What are common Overhead Squat Flexibility Issues?
If you look at the Overhead Squat from the top down, the OHS requires an optimal function of wrist, elbows, shoulders, thoracic spine, lower back, hip, knees and ankles.
Let’s have a look at each of the body parts and the most common issues you see in each of the segment involved in the movement.
How to spot and analyze Overhead Squat Flexibility Issues?
Wrist: Wrist flexibility is important. A lack of wrist flexibility leads to strange positions, but even more so to the athlete experiencing discomfort in the wrist when they perform Overhead Squats until hours after the training.
Elbows: Often you can see, that the athlete is unable to extend the arms fully and keep the elbows slightly bent. If you are unable to extend the elbow you will never lift any serious load, period.
Why is that?
The arms are just not strong enough to support any load that comes close to the load the lower body could support.
Shoulder: Without sufficient shoulder flexibility, you won’t be able to support the bar over the centre of the body and you can see the bar moving forward and the athlete ultimately losing the bar forward.
Thoracic spine: The thoracic spine and the shoulder are closely connected. A very common Overhead Squat flexibility issue is, that you can see the upper back rounding, as a result of the thoracic spine not being flexible enough.
Why is that?
Because people sit in front of the computer or sit on their mobiles the whole day, which results in a forward rounded position, and consequently loss of thoracic spine flexibility and mobility.
Lower back: The lower back is closely connected to the hips, so a lot of the issues you see, can be a combination of lower back and hips. The most common issue related to lower back and hip flexibility, or better a lack of lower back and hip flexibility is the so-called ‘butt-wink ‘, when the lower back rounds in the bottom position of the squat and the hip posteriorly tilt. A posterior tilt refers to rounding forward when the hip gets an under the bar.
Hips: As I just outlined lack of hip flexibility, especially the posterior part of the hip, leads to the butt-wink. But there are more issues with a lack of hip flexibility, such as a hip shift left or right or the inability to achieve proper Overhead Squat depth.
Knees: a lack of flexibility in the muscles surrounding the knee can lead to the so-called varus and valgus, which means the knees go in or out and are not able to be appropriately aligned with the ankle and hip.
Ankles: a lack of ankle mobility and flexibility is quite common and can lead to multiple problems, from not being able to achieve full squat depth to excessive forward lean of the upper body or the butt-wink, or even a faulty movement pattern, where the heels come off the ground.
How to interpret Overhead Squat Flexibility Issues
When it comes to the interpretation of the Overhead Squat flexibility issues, it is important to understand, that cause and reaction is not always the same thing.
What do I mean with that?
I touched on this before, if you see the athlete hip tilting in the bottom of the squat, the butt wink, the cause for that can be manifold, from tight hamstrings over limited ankle range to just a flawed movement pattern with the inability to maintain proper balance and positioning.
Consequently, you need someone with a bit of experience to analyze and interpret the results.
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Overhead Squat Flexibility exercises
Now that you know how to analyze your Overhead Squat, how to spot the areas of improvements, the next step is to address the issues with appropriate flexibility drills.
The following drills are an outline of what you can do, there are many more flexibility and mobility drills out there, which you could perform.
The idea behind the drills outlined here is to give you examples how to address each flexibility issue isolated and later add, what I call, integrated Overhead Squat flexibility exercises.
Let me inject a bit of my training philosophy here before we get started.
There have been developments in the strength & conditioning world over the last 2 decades, where flexibility and mobility drills, in combination with the so-called ‘corrective exercises’ have become the main part of the strength & conditioning practice.
I do believe these drills have their place in training, however, they are meant to support the strength training practice and not meant to become the strength training practice.
A List of Overhead Squat Flexibility exercises
The following drills are an outline, what you could do, there are a hundred and one flexibility and mobility drills out there, and all of them has its place.
However, in my attempt, to keep things simple, I use isolated flexibility drills, that focus on one part in isolation and I use, what I call, ‘integrated’ flexibility drills, that work an entire movement, or a chain of movements.
The following drills are exclusively Overhead Squat flexibility exercises, but much rather general flexibility and mobility drills to improve Overhead Squat flexibility.
Let’s have a look at the different flexibility and mobility drills.
Ankle flexibility
It is literally and virtually impossible to do a good Overhead Squat without sufficient ankle flexibility, period.
As I discussed before, a lack of ankle flexibility leads to a stronger forward lean of the upper body, which also puts your shoulders in a sub-optimal position, and a limited ankle flexibility is often associated with an excessive butt-wink.
Therefore, this Overhead Squat flexibility exercise for the ankle is one of the flexibility exercises that should be a mainstay in your flexibility program, whether you want to improve flexibility and mobility in the ankle or just maintain a healthy range of flexibility and mobility.
How to do this ankle flexibility drill
Start in a tall kneeling position and place your ‘working’ foot half a foot away from the wall.
Push your knee forward to touch the wall, make sure that the whole foot maintains contact with the ground throughout the entire flexibility drill, which means the heel should not come off the ground.
Over time increase the distance from the wall.
A normal and achievable range for this drill should be a distance of 10 cm between your toe and the wall.
What are common mistakes performing this ankle flexibility exercise
The biggest mistake I see is if either the heel coming off the ground or compensatory movements with the hip or knee to gain additional reach to move your knee forward.
The intention of this flexibility drill is to improve ankle flexibility, not a competition to touch the wall at all costs.
Knee flexibility
Most often the knee joint isn’t a joint, which is prone to flexibility issues, however, sufficient flexibility in the muscle groups surrounding the knee joint is necessary for a well-balanced lower body development.
The presented Overhead Squat flexibility exercise targets the hip joint, for the reason, that in many cases flexibility issues in the hip can be seen in the knee.
What?
Well, often limited flexibility in the hip leads to the so-called
- ‘valgus’ or in simple words, the knees dropping inwards during the Overhead Squat movement or basically any squat movement or
- ‘varus’, the knees going out excessively during the Overhead Squat or any squat variation. The ‘varus’ happens less often though.
Consequently, you might be working on your hip flexibility, with the goal to achieve proper knee alignment during the Overhead Squat.
How to do this flexibility exercise for the knee and hip
Start in a tall kneeling position, and drop your front leg to the outside, so that the outside part of the front leg makes contact with the ground.
Make sure, that the whole foot maintains contact with the ground throughout entire flexibility drill.
Your upper body should be as upright as possible.
What are common mistakes in this drill?
Limited flexibility in the hip region, won’t allow you to perform this flexibility drill correctly, and you can see compensations in the upper body, where the upper body is twisted or tilted.
This is a sign, that the hip flexibility is insufficient.
Hip flexibility
If it’s not obvious by now, the hip plays a crucial role, when you are performing Overhead Squats or any squat movement.
Without sufficient hip flexibility, you will not be able to execute a good Overhead Squat.
Very often insufficient hip flexibility can result in problems controlling the lower back and can cause the butt-wink, a lateral hip shift or the inability to achieve full Overhead Squat depth.
Consequently, the hip flexibility drills should are one of the flexibility exercises you should pay close attention to in order to improve and maintain hip flexibility.
How to do this hip flexibility exercise
Step out into a wide lunge position, or you can also start immediately in the wide lunge position.
Important for the wide lunge position is, that the back leg is extended and you bring your knee to the ground.
Place both hands on the ground and inside of your front leg. Once the hands are on the ground and your back knee is on the ground, you push the hip down towards the ground and simultaneously bring the chest forward.
What are common mistakes performing this hip flexibility drill
The biggest mistake is, that the hip is not fully pushed to the ground and the athlete displays a hip hinge pattern, rather than a full hip extension.
The intention of this hip flexibility training is to improve hip flexibility, and therefore it is important to fully extend and stretch the hip.
Lower back flexibility
The lower back plays an important part during an Overhead Squat, as it connects the lower body with the upper body and is vital for a good Overhead Squat form.
Too often you can see the butt-wink in the bottom position of the OHS.
However, I discussed before, that cause and reaction are not always the same.
What does that mean?
Very simple, you see the lower back rounding, which is the reaction, but the cause might be in limited ankle flexibility.
This flexibility exercise for the lower is more of a spinal control drill and used to
- assess, whether the athlete is able to achieve a full Overhead Squat depth or squat depth in general
- teach and train the athlete to maintain proper lower back alignment throughout the movement of hip flexion and hip extension
How to do this flexibility exercise for the lower back
Start in a quadruped position, with your arms are vertical to the ground, the hands are placed right under your shoulders, the knees are aligned under your hips and your back is straight.
From this position, you move your hip backwards towards your heels, while maintaining the correct alignment in your lower back.
What are common mistakes in this flexibility exercise for the lower back
This drill is quite straightforward and fairly simple to execute. However, the biggest mistake I see is that athletes are just going through the motions without any intent.
The goal is to learn to control the lower back and this should be the focus and deliberate intention during the execution of this drill.
Thoracic spine flexibility
One of the most common issues for people to be unable to perform a good Overhead Squat is a lack of thoracic spine flexibility and mobility.
Without sufficient thoracic spine flexibility, the upper back is not able to extend and maintain extended during the OHS. As a result, the barbell position will end up too far in front and you ultimately lose the bar forward or you will only be able to Overhead Squat a weigh that you can hold with the strength of your shoulders and arms.
Therefore, the thoracic spine flexibility exercises are one of the first flexibility exercises you should, alongside ankle flexibility and hip flexibility exercises, to improve your OHS or maintain a good OHS.
How to do the flexibility exercise for the thoracic spine
Start in a quadruped position, as I have outlined in the lower back flexibility drill, then place one hand behind your head and bring the elbow of this hand you just placed behind your head to the opposite knee and then rotate out until that elbow is pointing right towards the ceiling.
To prevent any rotation from the hip or shift of the hip, you can rock back with your hip until your buttocks touch your heels. This will lock your hip and focus all flexibility work on the thoracic spine.
What are common mistakes performing the thoracic spine flexibility exercise
As I just outlined in the last tip, the most common mistake is a hip shift or a hip rotation.
The idea of this drill is that all movement comes from the thoracic spine, so any movement in the hip is not wanted.
Shoulder flexibility
Shoulder flexibility and mobility are of utmost importance for the performance of an Overhead Squat. Sufficient shoulder flexibility allows you to keep the bar in the correct and appropriate place over your head, where it needs to be when you are executing the squatting movement.
Insufficient shoulder flexibility will make your Overhead Squat a torture.
Shoulder flexibility drills are important to achieve and maintain the necessary level of shoulder flexibility required.
How to do the shoulder flexibility exercise
Lie on the ground, with your back flat against the ground your feet placed against the wall. You want to be in a similar position as in the Overhead Squat bottom position.
Extend your arms to the front and bring them over your head. When doing this, your entire back needs to stay in contact with the ground throughout the movement.
What are common mistakes in this shoulder flexibility exercise
The most common mistake is, that the lower back comes off the ground, which is a compensatory movement for insufficient shoulder flexibility and mobility.
The movement looks simple, but it’s this small detail that can make the difference between an effective drill or just wasting your time by going through a motion.
Wrist flexibility
Wrist flexibility and mobility are very important to execute the Overhead Squat. And often athletes experience discomfort in the wrist when they start doing their Overhead Squats. This discomfort can actually last for weeks until the body adapts.
Insufficient wrist flexibility will not allow you to keep the bar in the correct position over your head and support any notable weight.
From my experience, wrist flexibility is very difficult to improve and needs a lot of time and energy put into until you can see improvements.
How to do the wrist flexibility exercise
Start in a quadruped position on the ground, as I have outlined before. Then turn the hands around, so that your fingers are pointing towards your knees.
Keep your arms extended and rock backwards until you feel a stretch in your forearms. In the beginning, the feeling of the stretch can feel quite intense.
Make sure your palm stays in contact with the ground. If your palm loses contact with the ground, you have gone too far and won’t work on the flexibility of your wrist anymore.
What are common mistakes in this wrist flexibility exercise
Wrist flexibility exercises need to be executed carefully because the wrist is one of the most moveable joints, but also one of the most vulnerable joints.
The most common mistake with this flexibility drill is, that the palms come off the ground. Therefore, you need to make sure the palms stay in contact with the ground throughout the entire drill.
Integrated Overhead Squat Flexibility Exercises
The Overhead Squat is a true head-to-toe movement and requires all body parts to work together in harmony.
The aim of the integrated Overhead Flexibility drills is to work on your Overhead Squat Flexibility and Overhead Squat Mobility to perform the Overhead Squat correctly by integrating multiple body parts.
Are isolated Overhead Squat Flexibility drills useless?
By no means, the strength of the isolated flexibility drills is, that you can target specific weak links in the entire chain of movement. Usually, these weak links prevent from progressing and need special attention. This special attention can be achieved through the isolated flexibility drills.
How to use the Integrated Overhead Squat Flexibility exercise
There are two options how to use these integrated Overhead Squat flexibility drills.
- you address the individual areas of improvement with isolated flexibility drills and later move on to the integrated Overhead Squat Flexibility Exercises
or - you use the integrated flexibility drills and isolated flexibility drills parallel, hence at the same time
Integrated Overhead Squat Flexibility Exercise Level 1
How to do the Integrated Overhead Squat Flexibility exercise
Start half a foot away from the wall and have your arms extended over your head.
The hands are only in slight contact with the wall, you are not leaning against the wall.
Descend into the full squat position, whilst maintaining contact between your hands and the wall.
Make sure you are only touching the wall, and to have as little contact between hands and wall as possible.
Once you have reached the bottom position, hold the deep Overhead Squat position for 2 or 3 counts and reverse the movement.
What are common mistakes this integrated Overhead Squat Flexibility drill?
The biggest mistake is leaning against the wall or to have too much contact with your hands on the wall.
Over time, the idea is to get less and less contact to ultimately have the hands off the wall whilst Overhead Squatting.
Another common flexibility issue is, that you see the butt wink in this movement, once the athlete breaks the parallel position.
Integrated Overhead Squat Flexibility Exercise Level 2
After you have mastered or partially mastered the level 1, you can start to integrate this Overhead Squat flexibility drill to your flexibility routine.
How to do the Integrated Overhead Squat Flexibility exercise
Start in the same position as in the level1, about half a foot away from the wall and have your arms extended over your head.
This time the hands are not in contact with the wall.
Descend into the full squat position, whilst keeping your hands away from the wall. Most athletes feel it strongly in their upper back (remember the thoracic spine).
Hold the bottom position of this OHS for 2 or 3 counts before you reverse the movement.
What are common mistakes performing this progression of the integrated Overhead Squat Flexibility drill?
Definitely, the biggest challenge is to keep the hands away from the wall.
Often you see, that the athletes are starting to move the arms out, instead of keeping them straight overhead. Therefore, you need to make sure the arms are extended overhead and remain extended overhead.
Integrated Overhead Squat Flexibility Exercise Level 3
Now, that you have mastered the Overhead Flexibility level 1 and have mastered or partially mastered level 2, you can start to integrate this variation of the Overhead Squat flexibility drill.
How to do this progression of the Integrated Overhead Squat Flexibility exercise?
Sit in a full and deep squat position on the ground. The full foot is in contact with the ground, the chest is up and the back is straight, or at least as straight as possible.
Extend one arm overhead, followed by extending the other arm over your head.
As soon as both arms are extended overhead and you are literally in the OHS position, stand up until you are fully upright and repeat the movement.
What are common mistakes performing this progression of the integrated Overhead Squat Flexibility drill?
For some athletes, it is already challenging to sit in a full squat position. However, for this drill, it’s a pre-requisite.
The biggest challenge for most athletes is to extend the arms overhead while being able to maintain an upright body posture without the upper body collapsing.
Overhead Squat Flexibility exercises ‘How much and how often?’
No discussion is complete without talking about ‘How often should I do the flexibility drills?’ or ‘How many reps and sets should I do of each flexibility exercise?’
Let’s take it away, there is no one size fits all answer, I can much rather offer my approach, how I would do it, and the answer most often depends on your goal or training goal.
How often should I do the Overhead Squat Flexibility exercises
Generally speaking, I advise to have the Overhead Squat flexibility exercises as a part of your regular flexibility routine and perform it at least 3 times a week.
If you can do it every day, or 5 days a week even better.
Why is that?
I look at the flexibility drills as a kind of ‘body hygiene’, similarly to brushing your teeth, you don’t always like it, but should get it done to maintain healthy teeth.
The same is true for the flexibility and mobility drills, you might not like it or enjoy it, but you need it for healthy flexibility and mobility levels.
And the good news is, the more often and regular you do it, the less maintenance work you have to put in.
What does maintenance work mean?
You can, for example, decrease the number of repetitions per flexibility drill, as less ‘work’ is required to maintain the flexibility levels you have achieved.
How many repetitions and/or sets should I do the Overhead Squat Flexibility exercises
The reps and set for each flexibility drill depend on your training goal.
If you want to improve, or need to improve your flexibility levels, you need to do more sets, around 3 – 4 of 8 – 10 reps.
If you want to maintain your flexibility levels, 1 set of 8 – 10 reps can be sufficient, and the better you get, you might be able to reduce it to 1 set of 4 – 6 reps.
An important consideration is a range of motion (ROM) and effort you put into the flexibility exercise.
What do I mean?
If you imagine you do 10 repetitions of the ankle flexibility exercise, that is completely different of one of the integrated Overhead Squat flexibility exercises, or even different than the flexibility drill for the hip or knee.
Consequently, flexibility exercises with less effort and range of motion can be done for higher reps (8 – 10, maybe even working up to 15), and flexibility exercises that have a higher ROM and require more effort, can be done for fewer reps (6 – 8 reps, and maybe going down to 4 – 5 reps).
Where should I place the Overhead Squat flexibility drills?
Where in your training program and training workout should you place the flexibility drills?
That is a good question, and also here you have different options.
You can place it at the start of your workout to mobilize yourself for the upcoming session, this is what we do, most of the time. If you chose to do this, I would recommend keeping the flexibility training volume low (reps and sets).
You can do it as a filler flexibility drill if you want to put some extra attention on a specific body part.
How does that work?
Imagine, your ankles need some extra attention, you can do one set of 8 – 10 reps between your sets of Bench Press. If you have 3 sets of Bench Press, and you do the ankle flexibility drills in between your set, you have covered 3 sets of 8 – 10 reps of ankle flexibility without negatively influencing you Bench Press (because it’s a completely different region of your body).
There are also options to do it in between your sets of Overhead Squats because this is where you ultimately need the added ankle flexibility. Also here, the options are almost limitless.
Or you can even place it at the end of your training, increase the time you hold each end position, as a form of passive-dynamic flexibility or passive-static flexibility.
Overhead Squat Flexibility Conclusion
The Overhead Squat is a true head to toe exercise, where every segment of your body has to work in conjunction to allow a successful execution of the Overhead Squat.
Often times the ability to perform an Overhead Squat is limited by flexibility issues, where some body parts display a lack of sufficient flexibility.
You can detect these body parts through the Overhead Squat flexibility test and prescribe appropriate Overhead Squat flexibility exercises to fix these flexibility issues.