Whilst browsing around I came across this guy's vidoes and was suprised by the amount of weight he using in the OHS.

As I understand it you guys don't recomend using the OHS to add lots of weight, but generally as a technique exercise to help with the front & back Squat. Am I right in this understanding and if so what are the pro's and con's of prioritising the OHS over the other variations?

I've been subscribed to his videos for a long time now…That dude is a BEAST. Truly.

As I understand it you guys don't recomend using the OHS to add lots of weight, but generally as a technique exercise to help with the front & back Squat. Am I right in this understanding and if so what are the pro's and con's of prioritising the OHS over the other variations?

Well, OHSQ is just difficult to progress on. Most people hit a ceiling and then they stay at it for a long long time. BigMuscleMilk is also an example of this, actually: his OHSQ is huge but it's been around the same mark for a very long time now. It was in the 185 kgs and now it's 190 kgs. And it's been around this for more than a few years, as far as I remember.

You CAN do OHSQ and focus on it, it will just require you to be patient and it will take time (if it is even possible) for you to hit 190 kgs on it. But yes, with some dedication you CAN hit your ceiling fairly quickly.

Yeah, that guys gotta crazy OHSQ

Also, just to add to what Ash said if your planning to focus on OHSQ for like a max single, then remember that it can bit more dangerous than other lifts, cause if the weight starts going backwards beyond a limit it can be realy bad for the shoulders.

Yeah but as Ash said just take it slowly & u'll be fine.

^^^Yeah, I usually would shy away from max singles on the OHS in general any way. I applaud people when they pull off a big 1RM but unless you are really interested in focusing on it as a primary lift, which few people are, I wouldn't do maxes on it except for the occasional relative max. That may be semantic, though, as the OHS requires such good execution every max is a relative max! I.E there is less room for error than, for instance, on a back squat.

Thanks for the responses guys.

I am not looking to focus on it for now, I just wondered what your thoughts were.

The safety aspect can be put to rest if you squat in a cage or a power rack with safety bars. But still, OHSQ for maxes is difficult - and not the fun kind either lol.

To be clear, I believe that one CAN focus on the Overhead Squat to get strong maximally to hit that ceiling every once in a while. I don't think sustainable progression can happen though.

I just wondered what your thoughts were.

Well, I think its a individual thing. For me I would use it mostly for improvements in mobility & maybe do fairly light Relative maxes(meaning a weight I can maintain fairly good control of overhead).

The safety aspect can be put to rest if you squat in a cage or a power rack with safety bars.

Ah! I forgot about that. Yeah that would definitely be super helpful if one would want to focus on the OHSQ.