Attacking weakness

This morning my CrossFit workout consisted of seven sets of overhead squats. If you are not familiar with the overhead squat, it is a squat with the weight held over your head (yeah, pretty self explanatory). In the past couple months I have been focusing hard on the regular squat and have been making some good gains. However, I have been neglecting my overhead work. Well, that neglect showed today. As I went up in weight my shoulders where the first thing to give out. My legs and back had plenty left, but I just couldn't keep the weight over my head during the exercise.

So it's time to kick my overhead strength back into gear. One of CrossFit's points of emphasis is that if you work hard on an area of weakness, your overall performance will greatly improve. If you can't do pull-ups attack them with all your might and not only will you get better at pull-ups, but your push-up ability will probably improve as well. If there is one thing I have learned through reading fitness material and experience, it is that the body cannot be separated into different parts. Your body is a single working machine. The theory of isolation exercises is a joke. Your muscles are meant to work as a team. If you want to exert more force with your chest, flex the rest of your body. Just by tightening your back, abs, and legs your chest, shoulders, and arms will contract harder and exert more power. Try it. It works.

By attacking a weak muscle group you will make it stronger and allow it to aid other muscle groups during their efforts. So I am going to attack my overhead strength. It's time to go back to my overhead squats, handstands, and handstand push ups. I should never have let them slide in the first place. Overhead squats are the hardest type of squats, so I should have been doing them all along. Handstands are great for balance and overall body strength, and I dare you to find a pressing exercise more demanding than the handstand push up. So, if you run into me and my face is red you'll know it's because I've been spending a lot of time upside-down.