Overhead athletes (baseball, volleyball, tennis, football QB, etc.) should be careful when performing back squats. I am making this statement based on the upper body (shoulder) and not paying much consideration to the lower body right now. As for the back squat – This exercise requires the athlete to place the bar behind their head on their upper back/neck. Gripping the bar can place a large amount of strain on the shoulder. To grip the bar you need to abduct and externally rotate your humeral head (upper arm bone). This position can irritate an athlete’s shoulder and create further instability for athletes who already have an over-worked shoulder from throwing, hitting, and serving. Many overhead athletes already have imbalances, compensations, and deficiencies in their throwing shoulder. As a precautionary measure, it makes more sense for the coach to have their overhead athletes perform front squats. Another great alternative would be deadlift variations, as I discussed in a previous post.
Back squats are great for building size, strength, and power in the lower body but let’s be careful with our overhead athletes. There are always variations and alternatives – There is no perfect exercise.
Train Hard-Train Smart
www.asap-pt.com