3 Positions Most Lifters Struggle With

Lifting positions can be quite awkward relative to the demands of our modern, heavily sedentary and low-movement variability lifestyles. Limited mobility can cause you to use sub-optimal, compensated movement patterns and increase your chances of injury during lifts and movements, as well as lower your efficiency and leverage, hindering progress and gainz 💪🏼.

In my 13 years as a meathead/fitness enthusiast and 5 as a provider, I’ve noticed that there are 3 primary positions that people have trouble with, due to their limited mobility. These positions are encountered in a majority of group fitness environments and barbell workouts. The front rack (holding the bar in front of your body balanced on your collarbones), the deep squat (breaking parallel with your hip crease below the level of your knee) and overhead pressing position (arms fully extended in front of your body with your arms next to your ears) are critical for efficient lifting and movement. The other thing they have in common is that they are all multi-joint, compound movements with mobility and coordination demands from many joints and muscle groups.
Most compound and olympic lifting movements also require a combination of these patterns including a front squat (front rack + deep squat), overhead squat 🏋🏾‍♂️(overhead + squat, duh), clean and jerk (squat + front rack + overhead) and push press (front rack + overhead). Below are the demands of each position and my favorite mobilization for each – IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE WITH ANY OF THESE POSITIONS AND YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE, I'VE RECENTLY RELEASED 3 DIGITAL MOBILITY COURSES SPECIFIC TO THESE POSITIONS, LINKED HERE.

Here’s my take on these 3 crucial positions, their mobility demands and the 3 exercises I love most for mobilizing them! ⬇️

Front Rack

The front rack is an essential position not only for balanced front squats and catching cleans comfortably, but can also drastically change the starting position of your overhead barbell press movement, creating a balance point that is closer to the body and further up on the chest (closer to your center of mass, therefore less overall force needed to move the barbell) from where to press, creating better leverage.

The front rack requires good length and mobility through the shoulder joint, lats, wrists, and thoracic spine (mid-back). My personal favorite way to prime and open up the front rack is by noodling around in a banded contract-relax in the front rack position!

Deep Squat

The deep squat is a movement that we all had access to at some point in time. As a young toddler and child we would plop down and rest in this position to use the bathroom, tinker with a toy on the ground, or pet the family dog. As we aged, our ability to access or rest in this position changed dramatically, as a few different factors played out in our lives -- being seated at a school desk for 6-8 hours a day, our body proportions began to change and shift (think of how large a toddlers head is compared to the rest of their body), and culturally it wasn’t necessary (many people in India and Asia rest in the squat position and need continued access to their deep squatt to use toilets (essentially a porcelain hole in the floor as opposed to our lifted thrones).

A deep squat requires tremendous mobility and control at the low back, hips, knees, and ankles and good balance and stability through the foot. Sitting in chairs for hours at a time is, in my opinion, one of the reasons we lose mobility in these joints, due to the low variability of positions in an ergonomic chair.

My favorite mobilization for opening up the hips to sink into a good squat is the “hip windshield wiper”, in order to drive a lot of rotation through the hips. Don't worry if your knee can drop all the way to the ground, get it as close as you can and with time, it will get there! 

Overhead

The overhead position can be limited for a variety of reasons but most often is a result of limited shoulder flexion (ability to take the shoulder overhead in front of your body) mixed with limited mid-back spinal extension (straightening up).

When the thoracic spine is unable to straighten properly it doesn’t matter how much your shoulders move, they will be either limited in their mobility, or, if they can reach fully overhead, have compromised stability with weight. Try slouching with your ribs tucked down into your stomach and raising your arms overhead, next sit up a bit straighter and do the same, the latter will feel way easier and more open than the former – but we have to be cautious not to hyperextend through the spine, predisposing ourselves to spinal injury while lifting. The key is to keep the ribcage stacked over top of the pelvis, not too hunched and not too extended. 

My favorite drill to perform to open up the shoulders into flexion is actually the exact opposite movement for the shoulder joints – extension. By performing passive joint extension in the shoulders we open up the front side of the joint, providing more room for the ball and socket to move when going overhead. It seems counterintuitive, but give it a shot and see!

There they are, the 3 positions many lifters have mobility issues with and a few of my favorite drills to improve them. If you're interested in more, check out the webpage for the “Better Mobility for Lifting and Living” courses, featuring 3 specific, targeted mobility drills and exercises to perform (10-15 minutes in total), 3 days a week, for 4 weeks – drastically improving your mobility in one month with just a little added effort!

If you have questions not addressed on the webpages FAQ section please don't hesitate to reach out and ask!