First time I tried them, I ended up dumping the bar, since it was either that or faceplant. I started around 75lbs, which was really just retarded. It's been a while, but I haven't tried them with anything over 45lbs since.

Shoulder dislocates or whatever they're called have definitely helped my shoulder flexibility (plus they just feel really good,) but I still don't trust myself to not fall over.

its more of a balance thing at the beginning, if you can't do them ass to grass with a broomstick you shouldn't even be thinking about weight on the bar or even using a bar. the weight will skyrocket after you learn to do them and the difference between 45 pounds and 95 pounds will be totally forgotten in two months

I did them with the bar on Sunday. It was an odd lift but i think i'd be more comfortable doing these than i am with front squats. Since my snatch isn't amazing and i don't lift super heavy with my shoulders, i can't see myself going more than 95lbs when i do this, which is significantly less than my regular squat of 225lbs.

I think it's a good idea to get comfortable with wide grip and having the bar behind your head. It still scares me a little bit to do both and I do these like every leg day wtf!

I think that dude's wrong about the broomstick thing, just start with the bare bar or up to 95. A broom won't hold your body (shoulders, wrists, traps etc.) in place like an oly bar will which is the main method to the madness. So the balance you use with a broomstick isn't really the same balance you use for the real lift; so I'd say just start with the real thing.

I don't know anyone who started dead lifting with a broom (let alone less than 135) which is a much much more dangerous lift, and you can't really feel what you're doing right or wrong with anything other than a bar. Namean?

i started deadlifting with 95 and squatting with 45 pounds. i've hit double bodyweight in both. i started overhead pressing with dumbells because the bar was too much, i progressed to putting more than my bodyweight overhead. i started clean and jerking with 20 kilos, i was over bodyweight in two months. i wouldn't teach anyone to deadlift a broom if they couldn't show me a neutral spine, and i wouldn't tell anyone to put any weight over their head if they couldn't hold their arms properly. theres a certain amount of weight that needs to be added to the bar at a certain time, but some of the most basic parts of most exercises can effectively be taught with a broomstick or unweighted bar

Originally posted by:pahulkster

If you want to work your legs and core well while being humbled I would suggest trying these out. If you aren't pretty flexible it is going to be interesting. I'm just starting to get flexible enough to do these, but my hips are kind of tight. Anybody else do them?

If you're unfamiliar you put a bar over your head with a very wide grip, squat all the way down with the bar overhead, come back up. Falling over is likely to be in there somewhere if you aren't used to them.

Love this exercise. I do them with a wide (snatch) grip or if I am really sadistic, with my regular pressing/jerk grip. The latter really forces me to get that bar pinned behind my ears, directly over my hips.

Here's a good thing to kill yourself to: Do a snatch, any kind- power or muscle- then overhead squat... then when you're standing, drop the bar to your shoulders, then do a snatch balance- which isdriving yourself explosively under the bar into the full squat snatch position.

You'll freak out the fuckwads at Planet Fitness with this shit.

The Planet Fitness closest to me literally doesn't have any barbells. The only have dumbells to 50 and machines. There are about twenty smith machines on the one wall, and just a few 45s on each of them.


I actually haven't done these in a while, but did a few reps of them with a 100lb punching bag tonight. That was pretty hard because I had to snatch it while doing sort of a static fly on the ends of the bag to hold it.

You can do good variations with kettlebells or dumbbells too, one-armed or with two. It's more challenging on the core if there's no barbell to stabilize the weight overhead.