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Kettlebell Prying Goblet Squat variations

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schurgerdc

schurgerdc

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Since I first heard about prying goblet squats when Tim Ferriss interviewed Pavel on his podcast, I've been super excited to do them. That's been about 3 years now, and they're a regular part of my daily routine, even if I'm not doing S&S. Squats have always been difficult, and the PGS's have seriously helped my ability to squat with a wide stance. But a video I saw of Steve Cotter doing 4 variations of squats with overhead broom handle has kept me cognizant of an inflexibility in my spine for close stance squats.

Thinking back to the stretches & exercises I received from my FMS eval, there was a variation of a hamstring stretch that had you put your feet (heels, then toes) on a 2x4 to improve the ability and angles of stretch. I'm starting to play with this for my PGS's, and wondered if anyone else has done this and to what end they've noticed. I know my bigger issue in this position is when my toes are up on a board (I'm using a 1x4 for this purpose, and having trouble with that, even with the 16kg bell extended in front of me), and I'm especially noting that my heels pull midline, even if I started with my feet pushing straight ahead. And the stance feels wider than a flat footed PGS. I'm hoping it opens up some new ROM that's been restricted!

Love to hear everyone's thoughts and experiences with doing the same.
 
Your experience is very similar to my own in regards to how PGS's have opened up my hips. I also really like how simply having the weight up front allows me to not need as much ankle mobility, but also allows me to work on ankle mobility fairly easily. What you are experiencing with your toes elevated (heels pulling midline) suggests to me that you are reaching the end of your ankle mobility, which is forcing your heels to slide in, and (hopefully not) causing your arches to collapse. This is a great exercise to work on your ankle mobility though, so keep it up, try to fight letting your heels come in and definitely dont let your arches collapse or knees collapse inward.
In regards to the overhead squats, they require quite a bit of both shoulder and t-spine mobility, and are also a fantastic exercise to improve these. Use a mirror, and work really hard to maintain a neutral spine, while keeping the bar in-line over your shoulders and hips. This can be humbling to say the least.
Good luck!
 
Have you tried curling in the bottom? You pry out your squat position while getting stronger in a good pull. I often do a session of Goblet Squat/Goblet curls when I am short on time for a training session.
 
Gary Music said:
Have you tried curling in the bottom? You pry out your squat position while getting stronger in a good pull. I often do a session of Goblet Squat/Goblet curls when I am short on time for a training session.
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I do Gary! Somewhere I seem to recall hearing Pavel say that it's probably the only position we should be in to do curls that matter!

BTW, I've been doing the band stretches that @Steve W. noted, and they are both killer & great. I'm finding that my low back pain/discomfort goes away on days that I strap into the band, and yet lingers a bit on days when I don't.
 
Lately, I use a different variation for goblet squatting. Not going in to detail for individual searching for ideal foot width that enables to squat deepest without (lumbar) back movement a rule of thumb is a good shoulder width apart.

What I do currently, is getting my feet almost together. I can not squat "between" my legs in this way, but must squat behind my legs. I can go all the way down "resting" there, staying tight, making awareness to even weight distribution on both feet. I feel my whole backside is more stretched than in the common way. The ability to do that is due to high amount of ankle, knee and hip mob/flex. I have to keep the bell much higher than the standard version and have more upper body tension. Also my abs seem to work harder.
The alignment of the joints and body resembles the pistol squat with two legs, and I would assume, that the pistol would benefit greatly, meaning eliminate back rounding in the bottom. I will practice further and will see. This version is "harder" in many respects, and maybe not a "prying goblet squat variation", as prying is not possible.
 
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Hello,

@Harald Motz
Your variation seems interesting. However, I have a few question:
> are not you tempted to use the rebound of the hamstrings on the calves to initialize the up phase ?
> do not your knees disturb you when you get down, with the bell in front of you ?

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
pet' said:
> are not you tempted to use the rebound of the hamstrings on the calves to initialize the up phase ?
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I go all the way down, staying there seeking/feeling even weight distribution on the whole feet. Coming up again. I have no bounce and eliminated stretch reflex.

pet' said:
> do not your knees disturb you when you get down, with the bell in front of you ?
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as I said, I can not go down between my legs with this variation, and yes the knees are in front of me in the bottom, therefore I have to hold the bell much higher, which requires/encourages extra tension I even feel the biceps contracting strongly, and the whole upper body and abs stronger, than in the classic goblet squat.
 
@schurgerdc, just to make use I understand you; You're saying you're having difficulty with holding a dowel over head while sitting down into a squat? and that you are trying to squat while having your toes elevated?

if you are in fact having difficulties with the over head squat and you're feeling "inflexibility" is it through your mid back more than your lower back? if so, try getting comfortable in child's pose as well as Jon Engum's "tactical frog" stretch from Flexible Steel.

Also, if you have been elevating your toes while squatting, try elevating your heels instead. The hamstring stretch you're thinking of works really well for attaining and maintaining your toe touch, however the same principle doesn't really apply for the squat. We elevate heels during the squat to help compensate for limited ankle mobility (poor dorsiflexion).

Try:
Prying Goblets (really lean into your ankles side to side)
Face the wall squats (working towards being able to do it with your arms over head)
childs pose/Tactical frog
Bretzel
 
Hi @schurgerdc, I have squatted with my toes elevated, but I did it as a soleus stretch, not as a squat exercise. I held with my hands forward in order to force the ankle dorsiflexion and feel the stretch in the soleus. Since the knee is fully flexed you really hit the soleus instead of the other calf muscles, that attach above the knee. I felt a deep stretch through the soleus, heels and feet.

@Harald Motz , are you able to hold the bottom position of the feet together squat without a kettlebell? I haven't tried that variation with a kettlebell in the goblet position, but I found it almost impossible when I tried it bodyweight only. Since I can't put my torso between my legs my center of mass is way back so I fall on my butt. I guess that drill requires an great deal of ankle dorsiflexion.

@King Cobra Fit , I have done the face the wall squat, but never tried elevating my arms. Sounds like a nice variation to improve overhead squat mobility, I'm going to try it when I go back to barbell ohs. Thanks for the tip!
 
Hello,

Squatting on a slope permits to focus a little on calves

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Oscar said:
are you able to hold the bottom position of the feet together squat without a kettlebell? I haven't tried that variation with a kettlebell in the goblet position, but I found it almost impossible when I tried it bodyweight only. Since I can't put my torso between my legs my center of mass is way back so I fall on my butt. I guess that drill requires an great deal of ankle dorsiflexion.
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Dorsiflexion and spinal flexion as well.

-S-
 
Oscar said:
@Harald Motz , are you able to hold the bottom position of the feet together squat without a kettlebell? I haven't tried that variation with a kettlebell in the goblet position, but I found it almost impossible when I tried it bodyweight only. Since I can't put my torso between my legs my center of mass is way back so I fall on my butt. I guess that drill requires an great deal of ankle dorsiflexion.
Click to expand...
Steve Freides said:
Dorsiflexion and spinal flexion as well.
Click to expand...
+1
 
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