Coaching, like teaching, is the art of helping someone achieve something they previously couldn’t do. When it’s just you and the athlete on the platform, and they can’t seem to figure out how to best pull the bar off the floor without their hips rising too fast, knowing how to coach them through this moment is what separates the good and the great.
Any coach can point out incorrect technique, and many can demonstrate correct technique…but how many coaches can talk an athlete through a sticking point, using cues and instruction to help communicate the task’s end goal? Even more importantly, how do you coach them through a sticking point when what you usually do is not working?
Do you blame the athlete? Get frustrated? Blame yourself? Give up?
If the athlete isn’t getting one cue, stop and try another. You can’t fit a square peg through a round hole, says @Tate_Tobiason. Share on XEvery athlete is different and will respond to different cues. A coach can’t keep yelling “CHEST UP!” for the fourth week in a row if their athlete is not responding to it and their chest keeps collapsing as their hips shoot back. At this point, it may be time to explore different cueing options, such as “drive with your quads.” If the athlete is not getting one cue, stop and try another. You can’t fit a square peg through a round hole.
Broadening Your Coaching Capacity
So, let’s take the time to expand our cueing options and help our athletes become the best versions of themselves. The following is my attempt at expanding cueing options for common technique issues I have seen in the gym for three foundational movement patterns.
1. Squat
The squat is a staple in nearly every training program. Whether bilateral or unilateral, athletes find numerous benefits from the king of movement patterns; as coaches, we should be ready to help them do it safely and efficiently.
Cue: “Open your hips.”
When squatting, many lifters struggle with shifting their weight forward as they descend into the squat. Their knees are pushed forward, and once ankle mobility runs out, they end up on their toes, compromising safety and efficiency. Coaches commonly instruct their athletes to push their knees out in hopes of the athlete drifting forward. While this cue correctly identifies what needs to happen, I don’t believe it effectively cues the athlete to fix the issue. Early in my coaching career, I used this cue all the time, but it only resulted in athletes pushing their knees so far apart that their feet would begin to supinate as they continued shifting their knees forward.
One day, while attending a lifting seminar, I heard powerlifting legend Ed Coan coaching up a volunteer, and he talked about how lifters needed to “open their hips” so they could descend straight down into the squat. He used more colorful language for his cue, but the concept remained the same, and I took it back to my athletes, telling them to “open your hips,” as I demonstrated while descending into a squat. Suddenly, it started clicking for them. Their chests stayed more upright, their knees did not shoot excessively forward, their squat numbers went up, and most importantly, their confidence improved.
Cue: “Root your foot” or “Three points of pressure.”
In any squatting movement, whether bilateral or unilateral, a good lift starts with solid feet. Some lifters struggle to balance their weight throughout their foot, resulting in unstable weight shifts and risky working sets once the weight increases.
To remedy balance issues, I tell my athletes to ‘root your foot’ or ‘3 points of pressure,’ explaining how to distribute pressure between 3 points of contact in our feet: big toe, pinky toe, and heel. Share on XIt’s not good enough to tell the athlete in front of us to find their balance or steady themselves. They need something more. To remedy balance issues, I tell my athletes to “root your foot” or “three points of pressure,” explaining how we should distribute pressure between three points of contact in our feet: big toe, pinky toe, and heel. This is what I call “rooting the foot.” I’ve found this cue helps athletes better stabilize themselves, and whenever I say “root your foot” in a session, they immediately know what I’m talking about.
Video 1. Root the foot—To produce good force into the ground, you must have a stable foot base.
Cue: “Drive through the front of your heel.”
Building on foot pressure in any squatting movement, when ascending from the squat, many athletes shift forward onto their forefoot. This is neither safe nor optimal for performance. To remedy this, some coaches tell their athletes to drive through their heels or, when in the lift, “heels, heels, heels!” However, I find this cue to be ineffective.
In my experience, athletes shift their weight too far back, opening themselves to a new host of problems. I like instructing my athletes to drive through the front part of their heel instead. This cue helps them understand that they need to shift their weight back—but not too far back—allowing them to effectively balance and apply force effectively through their lower body.
Cue: “Squeeze your glutes and let your feet naturally rotate out.”
While this isn’t necessarily a cue, it’s a good tip to help your athletes find their optimal toe angle while squatting, compared with the common instruction of “turn your feet out 45 degrees.” You can either use this on day one with athletes or pull it out of the toolbox when you notice an athlete struggling to find their stance.
Simply have the athlete stand on the platform in their socks, in a shoulder-width stance. Starting with their toes pointing forward, instruct them to squeeze their glutes, allowing their hips/legs to rotate out naturally. The results should place the athlete in a good toe angle for squatting with their individual anatomy. This process is not foolproof, so coaching discernment will be required. Use your best judgment.
Video 2. Finding the right starting point for the feet in a squat.
2. Hip Hinge
The hip hinge is arguably the hardest movement to teach in the gym. When performing a hinge, I’ve seen athletes do everything but hinge at the hips. This movement takes a while to click for some, and as coaches, we should be ready with a wide array of cueing options.
The hip hinge is arguably the hardest movement to teach in the gym. It takes a while to click for some, and as coaches, we should be ready with a wide array of cueing options, says @Tate_Tobiason. Share on XCue: “Shave your legs with the bar.”
What do most of us coaches tell our athletes when they let the barbell drift away from their legs during the hip hinge? Keep the bar close! Okay, but what does close mean? Many athletes may believe that 2 inches away is close. If I were 2 inches away from your face, you’d think I was pretty close. Thus, many miss the point of the cue.
I have found success with the cue “shave your legs with the bar” or simply “shave your legs,” as it communicates to the athletes how close to their legs they need the bar. Obviously, they don’t need to truly drag the bar up their legs, but this helps get the point across in a fun and unorthodox way.
Cue: “Brace like you’re about to get gut-punched.”
Many athletes struggle with proper core bracing during weight training, especially in the hip hinge. Some look like a flamingo with an overly arched spine, while others could pass as the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Rather than simply tell the athlete to brace their core, which normally results in them flexing their abs and not bracing them, I go a bit further and tell them to do it as if they are about to be gut-punched.
Sometimes, to help illustrate the point, I slowly bring my fist toward the athlete’s gut. It then clicks in their head how they need to brace outwardly, bringing their rib cage slightly down to protect themselves. This cue has worked wonders for me in optimizing bracing technique and, in turn, has resulted in better hip hinges.
3. Bench
While the bench press may not be considered the most functional lift, it is still a staple across many programs. Regardless of your opinion on the movement itself, many coaches still program some horizontal press variation, which many of these cues can be used for interchangeably.
Cue: “Row the bar to your chest.”
If you do any powerlifting or train to maximize your bench press, you quickly understand how important stability and tightness are to the lift. However, many athletes do not achieve or even maintain tightness in the bench press due to how they lower the bar. In their minds, the goal is to simply get the bar back up. Who cares about how it goes down, am I right?
This mindset leads to sloppy bench press reps and an eventual plateau in strength. Rather than reminding my athletes to “stay tight,” I like to cue them to “row the bar to your chest.” This cue helps them slow down the lift and be purposeful throughout the movement. In addition, when I explain that they should row the bar, I go on to instruct them to actually flex their lats. The resulting stability and confidence are immediately noticeable.
Cue: “Turn your knuckles white.”
When I begin to see athletes plateau in the bench press, I look at two things: their hands and their legs. Many athletes passively hold the bar in their hands without any (or with very little) muscular engagement in their forearms. Now, I don’t currently have a fancy study to back this up, but I do believe that when you grip the bench bar tightly, your CNS is better engaged; with that, your body enters into a more optimal fight response, allowing you to lift more. A tighter grip on the bar is also safer for the spotter and lifter.
When I begin to see athletes plateau in the bench press, I look at two things: their hands and their legs. Many athletes passively hold the bar in their hands, says @Tate_Tobiason. Share on XCue: “Make it a full body lift.”
The bench press can and should be a full-body lift. This means the legs should be involved. The athlete should plant their feet into the ground, and once the bar touches the chest, their quadriceps should flex violently. This drives force up into the upper body, helping the athlete push heavier weight while providing added stability. This is a great cue for the athletes whose legs look like they are dancing mid-lift.
It Will All Start to Click
While not an exhaustive list, I hope these cues expand your toolbox and help you become a better communicator on the gym floor. Remember that coaching is an art, and simply plugging these cues in does not guarantee success. Use your discernment and find what clicks for the athlete in front of you. Watch their body language, ask them if what you just said made any sense, or even ask them to coach it back to you.
Take the time to work with them, trying multiple cues, and once it begins clicking, you’ll know it. Their face will light up, and the weights will start moving better. Take this time to celebrate with them; it’s one of the best feelings in coaching.
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