As a fitness professional I am motivated to get people to move better, and this literally applies to everything, so many definitions and applications. I dissect everything I see and am fortunate to work in many different settings with a variety of physical abilities, ages, training ages, etc. I dissect everything I see which allows me to really make decisions on what, as a coach, to correct, encourage and stop. The truth is proper movement is IDEAL but so is doing an actual workout itself. Making these two worlds coexist vs. collide while keeping the client informed, engaged and happy… well that’s the art of coaching.

Through my lens it seems that the fitness industry is in a “corrective exercise insurgency” as if to be nursing the “functional training” hangover. It seems everywhere I look, I am witness to an unnecessary (or unhealthy) obsession with perfect movement patterns. Now don’t get me wrong there is absolutely no part of me professionally condoning allowing people to move “shitily” but the craze has gone TOO FAR, and, in many instances, we are providing programs that are weakening our clientele.

Fitness professionals need stay keenly aware of what THE client’s goals are when they arrive for their session. If a client comes in with a goal to start moving more, lose some weight and feel young again – program accordingly. After a period of inactivity, it is likely most individuals will experience poor shoulder mobility, tight hips/hip flexors and janked up claves so when beginning an exercise program squatting without low back pain is virtually impossible.

Which with the client goal, I’ve seen far too many fitness heroes’ excited share a new technique they just digested on a ’30 second clip from Instagram in terms the client can barely understand unknowingly high jacking this person’s motivation to get started. Don’t try to sound smart, it comes across like an asshole pretending to be smart. Stay in your lane. Our clients don’t want to spend their entire day doing supine ‘correctives’, Trigger point releases and all exercises from a ½ kneeling or prone position.

NO!

They want to move, squat, throw sh*t and leave the sessions feeling worked, educated, SAFE and excited for the next one.

As I write this I realize where concept gets tricky, sticky and cerebrally difficult – is with the existing athlete population. When an athlete comes to a fitness professional and they want to ‘get after it’ BUT you must do everything to get them to move better, keep them strong, increase their mobility and infuse better mechanics… GAME ON! Now I can start my dissecting.

This is where my mind goes when I begin to dissect human movement to help my clients achieve their goals:

I am borrowing information from Gray Cook (a professional I follow and respect the hell out of) in that he has made a very clear point to all of us in the coaching, not treatment, end of care.

If ANY individual comes to you with pain, stop. It is your professional duty to refer them to a clinician that can diagnose and prescribe treatment.

If they are coming from an injured state and have been “cleared” to resume activity, then stop continuing to treat like the PT or AT they were seeing in an area you know nothing about and get them physically moving.

Far too many coaches become obsessed with the “hardware” of a client. “Oh your shoulder is doing this because of that. Your q-angle is greater than most and this is causing…” Nope, stop talking! It’s not the hardware, it’s the software. It’s the way their body has learned to move with the equipment they were born with. Now go make it work ‘better’.

The key element here is that humans innately move away from pain to protect an ‘area’ from further damage and moving the “correct way” hurts too damn much. Defaults or compensations begin to develop and as a coach it is my duty to identify where and why they are moving incorrectly/inefficiently.

Stand in front of someone and watch them squat. If I immediately say to myself “no thank you” I give instruction on what I would rather see. Often, I’ll see no changes made with my corrective cues, you see most people will do something inherent with their movements that isn’t correct, and they have no idea. It’s how they have been moving for so long that it is the only way they know how to move. They are subconsciously dysfunctional (let’s call this phase 1).

When we point out to someone what is going “wrong” or “compensation” in their movement they will do one of two things.

Continue to do it poorly/improperly (conscious dysfunction). (phase 2)

They can execute it correctly while thinking about it (conscious function). (phase 3)

Going back to my previously mention point about the “corrective craze” and exercise prescription. If we give a client, the opportunity to become aware of their compensations and they have the ability to effect it we are empowering them! Good job coach.

If we make them aware of poor mechanics and they remain dysfunctional here is where we effect change but also a point where we must keep your clients trust. They came to a professional to workout and they want to continue to “get after it” so we need to decide are they allowed to continue to squat? … Is the breakdown in mechanics gross and they shouldn’t be doing it, or should the squat just be done better? I’m not here to riddle you that, unless you work at CPC.

The version of the primary movement (squat) is unacceptable, stop and correct it with other modalities. The continuance of a poorly executed movement, under load, is only going to exacerbate the issue itself.

If acceptable then use other modalities as an opportunity to “RE-PATTERN” and re-write the individuals software to move correctly. This will allow the appropriate Nero-muscular systems to engage, stabilize and execute exercises properly with the correct muscles. (This is also a stepping off point for feed-forward vs. feedback that I will take on in my next blog post).

After identifying the issue(s) the exercise program is compiled of activities & stretches to support correct movement patterns so that the sessions executed result in the software being re-written. When this truly takes hold the client can squat correctly. They don’t think about it or second guess it. Rather it’s just the only way they know how to move. They have now achieved subconscious function (phase 4).

Getting athletes to this level of movement proficiency (phase 4) is what the field of coaching is all about. This ensures that when they step onto the field of play and their mind is focused on the game, the current play and what is needed of them by their teammates... that’s where it stays. Their mental focus is not shifted the concern of their hip, knee, ankle, spine, etc. They just do what their subconscious tells them to do. They toed the line to compete and you did your piece to allow them to move better and thus take that step into their greatness!