You Can’t Out Coach or Out Yell Movement Restrictions

"Push your hips back. No really push your hips back!"

"Your elbows need to be high and outside. No for real keep your elbows high and outside!"

Sometimes people need verbal coaching, most of the time they don’t. Directions? Yes. The perfect cue? No.

Davis and I don’t fill the gym with fluffy cues and pom poms. We fix movement and then reteach with tons of quality reps. We do this in a variety of ways but they all involve changing the length/tension relationship of the system, whether that be soft tissue work, stretching, activation exercises, some type of regression from the original movement, or some combination of these tactics. The point being, we spend very little time on the actual problem itself and instead constantly seek a solution.

But what if I just yell the cue louder, will they get it? Nope. Sorry you have to teach the person – mind and body how to move and cueing is not teaching.

If you are a coach and you find yourself getting frustrated because your cues aren’t working, I would think outside the box and get educated on other tactics from the field.

If you are a frustrated client, I would challenge your coach and ask what else you can do to fix this problem besides being referred out.

For higher level movements like the Snatch, a tight bar path isn’t just going to happen with some words you read on the internet once. Let’s make a list of just five of the qualities that a human being needs to have a shot in hell at hoisting a barbell overhead like Xiaojun Lu.

• A brain that works
• A foot that can load and explode into the ground
• Ankle Dorsiflexion (or a talus that can go down and in because the foot can load and explode into the ground – I will stop that for now)
• The ability to move both hips posteriorly while keeping a neutral or extended spine and engaging the hamstrings AKA pelvic control.
• Full glenohumeral internal rotation and flexion which is dependent on an ability to fill both chest cavities with air.

And then after you have gotten all these movement qualities dialed in you will have to light up the neural pathways. What does that mean? Perfect Practice. Again and Again and Again.

But bro that’s not fun.

Have you ever watched the Chinese? Weightlifting doesn’t look fun. They are not smiling. They are perfect and a coach is standing somewhere in the distance with an apathetical look on his face. Paint the fence Daniel son.

They smile when they win gold medals.

Training and learning is an arduous process and yet it can be fun. But entertainment cannot be the goal.

If you want just the right cue or a himbo cheerleader don’t sign on with Train Adapt Evolve. If you want to improve and know in your very bones that you are faster, stronger, more powerful, and more mobile then sign on. If your self-worth is dependent on how much weight is on the bar or a smile from across the gym then stay exactly where you are.

By Ben House FDN, Ph.D. Candidate