These days everyone and their mother is a personal trainer. Which means a lot of keyboard warriors regurgitating the same handful of cues that they heard someone say once before.
The problem with this is that not all cues apply to all people. Each person should be treated specifically to their own case. Which is why we have a FB Group with over 36,000 supportive women and amazing coaches ready to give you proper cues. Check out the group.
With that being said their are some amazing cues that our coaches often recognize as areas of improvement that have gone undiagnosed.
1) Cadence
The cadence of any lift is smooth and fluid. If you have a very notable jerk going on as you move the weight past your knees this is an issue. I understand why you might be doing this (thinking about activating the glutes to stand) – but this is absolutely detrimental to your form. Do not change speeds at any time in your lift. Pull the bar smooth and simply stand up naturally. Don’t jerk the weight or yourself.
2) Bar Placement
If your bar is placed too far in front of you this may cause the bar path of your first few reps to be off. You may find they get better as you go. The bar should be positioning directly over your shoelaces, and should be barely touching your shins. Get closer.
3) Head Movement
Lots of unnecessary head movement is also a common issue. Never ever change your head position to look up, down, to your side or at your phone during a lift. Look straight ahead the entire time. To help you with this, put a small plate or object on the ground about 6-8 feet in front of you. Stare at the object for the duration of your lift. Don’t look anywhere else.
Check out this video and notice the cues mentioned above.
We believe that overcueing is a major issue – take these 3 cues to your next session and we can keep working from there. For more cues specific to your personal needs check out the FB group mentioned above. Keep crushing it!!
Cues in this article are courtesy of The Thick Thighs Save Lives Workout Program
The leggings featured in this video: Gun Strapped Capris
I love the cue about not jerking the weight once it gets past your knees; I’ve caught myself doing that a few times even though I’ve been (properly I think) deadlifting for years. Thank you for that reminder. Awesome article.