Exercise Technique and Training Instruction
Domain 4 - Exercise Technique and Training Instruction
This domain tests whether you can set up, cue, and progress exercises safely, and whether your instruction matches the intended adaptation. Expect questions on hip-hinge mechanics, spinal position during rotation, and effective cueing.
Core rules
- Hinge: hips back, neutral spine, load through the mid-foot, and drive with glutes and hamstrings. Do not turn a hinge into a squat.
- Rotation: rotate through the thoracic spine and hips while keeping the lumbar spine stable; avoid loaded flexion combined with rotation.
- Anti-rotation resists motion, as in Pallof press; rotation produces motion, as in chop and lift; rotary power throws a medicine ball.
- Cue simply: one cue at a time. Use external cues such as “push the floor away” or internal cues such as “ribs down” when needed.
- Progress one variable at a time: range, reps, load, or speed. Regress to half-kneeling or supported positions when control is lost.
- Safety: neutral spine, controlled tempo, no ballistic stretching before power work, and screen for pain.
Worked example
Kettlebell swing for power. Setup with feet shoulder-width and the bell in front. Hinge and hike the bell back, then snap the hips forward so the bell floats to chest height. Do not squat-lift or hyperextend the lumbar spine. Cue “hips back, then stand tall and squeeze the glutes.” If the client loses a neutral spine, regress to a dowel hip hinge and reduce load.
Traps
- Cueing “rotate your low back” during chops.
- Adding speed before the hinge and anti-rotation are mastered.
- Giving too many cues at once so the client cannot process them.