Exercise Technique and Training Instruction
Exercise technique is where group coaching is won or lost: you cannot manually cue ten people simultaneously, so instruction must be built into the setup and the demonstration.
Teaching sequence
Demonstrate the whole movement, break it into two or three checkpoints, then let clients perform while you scan. Motor learning runs cognitive (thinking through each step), associative (refining) and autonomous (automatic). Beginners need simple external cues, such as 'push the floor away', rather than 'contract your glutes'.
Cueing and positioning
- One cue at a time, three to eight words.
- External cues outperform internal anatomy cues for most compound lifts.
- Stand where you can see every client: front-center for a line, inside the circle for a circuit.
- Use a three-part count for start and finish, and warn of transitions ('two reps left').
Safety and spotting
Spot barbell work from behind or beside depending on the lift; teach spotters for dumbbell presses only when loads are heavy. Breathing: exhale on exertion, and avoid prolonged Valsalva with hypertensive clients. Keep tempo counts audible and consistent so the group stays synchronized.
Worked example
Teaching a goblet squat to twelve people: one 10-second demo, then cue 'feet planted, knees track over toes, chest tall', then 'sit down and stand up, two seconds down'. Scan the line; wherever knees collapse, offer a box-squat regression or a band around the knees. Progression is depth or load, never both at once.
Traps
Talking through the set instead of cueing briefly; internal anatomy cues for beginners; no regression ready; standing behind clients where they cannot see you; letting tempo drift until the group is out of sync.