Effective coaching in fitness extends beyond the words you use. In this blog, we explore the power of coaching cues that go beyond verbal instructions. Join us on a journey where touch, positioning, visual cues, demos, and tone changes become catalysts for enhancing client performance.
When training to be a Fitness Professional there can be a lot of emphasis placed on WHAT you say to your clients. However, it is just as important to focus on HOW you communicate.
Watch this short video from our Level 1 Kettlebell Instructor Course. Even without sound, you can see that every coaching cue given is progressing the performance of the client. Those cues are not just verbal.
Beyond Words: A Variety of Coaching Cues
Here are 5 changes you can make to your coaching cues immediately that will elevate client performance, beyond words:
Coaching Cues with Touch:
Generally speaking, touch is used less and less, which has made it an underrated and under-used coaching cue. Personal Trainers often worry about the professionalism of using touch with clients. Or they are concerned that the client may see it as an invasion of space. However clear and precise use of touch is very effective… and not invasive.
By using your fingertips, rather than your palm, you can give very clear sensory feedback to the client, without being “gropy”.
Every client will learn differently, but kinaesthetic learning is one of the most common learning methods. Use precise and purposeful touch to show your client the position required, highlight joint actions and encourage force from the target muscle. So using touch will help you convey your instruction easily and quickly. teaching position, and body language in conveying instructions.
Visual Instruction:
Alongside kinaesthetic (touch), visual is the next most common learning style. It is reinforced by the old adage “A Picture Paints A Thousand Words”. Instead of listing all of the changes you want the client to make in their technique, a simple visual cue can convey the message quickly.
Visual cues include demonstrations, that highlight one or two clear points, or a hand that can serve as a target point. You can use visual cues for counting down the last few reps or changing the speed of repetition. A clear From clear demonstration or visual prompts will help launch your client performance quickly.
The Power of Tone Changes:
We all have our favourite tone of voice where we spend most of our coaching sessions. However, using variations to pitch and tone can help highlight certain aspects of the instruction. You can use a punchy Warrior tone to motivate, accelerate or push the client.
You might use an educational Sage tone when teaching the client key concepts and general descriptions. Then the gentle Lover tone is great for encouraging relaxation, deceleration, and recovery. Explore more about the three tones of voice in this blog HERE, and try them in your next session.
Incremental Improvements:
Rome wasn’t built in a day – but the building had to start at some point. Use regular consistent observation to seek an understanding of what is happening at every joint. For example during the kettlebell swing, take time to see what is happening just at the knee, or just at the hip. You could even video analysis to help you add more detail. Then feedback to the client shows how they can improve performance even more.
Breaking the Mold with Coaching Cues:
Whether you are a brand new Fitness Instructor or have been coaching for years… we all have our preferred volume, tone, touch, words and phrases. Challenge your conventional coaching methods, and try something new. By incrementally trying NEW coaching cues, your toolbox gets bigger.
This means that you have more selection of tools to help correct and assist client understanding. Not only will your clients have better performance and more results… but you evolve as a FITPRO, continually improving in knowledge and confidence.
Want to Progress as a FITPRO?
FIT-Progressions: Unleash Your Fitness Potential
Embarking on a career as a fitness professional can be an exhilarating yet nerve-wracking journey.
The anticipation of guiding others toward their fitness goals is often accompanied by an undercurrent of self-doubt and the unsettling feeling of impostor syndrome.
If you took 1000 confident and knowledgeable fitness professionals and asked them the success formula… they’d all agree to never stop learning and master your craft.
That’s exactly what FIT-Progressions has done for 1000s of trainees and newly qualified FITPROs.
It’s not another qualification with more assessments. It’s an online programme to help you master your craft.
The online tutorials and cheat sheets take you through the entire journey of training a client. This will help you complete your Level 3 Personal Trainer coursework and equally set you up to find clients, plan your first session and train clients over a period.
We’ll take you through 18 interactive tutorials.
There’s no more guessing.
There’s no more self-doubt.
It’s time to master your craft and this is your invitation to enroll in FIT-Progressions.
You’ll get instant and lifetime. Plus every week we host a live training and Q&A session for you to join. Here you can get work marked and reviewed or simply ask a question about your clients.
What’s more, you get the entire back catalogue of live training to explore.
Whether you are still training and need help completing your case study, newly qualified and need help with your first client or simply need a boost in knowledge. Below is a full outline of what you’ll get when you enrol today.
>>>> Join us for FIT-Progressions here
Become a knowledgeable and confident FITPRO, with a clear strategy to get results with your clients every time.
There’s no more self-doubt. There’s no more guessing what to plan or how to get client results. FIT-Progressions has 8 modules and 18 video tutorials that guide you through every stage of your Level 3 Personal Trainer case study, and how to work with clients effectively.
This is for you if you’re…
- struggling to complete your coursework for PT, Yoga, or Pilates
- a newly qualified FITPRO who feels stuck or overwhelmed
- unsure where to start when planning a client session
- worrying about applying your course knowledge with a real client
- doubting you could get results and lack structure to client packages
- anxious and confused about how to get found and get busy
Click the link to find out more and join us:
https://courses.parallelcoaching.co.uk/products/fit-progressions/
Dedicated to More
Hayley “Elevating Client Performance Through Coaching Cues” Bergman
Parallel Coaching
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