From musicians to IT specialists, some of the best in the business today get there not necessarily by formal education, but by self-teaching.
From Benjamin Franklin to Bob Dylan, Bill Gates to Beatrix Potter, some of our strongest influences have shaped the world with self-acquired skills.
The skills of self-learning and self-coaching are indeed among the most valuable we could ever possess. When it comes to building the body of your dreams, self-coaching is the key that can unlock your ultimate personal potential.
If you are new to exercise or beginning a new programme, fitness instructors or personal trainers are certainly the best people to guide you through those first crucial steps of your journey to newfound bodily beauty.
However, most gym members who subsequently fail to reach their goals either simply give up along the way or fail to carry out their programmes effectively through poor technique or lack of progression.
By taking responsibility for your own development and coaching yourself, you can maximise your results and decrease the risk of injury without the need for constant supervision.
When you are shown an exercise, always ask your coach, instructor or trainer for three or four important ‘cues’ for that particular move. Qualified coaches and instructors are trained to teach in this way, and should be able to highlight the most important cues for any move they demonstrate.
A cue is a simple command like ‘back straight’, ‘elbows out’, ‘push the floor away’, or ‘look straight ahead’, to name but a few. They are simple commands you can implement immediately and successfully into your technique.
Armed with the most important cues, you can repeat them in your mind throughout the performance of the movement, every time you work out, to ensure permanently safe and effective technique.
The most important cues in the squat for example are ‘back tight’, ‘weight over your heels’, and ‘sit back’. Most mistakes you will ever make in the squat exercises, whether you are a beginner or a champion-strength athlete could actually be corrected simply by repeating and emphasising these three cues.
Simple exercises found in books or websites should also give you some indications as to what the most important technical movement details are.
If you must come up with your own cues, simply summarise the most important technique points from the exercise description.
Remember that throughout the performance of any technique lasting just a few seconds, just like a single repetition of any resistance training exercise, you will find it very difficult to process any more than three or four simple cues at a time. So when asking for cues or coming up with them yourself, always keep it simple.
Once you have your cues in order, the next most valuable tool in your self-coaching shed is the mirror. Most gyms have mirrors hung up all over the place, partly because gym fanatics just love to look at themselves in the mirror, but also because they are the best way to assess technique. Apart from, “Do I look good?”, here are a few more important questions you should always ask yourself during the performance of any exercise.
What joints are supposed to be moving? Ensure the right joints are performing the brunt of the work. If you are performing a biceps curl, then your elbow is the only joint required to move. If you are swinging violently from the hips or bouncing at the knees, then consciously lock the hips and knees in place, and just use your elbows.
Am I cutting the movement short? With most exercises, the greater the range of motion, the better the results. On the bench press, are you taking the bar all the way down to your chest, or are you stopping it only half way down because the weight is too heavy?
With your biceps curl, are you stopping it halfway down without fully straightening the arm? In both cases, reduce the weight and double your range of motion, because you might be cheating yourself out of half the benefits.
Are you maintaining good posture? For almost all exercises, the spine should remain in a neutral position, ie. not flexed or hyper extended (not bent either way). For any exercise that requires bending over or leaning forwards, like a bent-over barbell row, ensure your back stays tight and does not round or hunch forwards.
Perform such moves perpendicular to the mirror, and look sideways at your reflection to check your posture before your start.
Avoid looking sideways during the actual set itself, as this will take the spine out of alignment and defeat the whole purpose of the correction. Unless it is a specific requirement of the exercise, twisting and bending are also movements that are almost always incorrect.
Your final self-coaching tool is video technology. For more complex moves, like the clean and jerk or even the squat, you might need to check your own technique from angles you cannot see in the mirror.
A video camera can be set to film yourself from the side, or a training partner or fellow gym member might be all too happy to film you with your camera phone if this proves any easier.
Filming allows you to perform an instant critical technique analysis, and implement your findings in the very next set.
This instant feedback can literally shave months or even years off the learning process for complex athletic movements. If you cannot make the necessary corrections, post your video online and seek professional help. Personal trainers are always happy to get in touch with potential clients and provide a few valuable tips.
info@noble-gym.com