Want to know the number one thing I end up cueing when it comes to movement technique?
It’s the extremities.
I will elaborate on that in a second, but first, the question itself. I thought this was an interesting one because it could be interpreted two ways.
“What’s the thing that goes wrong most often?”
Or
“What’s the most important thing to get right?”
The fact that I cue it more often than anything else probably suggests it’s an intersection of both of those things. Very important, and goes wrong often.
So, getting back to the extremities.
When the question was posed, the first thing that came to mind was grip. How you grip the barbell, the pull-up bar, the kettlebell really matters. It connects you to the implement and dictates how much force you can transfer through it. My best guess is that I cue grip at least 10 times every class. That’s people of all levels and at all stages of development. The mistake people make is an incomplete grip, and the fix is simple. Go get full control of the implement before trying to move it.
But I said extremities. Plural.
The other extremity is your feet. My lord, the feet. Again it’s a connection thing. Your connection to the floor is everything when it comes to applying force. For almost every movement, we have a defined foot position. Every time you nail your positioning, you are making that movement more effective, but you are also teaching yourself footwork. Most of sport is footwork. Most of surviving old age is footwork. Most of moving with grace is footwork. For most adults, the demand for good footwork disappears, and they become clumsy, awkward and eventually, at-risk as a result.
So, every time you place your feet deliberately this week, you are keeping a vital part of your athleticism alive. Same goes for your grip. Every time you step up to a rep, get those two things sorted first. Connect to the floor, connect to the implement. From there, you’re free to move with strength, with power and hopefully with a little grace.