There is no one size fits all for lifting cues. Some thing that will work for you might not work for me. But the goal is always better neuromuscular control, more muscle fiber recruitment, and ideally better movement patterns. That’s what today’s episode is all about. After coaching for a decade in person and online, I have used and heard my fair share of lifting cues and tricks. I might share 10 to 15 today. And I will keep them more broad stroke. Because you could have 20 cues just for your core. That is not the goal of today’s episode. 

You may have heard these before, and some of them might be new to you. Or if you have heard them before, perhaps the way that I explain them or reference them might make some thing Klick. Whether you are a trainee or a trainer today’s episode is hopefully going to be a value and very applicable for you or your clients.

Let's get on to lifting cues...

Big back, tight lats - this applies to almost everything. Or certainly large compound movements. I could see this working for squats, deadlifts, even the start of an overhead press, and certainly for bench press. It also has carryover into most hinging patterns or barbell squatting variations.

Big back and tight lats don’t necessarily always feel the same or mean the same thing. But I put them together because I find that I get the same results with clients when I see either of these.

Your lat is one of the largest muscles in the body and it is the largest muscle in your upper body or back. So often times when you say big back people will automatically engage their lats. Or when you say engage your lats, and it will make their back look larger. Both are the goal.

Your lats attach from the top of your upper arm bone, your humerus, to part of your scapula, to your mid spine all the way down to your hip bones. So you can see why we would want to engage the lats, as they really lock everything in from your shoulder girdle to your hips. And we want that, for most compound movements.

I find that big back works best for back squats when a client seems to just be resting the bar on their back, without actually engaging muscles in the upper body. Tight lats can do the same.

The next cue can have a similar effect.

Break the bar - especially on bench, RDL and deadlifts. This has always worked really well for me personally. I just think about driving my pinkies backwards and bending the bar. That typically gets everything engaged that I need to be. With benchpress, I really feel like it locks in my shoulders and lats. And with dead lift it keeps the bar close to my body. It really makes no sense for some people, but I think it’s worth a try.

Elbows forward - same effect as break the. Bar but VERY specific to deadlift. If a client is having a hard time keeping the bar close to them, or locking in their upper back, telling them to turn their elbows forward can be very effective. The lats engaged as well as teres minor and infraspinatus really work to lock on that upper back.

So try yourself or telling a client to show their elbow pits to the front and see what happens with their upper body engagement. Particularly with the dead lift.

Screw in - applies to feet and glutes or hands depending on the lift. Screwing in your feet, especially with soft knees causes external rotation at the femurs via the glutes. Or, rather, the glutes cause the external rotation of the upper leg, and for tension to be created at the foot. Now, the foot creates tension itself as well. And that ideally means a solid foundation. Think of opening the toes, pressing the toes, ball of the foot,