Cutting Edge Fitness - Trainer Tutorial

General Notes

This is a work in progress...

Trainer Resistance Guidelines

always tell them when you are going to provide additional resistance
remind them that they need work against that resistance as hard as possible, for the full 10 seconds
remind them that this is the most important 10 seconds of the exercise

Logging Guidelines - logging will be a separate doc

Log the exercise, seat/foot settings, and weight before the exercise starts

Get in the habit of logging the total time and any weight adjustments for the next use of the machine, and any other significant points or observations immediately after stoping the timer.

Super Slow Cues

It's essential that clients learn and understand the fundamentals of the Super Slow exercise protocol. The cues in this section apply to all machine execises (unless otherwise noted).

Keep the cues you use short.

Some of the cues below have an extended explanation, which is for your - or in case the client asks for more information between exercises. The client does not the extra information below, and will be distracted from the task at hand (good form and reaching muscle failure) if you are talking too much.

Cue	Meaning, usage, more information
Head neutral.	Unless a specific exercise requires a special head position, the head should always be neutral on the spine, facing forward and not tilting in any direction. The head weighs 8-10 pounds, and any misalignment with the spine can cause a host of problems (injury, muscle imbalances, faulty movement patterns, etc.).
Head stable.	When the client moves their head they will be recruiting muscles other than the primary targets for the exercise.
Breathe.	Never hold your breath while training under high intensity.
Relax the {neck, shoulders, forearms...} pick one	As the targeted muscles tire, the body naturally seeks to recruit additional muscles. Additional or inappropriate muscles are also recruited if the client has dysfunctional movement in the target area (in fact, that defines dysfunction). Activating extra muscles (or the wrong muscles) makes it harder to reach failure with the targeted muscles, may limit the range of motion, "burn in" faulty movement patterns, and create muscle imbalances.