Training Flashcards
Note: you don't need to memorize all the POP but you do need to know common faults when you see them, i.e. identify which fault an athlete is displaying when shown a video.
What are the six abilities of an effective trainer?
- Teaching
- Seeing
- Correcting
- Group and/or gym management
- Presence and attitude.
- Demonstration.
What is Teaching?
The ability to effectively articulate and teach the mechanics of each movement. This includes the ability to focus on major points of performance before more subtle or nuanced ones and the ability to change instruction based on the athlete’s needs and capacity.
What is Seeing?
The ability to discern good from poor movement mechanics and to identify both gross and subtle faults whether the athlete is in motion or static.
What is Correcting?
The ability to facilitate better mechanics for an athlete using visual, verbal, and/or tactile cues. This includes the ability to triage (prioritize) faults in order of importance, which includes an understanding of how multiple faults are related.
What is Group Management?
The ability to organize and manage, both at a micro level (within each class) and at the macro gym level. This includes managing time well; organization of the space, equipment, and participants for optimal flow and experience; planning ahead; etc.
What is Presence and Attitude?
The ability to create a positive and engaging learning environment. The trainer shows empathy for athletes and creates rapport.
What is Demonstration?
The ability to provide athletes with an accurate visual example of the movement at hand. Demonstration also includes the concept of leading by example: A trainer should follow his or her own advice and be an inspiration to clients.
What are the three types of cues available to a trainer?
- Verbal
- Visual
- Tactile
What 4 abilities allow a trainer to effectively correct movement?
- Use successful cues
- Know multiple corrections for each fault
- Triage faulty movement
- Balance critique with praise.
Generally, the most effective verbal cues are ________, __________, and ___________.
Short, specific, and actionable
What is triaging when correcting movement?
Assigning urgency to the multiple faults present in order of the most to least important. Greater importance is assigned to faults that have the highest risk for injury (and, therefore, also the greatest potential to limit performance)
What are the 8 themes of functional movement?
- midline stabilization,
- core-to-extremity movement,
- balance about the frontal plane,
- posterior-chain engagement,
- sound hip function,
- active shoulders,
- full range of motion about a joint, and
- effective stance and/or grip.
What is the difference between a static and a dynamic fault?
- A static fault occurs when the athlete is not moving, even for a brief period of time, for example in the starting, receiving, or finishing positions of a movement.
- A dynamic fault occurs when the athlete is moving between static positions
Which muscles most facilitate midline stabilization?
- Abdominals (“abs”)
- Internal and external oblique muscles (“obliques”)
- Erector spinae (“spinal erectors” or simply “erectors”)
Place the following in order of demand on the musculature to maintain a neutral spine (lowest demand to highest demand, assume the same load for all):
* Front rack hold
* Pause in deadlift 1 inch from the floor
* Low hang position in clean
- Front rack hold
- Low hang position in clean
- Pause in deadlift 1 inch from the floor
As the torso moves from a vertical orientation, and hip flexion increases, as in the deadlift, the demand on the musculature to maintain a neutral spine increases.
Which three muscle groups comprise the posterior chain?
- Hamstrings (biceps femoris, semitendinosus, semimembranosus)
- Gluteal muscles (“glutes”)
- Spinal erectors.
Describe 3 ways that posterior chain engagement contributes to safety?
- Promotes midline stabilization
- Promotes balance around the frontal plane (by balancing out the anterior chain)
- Helps keep knees in line with toes, reducing lateral and rotational forces at the knee joint
Why is powerful and complete hip extension necessary for elite athletic capacity?
- It applies the most force on the object
- It creates the most elevation on the object, giving the athlete the most time to accommodate or receive it
What 3 ways does poor hip function manifest in functional movement?
- Muted hip
- Lack of hip extension
- Slow hip extension
What is muted hip?
A hip that never flexes (or “closes”), requiring the quads to do all the work.
Why do we train full range of motion about a joint?
- Maximize joint health, flexibility, and strength
- Prepare for any conceivable task
- Develop neuromuscular coordination universally found in compound movements and sport
What is an active shoulder?
- The most stable position for the shoulder when working against a load. The athlete attempts to keep the shoulder in a relatively neutral, natural position, without yielding to a load.
Choose the sentence that best describes an active shoulder:
* The shoulder is retracted / elevated / etc. to end range
* The athlete always creates an active shoulder by pushing into the load
* The athlete attempts to keep the shoulder in a relatively neutral, natural position.
- The athlete attempts to keep the shoulder in a relatively neutral, natural position.
There are cases in which an active shoulder is not achieved by pushing into the load (e.g., bench press).
In all cases, the retraction, elevation, etc. is not taken to the end range that results in a contrived position. For example, retraction in a deadlift is not full retraction that may result in a loss of midline stabilization or a position that would not be possible under any real load.
The chances for shoulder impingement increase as grip __________.
- Narrows
In an overhead squat, for example, a wider grip requires less elevation to create clearance space.
