Any Exceptions?
To almost every rule, there is an exception, and we see that with the “cue-movements-not-muscles” guideline as well.
We generally cue movement, but when we are trying to prevent movement, cueing a muscle group can indeed be effective. For example, tell yourself to “flex your bicep,” and you’ll immediately lock your elbow into a frozen, flexed position, and thus, you are preventing movement. Here are some other examples:
In the press, you reach forward with your hips, but you don’t want your knees to bend (since we’re not performing a push press), so you might cue “tight quads” or “flex your quads.”
In the squat or deadlift, as you prepare to get tight and brace, you take a big breath, perform your Valsalva, and then cue “tight abs” to help transform your wiggly column of vertebrae into one long, rigid, steel beam.
