Introduction
Large Group PT is one of the best ways to deliver high quality personal training to a number of people whilst minimising cost to the client. However, it can present challenges for the coach when it comes to spotting and correcting faults, with multiple people performing the workout simultaneously, often all performing different exercises. It’s therefore essential that personal trainers take a systematic approach to both identity and correct faults through. This can be done with prioritisation. In this article, we will go through how you as the personal trainer can improve movement quality in a group setting. We’ll break down the systematic process an priorities for what matters most to maximise the quality of the experience that your clients get from large group PT classes.
Step 1: See & Collect Data
In order to start correcting faults of those partaking in your large group classes, the process begins with seeing. Gather information by observing things like overall posture and alignment, movement patterns such as hinges, pushes and pulls, and the execution of exercises in alignment with the coaching cues that you have given.
Step 2: Prioritise
Once you have collected your observations from the group, you must next prioritise where your feedback will be. Whilst some faults might affect the efficiency or efficacy of individuals’ movements, we must always aim to prioritise safety. Here is the breakdown of how we priortise.
Priority 1: Safety
You should always first address faults that pose a risk of injury for the individuals, as safety is the foundation of any coaching session. For example, if someone is deadlift with a rounded back, they are dramatically more at risk of a potential spinal injury and so this requires an immediate correction. The goal is to create a safer movement pattern that not only will keep them safer in that class, but also when they are training in the future. Without addressing safety first, any additional coaching becomes irrelevant, as injury risk always outweighs any potential benefit from the movement.
Priority 2: Efficacy
Once you have ensured your group class is performing movements safely, the next priority is to make sure that individuals are performing movements in ways which meet the movements’ intended purpose. For example, if a client is performing a movement which more closely resembles a sumo deadlift when a standard deadlift has been instructed, whilst their form might be safe, they are not engaging the muscles that the specific exercise in the programme was designed to target. When we think about efficacy, we must consider the training goal, and align the movement and feedback with that goal.
Priority 3: Efficiency
After we have addressed the safety of movements, and ensured that individuals are performing exercises to maximise efficacy in accordance with the training goal, the final step is refining clients’ movements to make them more efficient. This could be the smallest adjustments to optimise their performance and minimise wasted effort. Taking the example of the deadlift, this could be a bar path. An inefficient bar path, whilst it might be safe and be targeting the right muscles, often results in unnecessary energy expenditure, which makes the movement harder than it needs to be. Delivering the right cues such as telling the client to keep the bar closer to their shins in this example can keep your client moving efficiently.
Whilst efficiency is the lowest priority, you should take into account its impact. If your clients are not moving efficiently, they are likely to fatigue more quickly. When clients fatigue, form is likely to break down faster, leading to lower efficacy of movement, and in some cases an increased likelihood of injury. This makes each point we’ve raised incredibly important to address if you observe issues.
Step 3: Correct
Once you have your priorities, you must intervene and correct with clear and concise cues which guide your clients towards the intended coaching outcome.
You should remember that corrections and cues should be easy to understand and immediately actionable. Don’t overload your clients with technical jargon.
Step 4: Repeat
Once you have addressed a fault, you should reobserve to ensure that the correction had any impact. If not, you should provide further adjustment.
Applying the Large Group PT Correction Framework
Let’s now look at this in a real world setting. Imagine you have a group performing deadlifts. Whilst observing the group, you notice three issues from different individuals at the same time.
Client 1 is lifting the bar inefficiently, with the bar too far away from them. Otherwise, they are performing the movement safely and with largely the correct form.
Client 2 is performing a sumo deadlift instead of a conventional deadlift.
Client 3 is rounding their back dangerously, and at immediate risk of injury.
Applying the prioritisation framework we’ve outlined, you as the personal trainer have a duty to correct these faults in the following order.
- Correct Client 3’s rounded back to ensure that they are performing the movement safely.
- Adjust Client 2’s stance to ensure that they are performing the correct prescribed movement with the intended training goal.
- Cue Client 1 to pull the bar closer to the shins to improve their movement efficiency.
Conclusion
Whilst many personal trainers are great at 1-1 PT, it takes a higher degree of attention and fast decision making to coach large group PT effectively. In this article, we’ve gone through the framework of making corrections in large group PT and how to prioritise what you correct first.
Whilst you are here, be sure to take a look at our personal training courses. Starting with our level 3 personal trainer course, CPT, we have developed a system of further courses to improve your knowledge, skills and effectiveness as a pro coach.