This past week I had two experiences watching one-on-one personal training sessions at another gym that made me think about how rare it actually is to see an appropriately coached exercise.
Both trainers were well-intentioned.
The issue wasn’t effort or enthusiasm. The issue was understanding how to balance knowledge with the client’s ability to absorb information in the moment.
In the first example, I watched a trainer instruct a highly complicated kettlebell exercise called a windmill from a standing position. In summary, it requires a wide stance, a hip shift in one direction while the torso side-bends in the other, a kettlebell held overhead in one arm, the opposite hand sliding down the inside of the leg, eyes fixed on the kettlebell, all while attempting to maintain a well-positioned spine.
Sounds complicated?
It is. Very.
The trainer was having a man in his 70s attempt the exercise. The client was clearly struggling. His shoulder couldn’t maintain the kettlebell overhead, his positioning was inconsistent, and he appeared visibly frustrated—grimacing with what looked like shoulder discomfort as he tried to keep the weight in place.
It seemed clear the trainer had recently learned that the windmill was “great for movement quality and mobility.” And in the right situation, it absolutely can be.
But there is no exercise that is a blanket-statement solution for all people in every situation. Coaching always requires understanding the person standing in front of you.
The second example was almost the opposite problem.
A trainer had a client performing a simple dumbbell bench press. The client’s execution looked roughly 90–95 percent competent. But between each set, the trainer delivered what felt like a five-minute, fifteen-point checklist about hand placement, elbow angles, shoulder position, breathing, tempo, and posture.
The client began to show the same frustrated expression as the windmill example—but for a completely different reason.
Instead of being overwhelmed by the difficulty of the exercise, they were overwhelmed by the amount of instruction. The trainer seemed compelled to share everything he knew, but it was clear the client simply wanted to exercise and had little interest in the seminar that ultimately resulted in a very small change in elbow angle.
These two moments highlight a common problem in the training world.
Sometimes trainers under-coach, choosing exercises that are too complicated and offering very little guidance. The client feels awkward, unsure if they are doing the movement correctly, and no one steps in to help them. In those moments, many people assume the problem is their own coordination or fitness level, when in reality the issue may simply be the coaching model.
Other times trainers over-coach, attempting to deliver every detail they know about an exercise all at once. After fifteen or twenty pieces of information, the client is thinking about so many things that the movement itself becomes harder to perform.
Ironically, the trainer may then look confused about why the client seems overwhelmed.
The goal of coaching is not to demonstrate how much information we know.
It’s not about showing off complicated exercises or reciting a checklist of technical cues.
The goal is much simpler: introduce or adjust the exercise until the outcome becomes competent. Once competent, additional minor tweaks and instructions can take the exercise from a passing grade to an A+.
For that reason, it’s not ideal to deliver every detail of an exercise upfront. Too much information is difficult to digest and often causes people to focus on the wrong things. Instead, the movement should be guided gradually, with small adjustments introduced along the way.
Those adjustments are often the things that make the biggest difference.
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