Starting Strength, 3rd Edition - Mark Rippetoe [47]
The most important reason to squat without a mirror in front of you is that you should be developing your kinesthetic sense while you squat. When you pay attention to all of the proprioceptive input provided by focusing on your balance point on the floor in front of you, the pressure on your feet, the feel of your back angle, the bar in your hands and against your back, and your general sense of the balance of the movement, your sensory input is much richer than that provided visually by the mirror image. Learn to feel the correct position, not to merely see it.
Coaching Cues
One more thought: Throughout this book, the term “cue” will be used. A cue is a movement signal, and it is an important concept in sports pedagogy. Cues are used both by coaches with the athletes they are handling and by athletes for themselves.
For a coach, a cue is a signal that causess the athlete to correct some part of the movement he is about to do, as previously discussed with the coach. It has been built into the athlete's understanding of the movement during the process of learning it with the coach. The cue focuses the athlete’s attention on the thing he should be thinking about at that time, instead of all the other things he is probably thinking about. A cue is not a long, detailed explanation that introduces a brand new concept just before the lifter performs a PR (personal record) attempt. Rather, a cue is a word or two, maybe three, seldom four, that reminds but does not explain. A cue should not have to be processed much by the mind that receives it; it should be heard by the ear and sent on down to the place that was waiting for it to trigger the action to which it refers.
An example of a cue is “chest up.” In contrast, “lift the chest so that your back gets flat” is not a cue. The former can be used after the lifter has assumed the starting position, right before he starts the pull. The latter must be used well before he assumes the starting position, when he can give some thought to what he is about to do.
Cues are worked out between the athlete and the coach during training. Cues evolve naturally as the two people communicate with each other about the movement. A coach will develop his favorite ways of explaining key concepts to his athletes over his coaching career. He will tailor these explanations to fit the needs of the individuals he is working with, and cues will develop. Some cues, like “chest up,” are almost universal due to their usefulness, brevity, and sound. They almost bark the correct position at the athlete. Other cues, which appear to be so non-specific as to be useless (like “Now!”), are in fact specific to a thing decided upon between coach and lifter and are extremely individual to that particular situation. Cues must be given in the right circumstances and at exactly the right time, or they do not trigger anything useful.
A cue can also be a reminder that you give yourself. It will not necessarily be spoken aloud, although this sometimes helps. It will be the same thing that a coach would say to you under the same circumstances, a reminder of a position problem that you have already worked out but that you need to pay attention to just before doing the movement. As you learn the exercises covered in this book, you should develop your own set of cues that will serve to reinforce good form. As you become more experienced, you will find it necessary to build cues into your approach to each lift, to solve your own individual problems with each movement pattern. You will find that each lift responds to its own reminder, and if you train alone, you’ll have to remind yourself.
You will find that there are two basic types of cues: body cues and bar cues. Body cues are references to parts of your body interacting with the bar, like “chest up,” “look forward,” or “long, straight arms.” These cues draw awareness to the thing doing the moving: the muscles or body part needing a correction. In contrast, bar