Speak to the muscle clients are working in each move. Describe the mechanism, or the way the body can move to engage that particular muscle. Keep in mind that the human body can never just be using one muscle at a time. For every target muscle, clients will feel multiple muscle groups (secondary muscles). The core is active in every single move! When you feel like you have cue the target muscle enough, you can always remind clients about core engagement. When you hear the term, “engage your core” all it means is being aware of how your core is supporting you through an exercise. Breathwork is a very important part of core engagement. When clients are in center core/oblique moves, the body has the tendency to hold the breath due to their proximity to the lungs and their role in breathing.

Example: If you have clients in a seated bicep curl, cues would be-you have 2 heads of that bicep helping you pull those cables towards the face, role the shoulders as you squeeze the biceps to keep tension in your arms instead of the neck. keep the elbows lifted, as the biceps get fatigue the elbows will try to lower. Use your breath in the movement, inhale as you release the cables, exhale through the mouth are you contract the bicep. What is your core doing right here? Can you pull the belly button back to spine as you exhale. The core supporting your body through the tension, so to amplify, can you move your upper body further behind your hips to light that core even more.