MEDICAL MATTERS

Make ‘em sweat – Never mind the technique!

Personal Trainer Dr John Searle

and thoracic spine. Another client was doing a bar bell biceps curl and extending the lumbar spine during the concentric phase of the exercise. In neither case did the PT correct their client. In the third example the PT said to the client, ‘Grab a bike and hop on.’ Two things were obvious: the seat was too low and the foot straps were too tight.

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When I was a hospital doctor I worked in a highly technical specialty and impeccable technique was absolutely essential when I was doing things to patients. The same applies to exercise. Why is technique so important? Here are five reasons:

1 Poor technique reduces the effectiveness of the exercise. If muscles are being recruited in addition to the ones for which a resistance exercise is designed then the intensity at which the target muscles work is reduced and the client is deceived into thinking that they can lift more than those muscles actually can.

2 Correct technique minimises the risk of injury.

3 Correct technique promotes progression. Once the technique has been mastered increasing intensity can be safely pursued.

4 Often the loss of form is the first indication that a client is getting towards failure. In people with chronic conditions exercising to failure is usually not safe and the first sign of loss of form is the point at which to stop.

5 Ensuring that a client always has the correct technique promotes a disciplined approach to exercise which is an essential prerequisite of progression.

So how can we teach correct technique?

l Explain the exercise, the muscles used, what they do anatomically and functionally. In this way clients understand the exercise.

l Demonstrate the exercise, giving the client cues which will help them learn the correct form. One of the reasons I teach squats and dead lifts in front of a mirror is that I can demonstrate how keeping eye contact with yourself in the mirror is a good way of keeping the back straight.

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ecently I was doing my own training session in the gym and I noticed three personal trainers working with clients. In one case the client was performing a squat with a curved lumbar

l Always start with a low intensity, be it aerobic or resistance exercise. Correct form cannot be learnt if the initial intensity is too high.

l Observe the client all the time cuing the key points and giving lots of encouragement.

l Use learning aids – diagrams, pictures, video clips on your smart phone.

l Avoid overload. There is a limit to the number of exercises clients can master in a one session. They lose heart and self-confidence if we ask them to do too much. I usually limit the first three or four sessions with a new client to one aerobic exercise, two or three resistance exercises and three stretches.

There are two other points which over the years I have learnt are important in enabling me to teach correct technique. Firstly, model it. Clients are hugely encouraged if they see their PT working out and doing the things they teach. It keeps you on your toes if you know your clients are watching you! (And it is a good way of recruiting new clients. They see us ‘walking the talk’.) Secondly, I have benefitted enormously from having my own PT. The one I work with insists on impeccable form. He picks up little mistakes which I have not noticed. He introduces me to new exercises and we bounce ideas off each other as we work.

Safe and effective exercise is a function of correct technique, not the volume of sweat generated or the loudness of the grunts!

THE AUTHOR John Searle worked for 25 years in the NHS as a consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care but developed rheumatoid arthritis in his mid 50s and had to take early retirement on health grounds. Subsequently he discovered the benefits of exercise for his illness, going on to qualify as a personal trainer, and spent a number of years thereafter working mainly with older people and people with chronic conditions. John is a former honorary chief medical officer of the ukactive (FIA) where he worked to promote links between the health and fitness professions. He believes passionately that physical activity and exercise is the key to health and well-being, and that the promotion of a healthy and independent older age are essential parts of the management of chronic illness. In 1998 John was awarded the OBE for services to medicine and the hospice movement.

The REPs Journal 2013;27(May):22