We can get caught up in raddeling off our favorite barre cues. I’m at a point where I could literally close my eyes and teach class. I pretty much know where the problem spots will be and can cue accordingly. BUT this is not why people come to your in-person classes….we can leave that to the online videos (HOLLA). People come to in-person classes for the individual attention, even in a group setting. 

Instead of reverting to what you would maybe normally cue, try being more precise! For example, if my class is lying on their backs for ab work ( say we’re doing ab curls for this example) I will cue for the pelvis to be neutral. Great…. But who cares?? They might not know WHY I am cueing this to happen. So I will instead say what I want to achieve. It will sound something like, “anchor your tailbone to the floor to maintain a neutral pelvis, that way your abdominals do the work of lifting you away from the mat and not your hip flexors.”

Here are my 2 bonus cues with what I want to achieve!

1. When doing bird-dog I will cue to keep the hip of the stabilizing leg to stay over the same knee. If I want to fully cue and explain here’s what it will sound like, “Keep the stabilizing hip over the knee; that way, the work goes into the obliques as well as the outer hip muscles.”
2. In releve, I will cue to resist the heels to the floor. The full cue and achievement sounds like, “Resist the heels as you lower in order to maintain the engagement of the inner thighs, quads, and glutes.”

Also, I sometimes like asking questions instead of just cuing. I’ll say, for example, “can you find more length through your spine?” Or “can you lift up your heel higher?” Instead of just cuing to lift, in that moment to me it is more important for them to find length within themselves and learn how to find it on their own. For me it’s essential to teach as well as instruct, which is the purpose behind my teaching.

What’s an example of a cue and what you want to achieve? Share below in the comments ?