The next step in cue use is to let your training partners know about the cues that work for you. If the only person who knows what cues you need to hear is the coach and you have to go for a max effort attempt when they’re not around, your training partners can help you through the lift with the right cues. They get to take all the hard work your coach has done instructing you and remind you of the proper technique by saying a short phrase. That’s pretty sweet! Just make sure they know what you are trying to accomplish so that they can cue you at the right time.

Part three is to make sure you listen to your cues. This sounds so simple that it shouldn’t even be mentioned, but it is amazing how many times it is forgotten. When the weight gets heavy you need to pay attention to your cues even more because the margin of error becomes much smaller. The human mind has a tendency to shut out everything when the work gets hard and you have to fight through this to make sure you hear and respond to the technical advice being given to you. If you forget to pay attention to cues I bet you are forgetting your technique. Without this none of the hard earned strength you have built can be translated to the barbell.

This will be a 2 part blog post about using cues effectively.

In an athletic context, a cue refers to a word or phrase given to you by someone who is watching you lift. The cue is used to correct technique without the need for a long explanation during a lift. As an athlete you are probably wondering how you can maximize the performance boost you can get from listening to cues.

The first step to an effective use of a cue is making sure you understand the movement that the coach is trying to correct with it. Let’s take the squat as an example. A common error made by novices in the squat is to not actively drive the knee outwards, causing the knees to buckle at the beginning of the ascent leading to a failed rep or injury. The cue that is usually given is simply “knees” or “knees out.” In order to get the most out of this cue the athlete must know what it feels like to be in the position of knees out. Here is where asking questions comes in.

If you have trouble visualizing, physically replicating, and/or understanding why the cue is used then it will not be as effective. Usually this can be cleared up by asking a coach how the movement should be executed and then doing the correct movement with no weight. After this, when the weight is heavy, the same correction made at a light weight will transfer over to the heavy. Do not be afraid to ask for a demo if you don’t understand the cue. Otherwise you just have lots of people yelling at you and no improvement.

The next step in cue use is…

Next step, putting weight on the bar. This step is more specific to the workout you are trying to do so let’s break it down. If you are trying to do some silly workout like 300 squats with 95lbs for time then you can probably jump right to that weight. For a heavy workout it’s much better to make several jumps before reaching your working weight.

The classic 5×5 program might warrant 2 sets of 5 reps, 1 of 4, a triple and a double building the weight each set up to your final working weight for the 5×5. There is no magic percentage warm-up for this kind of workout and the first few sets typically follow the easiest way to load the bar without using small plates (eg. 135, 225, 315…). The smaller jumps come as the weight approaches your working weight and the reps are reduced to limit the volume of the warm-up sets.

If you are attempting a max effort squat for reps (eg. 5RM) you may need to modify your warm-up to fit the needs of the task. First comes the empty bar to grove the movement and then a set of 5 regardless of the number of reps in your effort. After those sets I will use the number of reps planned for the effort if it is less than 3 for all subsequent warm-up sets. Special note: for a 5 rep max warm up like you would for the 5×5 but add a few more doubles as needed to get to the planned weight. The reason that I use the number of reps in the effort to warm up is that it prepares the body mentally and physically for the specific task ahead. You know what each rep feels like for that number and you are able to anticipate the max set with each set of your warm-ups.

In addition to an initial guess at the proper working weight you can use the warm-up sets to determine the weight that you will attempt by feel and by feedback from spotters. As the weight gets heavier you should feel out your technique and make corrections between sets. If for some reason you just can’t seem to get the perfect squat you may want to reduce the weight you had initially planned. Typically if your technique is spot on there it is usually not a good idea to raise the amount of weight for your attempt. Any increases should only happen if the weight feels like it is moving easily; here is where the spotters come in. A good spotter will be giving you technical feedback as well as an evaluation of bar speed. If the bar is moving quickly relative to how you have moved it before (here is where having a regular training partner helps) then you may be able to attempt a higher weight. Typically if the weight you planned to lift is already a pr you should avoid greed and rep out a solid personal record.

Now on to the 1 rep max; this IS your squat, the only measure that truly counts….