In this lesson you will learn about the skills to lead your class.
- Focus on the timing of cueing and how this affects the safety for the members.
- Think about how members benefit from the variety of cues you provide within your class.
- Complete the 6 questions and 4 tables on this lesson in the unit study guide.
Leading group exercise classes requires a unique set of skills. Among these skills are music identity, cuing, exercise selection and motivational leadership.
Music Identity
Most group exercise music is specifically pre-formatted with consistent beats and phrases. Understanding the beat, downbeat, and phrase will assist in your class leadership.
Music terms
Musical Beat – regular pulses with an even rhythm and occurs in a continuous pattern
- Downbeat – strong heavy beat, pulsing on odd counts of the phrase (1-3-5-7)
- Upbeat – lighter beat occurs on beat/ct (2-4-6-8)
Phrase – groups of beats that may be used to enhance movement instruction and demonstration
- 8-count phrase-refers to small sections of beats that repeat throughout a song (Counts 1-8)
- 32-count-refers to a larger grouping of beats. Consists of four 8 count phrases (Counts 1-32)
Instructor tip: Always let participants know when a movement change is coming by using anticipatory cues.
Cuing refers to the verbal and non-verbal instructions given as you lead a class. Cues can indicate movement, direction, number of repetitions, and provide tips and motivation for movement execution.
Types of Cues
Description
Example
Keywords
- -The name of an exercise or movement
- -Stating what you want your class to do
- Biceps curl
- Step touch right and left
- Step knee
- March right
Numerical
Counting
Ascending
Descending
- -The number of repetitions you plan to do
- -Count down when cueing to indicate an end to a sequence
- Double step touch
- Four knee lifts
Anticipatory
- -What you plan to do next or how many repetitions are remaining
- -Tell your class only what you want them to do next; avoid information overload
- Change in four
- Eight more
Technical
- -Providing alignment, posture, safety tips
- -This is the additional, important information given prior to and during an exercise
- Circle your wrists
- Bend your elbow
Descriptive
- -How to execute an exercise or step
- -Use this when more words are needed to describe how to do an exercise
- Circle your wrists
- Bend your elbow
- Step right- left heel front
Instructor Cuing Tips
Incorporate
Avoid
Internalize Before You Verbalize
Inferred Cueing
Determine what you want to say prior to telling your class what to do and prior to your move. Create your cue before you begin an exercise.
Mean what you say and say what you mean.
Example: You cue “knee lift right” and you do knee lift right and left; you have taught your class that when you say right; you mean right and left. The correct cue would be knee lift right and left.
Example: You cue “double step touch right” and you do double step touch right and left. The correct cue would be “double step touch right and left.”
Professional Terminology
Use of the Word “It”
Avoid slang, or language that may be offensive.
“lt” has no meaning or impact on your directions.
Example: Lift “it” up, squeeze “it”, push “it” forward. Instead, say “lift your arm,” “squeeze your legs,” “press your arms forward.” Simply replace the word “it” with a more meaningful word.
Limit Your Cues
Extra Dialogue
During choreography, use two or four words at a time; if you use more than four words, you may be asking your class to do too much at one time.
Fillers and extra info detract from your message.
Example: the name of step or movement.
Example: Come on, let’s, we’re gonna, okay now, when l tell you.
Vocal Tone & Pitch
Negative Words
Smile with your voice.
Negative cues require an explanation.
Example: Don’t lift your shoulders; instead, say “lower your shoulders.”
Mirroring
Teaching from a standing position will help participant visibility of your exercise demonstration. We also encourage you to face your class to increase engagement and interaction, which requires the use of mirror image cuing. When mirroring, the instructor’s right is the participant’s left. Mirroring is a skill that may take time to practice. Wearing a bracelet, cuing to sides of the room, or even posting signs may assist with learning this technique.
Exercise Selection
Designing movement patterns is an advanced skill that even the beginning instructor needs to master to ensure safe and effective group exercise class design. Selected choreography should reflect the goals of the class.
Safe exercise selection highlights a demonstrated purpose for the exercise, the ability to make adjustments based on observation, options for varying intensity levels, and benchmarks for demonstrated success. Exercise selection should also highlight safe and easy-to-follow transitions.
Increased functional strength and balance is the reward following progressive gains in musculoskeletal stability and mobility. Instructors wanting to add variety through an expanded inventory of choreography must consider safety, goals, appropriate modifications, and successful instruction with the end result in mind when creating new movements.
Before selecting an exercise for the class, apply the formula for exercise selection:
Concept
Question
Idea
What is the idea for the movement?
Goal
What is the goal or benefit of the movement?
Variation
Does/Can this exercise need to be adapted for intensity variations? How?
Equipment
What resistance tool to use for the best result?
Transition
How much time does it take to set up the movement with the resistance tool? Does it transition easily to another movement?
Success
How do you know it’s successful? Get feedback.
For example, if the goal of the exercise is to build strength and endurance to pick up a box, apply the goal to the exercise selection questions:
Concept
Question
Example
Idea
What is the idea for the movement?
Picking up a box (example: biceps curl with a squat)
Goal
What is the goal or benefit of the movement?
To build strength and endurance to lift a heavy object
Variation
Does/Can this exercise need to be adapted for intensity variations? How?
Yes. Less resistance. Decrease range of motion.
Equipment
What resistance tool to use for the best result?
Hand-held weights or tubing
Transition
How much time does it take to set up the movement with the resistance tool? Does it transition easily to another movement?
Transition to Standing overhead press
Success
How do you know it’s successful? Get feedback.
Participants increase resistance over time. Participants say carrying boxes is easier.
When creating warm-up, cool-down, or aerobic work blocks for formats requiring cardiorespiratory conditioning, there are four base moves to build combinations. The four base moves are:
- March- step R, step L; or step L, step R
- Step-something- touch R, step R; touch L, step L; or R knee lift,
- Something Step- step R, touch L; step L, touch R; or step R, lift L
- Neutral Movement- weight on both feet, ex: both heel lifts, both toe taps, squats
Basic Movement Patterns
When developing movement patterns, consider building choreography from base movements. When teaching complex patterns, break movement up into digestible parts to improve participant understanding. Give participants the opportunity to master movement patterns to increase their sense of achievement.
For example, if the resulting combination is four movements, ABCD, consider:
- Linear Progression: A+B+C+D=ABCD
- Block Progression: AB+CD=ABCD
- Repetition reduction: AAAA+BBBB+CCCC+DDDD=AABBCCDD=ABCD
Transitions
Smooth transitions are the product of selecting movements that easily connect to each other, which minimizes risk for injury. Avoid selecting exercises that do not fit together. For example, a touch step and step touch.
Filler transitions can be used to connect two “unconnectable steps” or when a holding pattern is beneficial for the instructor and or participants. For seamless flow of movement that maintains exercise intensity, the exit of one exercise becomes the entry to the next exercise in no more than 10 seconds.
Instructor Tip: Use the Entry-Action-Exit Principle to create seamless transitions. Let the exit of one exercise become the entrance to the next.
Movement Variations
Teaching to a wide range of abilities includes the use of progressions, regressions, and modifications. Instructors must be ready to show a wide variety of options to meet the needs of every participant. Participants may demonstrate a high level of fitness skill, requiring intensity options, similar to a main-stream fitness class. However, participants may also demonstrate movement limitation, instability, and a low level of confidence.
Progressions make an exercise more complex or challenging, while regressions break a movement down into a simpler or less intense form. A modification can be used for specific conditions, injuries or limitations. In addition to changing intensity, you can also alter the look and feel of a movement with a style variation.
Intensity Variations
Description
Example
Resistance
Choosing heavier or lighter resistance tools or by working with one’s own body weight against gravity.
Exercise: Biceps curl with weights
Regression: Biceps curl with ball
Progression: Biceps curl with heavier weights.
Range of Motion
The distance and direction a joint can move between its flexed and extended positions. It affects the intensity of exercise by forcing the body to recruit more or fewer muscles during a movement.
Exercise: Lunge
Regression: Side-seated position in chair. With legs in lunge position, lift the hips off of seat.
Progression: Standing split-stance lunge. Lower back knee toward the floor, return to standing.
Lever Length
Indicates flexion or extension at a joint during exercise. Using a “longer” lever requires more strength than using a “shorter” lever.
Exercise: Knee-lift right/left
Regression: Toe touch right/left
Progression: Kick right/left
Balance
Modifying stance during an exercise can help counteract balance challenges, just as it can make certain exercises more difficult.
Exercise: Squat
Regression: Sit hips to chair, stand up
Progression: Lift one heel, squat down and up without support
Style Variations
Description
Example
Style
Changing the look or feel of a step
- March in place – low or high
- March out, out, in, in or V step (fwd out, out, in, in)
- Rock step (R - step fwd R, step in place L, step back R, step in place L)
Asymmetrical
When uneven repetitions are performed
- March in place – low or high
- March out, out, in, in or V step (fwd out, out, in, in)
- Rock step (R - step fwd R, step in place L, step back R, step in place L)
- 3 + 1: (hustle) march r, l, r, tap l or march l, r, l, tap r
Rhythm
Fast, slow, syncopated, combination of speeds
- ½ time, at tempo, double-time (fast or stampede)
- Cha Cha; 1,2 - 1,2,3 (2 tempo - 3 dbl time) r, l - r, l, r or l, r,- l, r, l
Number of Repetitions
The number of repetitions performed
- Two knee lifts, four Knee lift, etc.
Travel or Direction
Locomoting forward, back, circle, angle right or left
- Walk forward, walk back