Coach’s Cues That Fix 80% of Form
Walk into any fitness studio and you’ll hear coaches spouting a mix of weird and wonderful cues: “pack your lats!”, “root your feet!”, “keep ribs down!”, “long spine!”, “breathe into your back!”. To a newcomer, these might sound like a foreign language. But trust us – these simple phrases, when understood, can correct the majority of common form issues we see. In fact, we often joke that if everyone just did these five things, 80% of our job would be done. In this final post, we’re breaking down five of our go-to coach’s cues – explaining what each means, what problem it fixes, and how you can apply them yourself. Master these, and you’ll move better in almost any exercise. Let’s dive in:
1. “Pack Your Lats” – Activate Your Back for Stability
What it means: “Pack your lats” basically means engage the latissimus dorsi muscles (the big V-shaped back muscles under your armpits) by slightly pulling your shoulder blades down and together, as if you’re tucking them into your back pockets. Imagine trying to hold a pencil between your shoulder blade and your spine – that’s the feel of a lat pack.
What it fixes: This cue is golden for any upper body pulling movement (like deadlifts, rows, pull-ups) and even for squats or planks. By packing your lats, you stabilize your shoulder girdle and upper back. It prevents that hunched, rolled-forward shoulder position that leads to a rounded spine in deadlifts or squats. It also protects your shoulders during presses or planks by keeping them away from your ears and in a strong position. Essentially, it locks your upper body in a safe, solid posture, transferring force through your core rather than dumping pressure into your neck or lower back.
Drill to practice: Try a simple active hang from a bar: instead of dangling loose, “pack” your lats by pulling shoulders down – you’ll notice your chest rises slightly and your neck space increases. Or in a push-up position, before bending elbows, think of externally rotating your arms (as if screwing palms into floor) – you’ll feel lats tighten. That’s lat engagement. We often have clients practice an isometric hold like a “hinge hold” with dumbbells – basically the top of a deadlift position – and focus on that cue. When they pack lats, voila, their rounded upper back straightens. 80% of folks with a rounding back issue can fix it by this cue alone (the rest maybe need hamstring flexibility or other tweaks).
2. “Keep Ribs Down” – Control Your Core and Spine
What it means: “Keep ribs down” or sometimes we say “close your ribs” refers to avoiding flaring your ribcage up and out. Often when people reach overhead or even stand, their lower ribs stick forward/up (imagine an umbrella flaring open). We want you to keep your ribcage aligned with your pelvis – think about knitting your front ribs together and gently drawing them toward your hips.
What it fixes: Rib flare usually indicates your back is arching and your core is disengaged. By keeping ribs down, you automatically engage your abdominal muscles (particularly the deep transverse abdominis) and bring your spine into a neutral, supported position. This cue is crucial in overhead presses, planks, ab exercises, and even squats/deadlifts. It prevents that over-arched “banana back” that can lead to low back strain. For example, in a plank or push-up, many folks sag at the lower back because their ribs droop forward – cue ribs down, and the pelvis tucks slightly, spine neutral, core on. Or overhead, people compensate tight shoulders by flaring ribs – cueing them down forces you to truly use shoulder mobility and core stability for the move, not cheat by hyperextending the back.
We often say “rib-to-hip connection.” Maintain that slight tension as if your lower ribs and hip bones are magnetized together. This fixes 80% of over-arching issues in exercises. Once a client learns this, back pain in planks or overhead moves tends to disappear because the lumbar spine is no longer doing the work alone – the core is now sharing the load.
Drill to practice: Lie on your back, knees bent. Place one hand on your lower ribs, one on your pelvis. Inhale, let ribs rise a bit, then exhale and gently press your lower back toward the floor – you’ll feel your ribs sink (close) and your abs tighten. That’s the ribs-down position. Now try to keep that as you raise arms overhead or extend one leg – notice how much more your core works to prevent your ribs popping up. That is the foundational core bracing we want in most lifts.
3. “Root Your Feet” – Create a Stable Foundation
What it means: “Root your feet” means press your feet firmly into the ground and grip slightly with them, as if trying to spread the floor apart or grow roots from your soles. It involves three points of contact: big toe, little toe, and heel – all pressing down evenly (often called the “tripod foot”). Additionally, think of externally rotating the feet (without actually moving them) – like twisting them into the ground – this engages the arches and glutes.
What it fixes: This cue addresses wobbly stances, knee cave (valgus), and lack of lower body engagement. By rooting feet, you activate your legs from the ground up – you’ll feel your arches lift and your glutes tighten (because that external rotation torque signals glute engagement). In squats, this prevents knees from caving in, as the feet rooting keeps alignment. In deadlifts, it gives you more power and stability, because you’re not just pulling with your back – you're driving through the floor. Essentially it turns on your posterior chain and core. Also, it fixes balance issues; many times when someone can’t balance in a lunge or one-leg RDL, we cue foot rooting and suddenly they find stability, because they were sort of passively standing on their foot before, not actively gripping the floor.
It's akin to the concept of "grounding" – a stable base makes the whole movement efficient and safe. Also, “root your feet” can alleviate knee pain by ensuring even pressure distribution and proper knee tracking (when arch collapses, knee often does too; rooting prevents that).
Drill to practice: Stand barefoot. Try to “shorten” your foot by pulling the ball of foot toward heel (you’ll see your arch lift) – that’s part of rooting. Then practice a squat focusing on pushing the floor apart with your feet as you stand; you should feel outer hips (glutes medius) fire. Or do a slow march in place – as each foot lands, immediately root it (tripod down, slight twist out). You’ll notice more stability and power in each step. Bring that feeling into weighted exercises. Once mastered, 80% of “my knees hurt in squats” or “I lose balance in lunges” tends to vanish.
4. “Long Spine” – Maintain Neutral Posture
What it means: “Long spine” is our way of saying maintain axial elongation – basically, think of someone gently pulling your head toward the ceiling and your tailbone toward the floor, lengthening you out. It often accompanies cues like “neck long, crown of head up” or “imagine a string on your head pulling you tall”. It encourages a neutral spine (natural curves) without slouching or over-arching, and a neutral neck (no chicken head forward or tilting).
What it fixes: This cue addresses head/neck position and overall posture during lifts. Many people crane their neck (look up too high during deadlifts or push-ups) or let it droop. By cueing long spine, we get them to align head with spine and create space between vertebrae. It also helps with core engagement – a long spine usually means you’re not compressing (slouching) which disengages core, nor overextending which compresses facets. For instance, in rowing or cycling (even outside gym), thinking long spine prevents that hunched back (flexion) that can cause back pain. During planks or push-ups, “long spine” fixes the common pelvis sag or pike – you aim for that long line from head to tail.
Essentially, it’s a cure for 80% of posture-related issues in exercise. It's simple: people intuitively know what “stand tall” or “lengthen” means, and when they do it, shoulders usually fall into place, core turns on (because slouch off = core off), and they appear more balanced.
Also, “long spine” often alleviates neck tension – if someone is shrugging or clenching neck, telling them to create length often releases that tension and sets neck neutral (like in a shoulder press – instead of head forward straining, long neck helps keep shoulder blades down and neck free).
Drill to practice: In any position, imagine someone gently pulling your head away from your hips. E.g., sit at a desk and do it – you’ll find you stop slumping. In the gym, before a deadlift, stand and do a mock move while focusing on stretching your spine long (not rounding or over-arching). Or lie on a mat, do a bridge: think long spine – you’ll likely not over-arch but rather lengthen through your knees. Even in stretching, say a hamstring stretch, long spine ensures you hinge at hips not curl your back. It's a mental image that yields better alignment in almost any context.
5. “Breathe Posteriorly” – Use Your Diaphragm & Back
What it means: “Breathe posteriorly” (or sometimes we say “breathe into your back” or “360° breathing”) instructs you to send your inhale into your back ribs and sides, not just belly or chest. Essentially, expand your ribcage in all directions (especially laterally and back) when you inhale. Pilates folks call it lateral breathing. It’s the opposite of shallow chest breathing (which lifts shoulders) or overly pushing belly out (which can destabilize core if excessive). Posterior breathing implies your diaphragm is descending properly and your lower ribs expand out and back, stretching the muscles between ribs.
What it fixes: This cue addresses breath holding and poor core engagement issues. Many people, when lifting, either hold breath incorrectly or just breathe in a way that doesn’t support the movement. By breathing into the back and sides, you maintain intra-abdominal pressure and keep your rib cage down (notice how all these cues inter-relate: breathing properly helps keep ribs down automatically). It prevents that big chest inhale that flares ribs and that big belly inhale that bulges abs out too much. Instead, it stabilizes the midsection evenly.
Also, breathing posteriorly relaxes neck and shoulders – chest breathing tends to tighten neck muscles (the scalenes) which is why some get tense traps when exerting. Shifting focus to back-breathing often releases that and funnels effort to core and back muscles, which can take it. This is especially crucial in heavy lifts or planks where breath holding might occur – teaching a posterior/lateral inhale and a controlled exhale (maybe through pursed lips or like fogging a mirror) ensures constant core support and oxygen flow, preventing dizziness or form break.
Posterior breath also mobilizes the thoracic spine and ribs – an inhale that expands back ribs can actually help extend the upper back subtly. We find 80% of people who struggle with overhead mobility or tight upper back benefit from learning to breathe into those stuck areas; it gently opens them over time and also calms down any tendency to shrug shoulders on inhale (since now they focus expansion elsewhere).
Drill to practice: Lie on your stomach or wrap a resistance band around your lower ribs. Inhale, aim to push the band out to the sides and into the floor with your belly (stomach lying gives feedback: you can’t belly breathe as much, forcing you to use back). Exhale fully (feel abs tighten, ribs down). Or do a bear-hug with hands on sides of ribs and inhale to push hands apart. That’s lateral/posterior breathing. In exercise, think “inhale to prepare (into back), exhale on exertion (blow out, engage abs)” – that pattern with posterior focus will keep your core like a cylinder, not just pooching out front or straining up top.
Applying it, say in a squat: before descending, inhale into your sides/back (ribs expand 360° but core stays braced), then exhale up out of the hole powerfully (ribs down, abs engaged). Many people feel more solid and less pressure in low back doing this.
To sum up, these five cues are relatively simple, but they address the most common compensations:
Pack lats: prevents rounded shoulders/back
Ribs down: prevents over-arch, engages core
Root feet: prevents collapse/unstable base, engages glutes
Long spine: ensures aligned posture, prevents both slouch and over-arch, reduces neck strain
Breathe posteriorly: ensures proper bracing and oxygen, prevents breath-holding and chest strain
Individually each fixes a lot; together, they basically cue a full-body proper alignment and engagement. They work in synergy (notice how doing one often naturally helps the others; e.g., root feet often encourages ribs down and vice versa, breathing right helps keep spine long, etc.).
Coaches love these because instead of micromanaging every joint, one short phrase triggers a cascade of corrections. It’s an efficient way to get someone lifting safely and effectively. And as a client, focusing on these five is less overwhelming than dozens of tiny pointers.
Next time you’re training, run through this mental checklist of cues. You might be surprised how much stronger and more comfortable a lift feels when these elements click in. Over time, they become habits – your default way of moving. That’s when we coaches grin, because we know we’ve set you up with fundamentals that will serve you in anything – whether you’re in our class or picking up a heavy suitcase or going for a run.
They say “fundamentals are the building blocks of fun” – master these cues (the fundamentals of form) and not only will you drastically reduce injury risk and inefficiency (that famed 80% solved), but you’ll likely find exercise more enjoyable because it feels right. When things move well, there’s a certain joy and confidence that comes with it.
So next session, listen for these cues from your coach (you’ll hear them often at Protagonist). Now that you know what they really mean and why they matter, respond by adjusting and feeling the difference. It might just fix that tricky spot you’ve been struggling with. Happy training, and remember: small cues, big results.
Protagonist Zurich | Reformer Pilates & Strength Boutique Studio