There’s a slight difference between learning a movement and
actually performing it. Learning a movement can take a great deal of
concentration, depending on its complexity. As you learn a movement or perform an
activity, external and internal cues can help. These cues are generally given
by a coach, trainer, or training partner, and they can either aid your
performance or hinder it.
But what are cues? And
what are external and internal cues?
When referring to “cues,” we mean the verbal cues that you
receive when performing a lift. A good example of this is the mental image of a
lifter, and his spotting bro, benching at the gym. One bro is performing his
“epic” set of bench with 135, while techno/house music is blasting through his
headphones, as his fellow gym bro yells “PUSH! PRESS! ALL YOU, BRO!” so the
rest of the gym can hear. While extreme, this example describes a form of
cueing. Even though the gym bro probably can’t hear his friend’s encouragement
due to the high volume of pump-up music blasting into his ears, yelling “push
and press” are a way of cueing.
There are two kinds of cueing, however, and while they may
seem similar, they act in slightly different ways.
External cues are results-driven. When cueing externally you
are giving someone cues that take their focus “outside” of their body. An
example of this is saying “stand up tall” when someone is squatting or “press
to the ceiling” when they’re benching. By giving cues like this, you are taking
the lifter’s mental attention and helping to focus it on the result of the
lift. Giving and receiving external cues has also been shown to contribute to
higher levels of force production when performing a lift.1
Internal cues concentrate specifically on the movement of
the body. For example, this could mean cues such as “bend the knees,” “squeeze
the bar,” and “hinge the hips.” Internal cues direct the lifter’s attention
intrinsically and can be great when teaching movements. Through this method, a
lifter or athlete can gain body awareness and begin to understand how a
movement should feel, in order to self-correct as they gain proficiency.
If you are attempting to cue for max performance, however, internal
cues may be a hindrance. It has been shown that when receiving internal cues,
there is a greater increase of muscle co-contraction.1 Co-contraction means that the
prime movers are being counteracted by their muscular opposite. Think trying to
flex the elbow but your tricep is also firing, so then the bicep has to work
harder to complete the movement. That is co-contraction. In terms of
efficiency, if your primary movers for a lift are already attempting to perform
the movement, and then you add the resistance of your opposing muscle group
co-contracting, you’re increasing the energy required to complete the lift.
That is valuable energy that could be contributing to better efficiency when
performing a lift or sporting activity such as jumping.
Although they’re similar, external and internal cues perform
different tasks, depending on the outcome you would like to achieve. There is a
time and a place for the both of them, but it is important to distinguish when
to use the correct cues to optimize the result you want.
Ryan Goodell, CSCS
1. Kompf
J. Enhancing Skill and Performance in Resistance Training. Strength & Conditioning Journal. 2016;38(4):28-35.
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