Cueing for Coaches: Why I Don’t Tell Clients to “Turn On” Their Core (or Any Other Muscle)

Apr 21, 2025

3 min read

Why I Don’t Tell Clients to “Turn On” Their Core (or Any Other Muscle) when I'm teaching cueing for coaches

One of the most common (and misguided) coaching cues in fitness is “Turn on your core!” or “Activate your biceps!” While it might sound helpful, it’s actually not how the body naturally works—and worse, it can lead to inefficient movement, confusion, and even compensation patterns.

Here’s why I never use these cues and what I focus on instead.

1. Muscles Don’t Work in Isolation

Your body isn’t a collection of independent switches where you can just “turn on” one muscle while leaving others off. Movement is a coordinated effort between multiple muscles, stabilizers, and joint mechanics.

💡 Example: The Biceps Myth

If I tell you to “activate your biceps” during a curl, you might think you’re isolating them—but studies show that other muscles, like the triceps (the antagonist muscle), also activate to stabilize the movement. The body works in systems, not isolated on/off switches.

2. The Core Should Engage Naturally

Many people think of “switching on their core” as tensing their abs like they’re about to be punched. But that’s not how the core is meant to function during movement.

🔹 Muscles should engage in proportion to the task required.

🔹 If you brace 100% for a simple movement, you’re over-recruiting muscles, leading to tension and inefficiency.

🔹 Proper core activation should happen automatically when the body is in the right position—not because you’re forcefully contracting it.

💡 Try This Instead:

Rather than saying “Turn on your core,” I cue:

• “Breathe out as you lift.”
• “Imagine your ribs gently drawing toward your hips.”
• “Feel your whole torso stabilizing as you move.”

This keeps activation functional and responsive, rather than forcing an unnatural brace.

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Read: Core vs Abs and how often to train them

3. Overthinking Cues = Worse Movement

When someone is already in the right position, yelling “Turn on your core!” can actually make them second-guess themselves. Suddenly, they start tensing too hard, shifting position, or recruiting the wrong muscles—all because they think they weren’t doing it right.

🔹 I watch for natural feedback instead:

• Facial micro-expressions: Are they wincing in pain?
• Breath patterns: Are they holding their breath or struggling?
• Smoothness of movement: Are they fighting through the exercise or flowing naturally?

This tells me way more than whether they’re actively “thinking” about turning a muscle on.

4. The Body Already Knows What to Do

When we put the body in optimal positions for movement, the right muscles activate automatically. If they don’t, it usually means:

1️⃣ The movement pattern is off.

2️⃣ There’s an underlying weakness or injury.

Instead of forcing a muscle to “turn on,” I adjust the movement or resistance to naturally encourage better engagement.

💡 For example:

Instead of telling someone to “activate their glutes” in a squat, I might:

• Adjust their stance.
• Have them press their feet into the floor differently.
• Use an external cue like “Push the ground away.”

And guess what? The glutes will fire without them needing to think about it.

5. Injury Cases: When Muscle Activation Does Matter

There is an exception—if someone is rehabbing an injury and struggling to recruit the right muscles, targeted activation drills can help retrain motor patterns.

🔹 But even in these cases, proper movement selection is key.

🔹 Instead of mentally “turning on” a muscle, we focus on putting the body in a position where the muscle has no choice but to engage correctly.

Final Thoughts: Train Smarter, Not Harder

🔹 Your muscles aren’t light switches. They work together, not in isolation.

🔹 Overthinking cues can disrupt movement. Let the body do what it’s designed to do.

🔹 Position dictates activation. Get the form right, and the muscles will follow.

🔹 Feedback cues (breath, facial expressions, movement flow) tell us more than verbal activation cues ever will.

So next time you hear “Turn on your core!”, ask yourself—is this actually helping, or just making me tense up unnecessarily?

Smart movement > over-cueing. Always.

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