MATT ROBERTS | TRAINING ARTICLES

TWEAKOLOGY

By Jon Bell

I was introduced to the process of tweaking about eight years ago by a trainer called Rodney Corn. He was a Master Trainer from the National Academy of Sports Medicine. I had only been training clients for a couple of years and he told me that this handy little trick would serve me well.

Around that time a colleague of mine told me that another well-respected trainer by the name of Gary Grey had developed a course on, Tweakology. I have yet to find this course and so can’t vouch for the origin of tweaking. However, I am sure many trainers have simultaneously learned and explored the benefits of this useful training system without really giving a name to it.

Many of you may instantly recognise what I’m talking about once I elaborate; yet, I have seen countless trainers in gyms all over the world fail to apply this simple yet highly effective system/method.

Tweaking simply refers to the modification of an exercise to meet the client’s level of motor learning. Simply put if an exercise is too complex - too difficult, then the trainer must modify it so that the client’s necessary motor abilities are challenged on a sensible level. All too often trainers have their clients perform a full push-up on the toes despite the clear fact that the client is utterly incapable of it.

Their heads drops, scapular wing, shoulders elevate, neutral spine is lost and the client’s confidence is well… battered!

Tweaking is all about regressing or even progressing an exercise to bring about the right level of challenge to your client.

Take the full push-up done on its toes and think of fives ways to regress this exercise, making each version of it easier than the last to perform. Then do the same in reverse. Think of five ways in which you can modify the exercise to make it more difficult.

As I said earlier, this is an invaluable tool if you work in a busy and crowded gym. The faster and more precise you become the better you can serve your clients. It requires imagination and creativity, and of course, logic!

Why do trainers fail to tweak an exercise to meet the clients’ precise needs? It could be the client has told that trainer: ‘that’s how I’ve done it in the past’ or ‘that’s how my last trainer taught me to do it’. As such the present trainer doesn’t like to regress the client for fear of that client complaining of lack of progress or that the workout wasn’t as tough as what they’re used to. These were the problems that I encountered when I started personal training nearly ten years ago. Show integrity and train your clients in the manner you think they should be trained and not in the manner in which they think they should be trained. It is safer and they will achieve their goals faster.

You’ll find this subject is better learned practically rather than theoretically and can be done with nearly all movements. I will leave you with another example: Squatting! The people visiting our sites for personal training will be unlikely to perform a ‘deep’ squat with exquisite form on their first visit. That being said, would you still put some form of squatting in their programme knowing the vast array of benefits they can achieve, or will you avoid it? More often than not I start with split squats for my clients that cannot squat normally. This is an invaluable exercise and when done well will improve strength in the Quads, Adductors, Hamstrings, Glutes and even Calves. It will increase flexibility - range of motion throughout the hips, knees and ankles.

Regression doesn’t necessarily mean easy! Train smart and tweak their exercises according to your level.