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CookbookLabs and workshopsNo. 29

A lifting technique manualcues, faults and spotting for the big lifts

Recipe No. 29 · Labs and workshops

For: A school coach teaching the big lifts in the weight room

You get: A document per lift with its cues and faults, and a bench press model

Time: An evening, then a weekend on the cues

See it in know.sh

Try it. An animated bench press: play the rep, then switch on a fault, such as flared elbows, and watch the bar path and joints change.

The bench press faults section: a table of what you see, the cue and the drill, and a note on which cue worked for period 3.

Weight room — the big liftsBench press

5of 8

Common faults, and the cue for each

Problem, key section, 1 highlight, 410 words

Watch from the side for the bar path and the forearms, and from the head of the bench for the elbows. Fix one fault at a time, the first one you see.

Buttocks stay on the bench for every rep; it is a rule in powerlifting competition as well as a coaching point.

The first document on the shelf: the bench press spot as numbered steps, and every safety section filed as a Risk and marked Key.

Weight room — the big liftsNo. 1

Spotting and safetyevery lift, before anyone lifts

6 sections, 1,720 words, about 7 minutes, 4 highlights, revised 3 September

Read this before your first session and before you spot anyone. Every athlete shows the coach the bench press spot with an empty bar before spotting a loaded one.

Deadlifts are not spotted: clear the space around the bar instead. The squat spot is section 3.

Sections

  1. 1Spotting the bench pressRisk, keySafeties, signals, the hand-off, following the bar and the take.
  2. 2Collars, safeties and a clear floorRisk, key
  3. 3Spotting the squatRisk, keySafety arms set first; one spotter behind, or two at the ends of the bar.
  4. 4Stop on pain, and tell the coachRisk, keyPain ends the set. The coach and a medical professional decide what happens next.

and 2 more sections

How it works

Write down the cues you say on the floor, “bend the bar”, “touch, then press”, where an athlete can read them the night before. Each lift gets its setup, cues, faults and spotting, with the faults set out as what you see, the cue and the drill. The bench press carries a model to step through frame by frame.

  1. Draft a document per lift

    Give your assistant your coaching notes and ask for Spotting and safety first, then Squat, Bench press, Deadlift and Overhead press, each with the same six sections and no loads.

  2. Rewrite the cues in your own words

    Press Edit and rewrite every cue as you say it on the floor, four or five words, one idea each. Athletes remember the coach’s words, not a textbook’s.

  3. Set the faults out as a table

    Ask for a table element in each Common faults section: a row per fault, with what you see, the cue and the drill. Six rows is plenty.

  4. Step through the bench press model

    Ask for a widget element in Bench press: a side view with the bar path, the elbow angle and six faults to switch on. Pairs study it before anyone loads a bar.

Try this prompt

Your assistant, connected to know.sh (Claude, ChatGPT or a local model):

Using know.sh, add a widget element to the overview of Bench press: a side view of a lifter on a flat bench, the bar lowered in three seconds to the bottom of the breastbone, paused, and pressed back over the shoulder in a J-curve. Show the elbow angle, whether the forearm is vertical, frame-by-frame controls and a menu of six faults. Say in the caption what it leaves out.

Your assistant, connected to know.sh (Claude, ChatGPT or a local model):

Using know.sh, make a shelf called “Weight room — the big lifts” with documents for Spotting and safety, Squat, Bench press, Deadlift and Overhead press. Give each lift the sections Setup, The rep, Cues, Common faults, Progressions and Spotting, from my notes: [paste]. Keep each cue under six words, make no claims about injuries, and leave loads, sets and repetitions out.

Made with

ShelfDocumentYour AI assistantThe editorElementsPublic link

See also