Coaching & Mindset
A Target At Knee Height Or A Short Reach Changes How Hard A Movement Is, And Movement Coach Teaches Real Targets And Relative Ones
From the FASTER syllabus: this article is taught in full in Movement Coach, the FASTER course that teaches targets →
In short: The FASTER Movement Coach course says changing a height or a distance in a movement changes how hard it is to stabilise, slow down or get out of. There are two ways to set one: a real target, such as a platform, a wall mark or a numbered circle, or a relative target, such as up, down, short, comfy, long or maximum range.
The short version
Moving a target a few centimetres changes the movement without changing the exercise. The Movement Coach course says so directly: changing a height or a distance can change how difficult the movement is to stabilise, slow down or get out of. It gives you two ways to set one, and both are easy to use in a session.
Key Takeaways
- A real target can be measured: a platform, a wall mark, a numbered circle on the floor.
- A relative target is a word: up, down, short, comfy, long, maximum range.
- Changing either one changes the difficulty without changing the exercise.
Real targets
A real target is a thing in the room. The course gives the examples. A platform or a step for height, or marks on a wall, so the client reaches to one specific place. The vertical jump test is the familiar version: a number on the wall and a hand that gets there or does not. For distance, the course uses numbered shapes on the floor, circle 7 or triangle 7, and the instruction becomes "past 7".
The pleasure of a real target is that the result is written in the room. The client sees it, you see it, and next week the same mark is still there.
Relative and vague targets
A relative target needs nothing but your voice. For height, the command is up, down, or roughly a body part. "Reach to about knee height" is a perfectly good instruction. For distance, the course keeps it as plain as short, medium (comfy), long or maximum range.
Vague does not mean careless. It leaves the client room to find their own way to the target, which fits the course's wider idea that a client who aims at an outcome moves more naturally than one thinking about each joint.
Choosing between them
Use a real target when you want to compare one week with the next. Use a relative one when you are working in a hall with nothing to hand, or when you want the session to feel loose. Many trainers use both inside one session, a measured mark for the test and a spoken one for the warm-up.
Why this belongs in a coaching course
Heights and distances turn up in almost every programme. Once you know that moving one changes the difficulty, you have a progression that needs no extra equipment and no new exercise to teach. FASTER teaches it visually and interactively, and you can learn it by listening, reading, writing answers or dictating them.
What to do next
Read about the Movement Coach course. Today's PT Manager post shows a tool that picks a height or distance at random so you can try one. PT Manager opens the moment you sign up with FASTER to learn on. Adding real clients unlocks once you are qualified and on the Register.
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You just read one answer. The course is all of them.
Movement Coach, the FASTER course that teaches targets: every answer marked by a real tutor, with free return access for life. The price is on the page, payment plans at checkout, no sales calls.
Also worth a look: PT Manager, where the Wheel of Variables picks a height or distance for you.
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Frequently asked
What is a real target?
A fixed thing in the room you can measure, such as a platform, a step, a wall mark or a numbered circle on the floor.
What is a relative target?
A word the client can act on without a measuring tape: up, down, short, medium (comfy), long or maximum range.
Why change a height or distance?
The course says it changes how difficult the movement is to stabilise, slow down or get out of.
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