The language we use as trainers matters.
This weekend, I took a continuing education course on hip and pelvic biomechanics to fulfill some CEU requirements for my occupational therapy license. One of the quiz questions read:
“True or False: The more someone is in an APT (anterior pelvic tilt) when squatting, the deeper they’ll be able to move before impinging.”
The answer is false.
It’s false because the femur (long bone in your thigh) runs into the front of the hip socket when the pelvis is overly anteriorly oriented. When we change the pelvic position, tilt slightly more posteriorly, and keep the ribs over the hips, that bony contact happens later in the range, and the person can often squat deeper and more comfortably.
As trainers, our job is to understand concepts like these. But it’s also our job to communicate these concepts in away that helps clients move better without pathologizing very normal things.
Essentially, what answering “false” to this question is saying is: if you can posteriorally tilt your pelvis (think about tucking your tailbone slightly under and keeping your ribs stacked over your hips) rather than arching through your lower back, your squat will often feel smoother, and you’ll probably notice that you can get deeper before things start to feel “pinchy.”
I can’t tell you how many times a new client has walked in told me they can’t squat citing something like, “I have hip impingement,” as if they’ve been diagnosed with a disease. My response to this is that I also “have hip impingement” if I try to squat below parallel while maintaining an exaggerated arch in my lower back. That’s not dysfunction. It’s the way the hip joint works. Let’s try respositioning your pelvis when you squat. Usually, it takes just a couple of small positional cues to clear that up.
When we tell someone they “have” something, whether it’s an “impingement,” “instability,” or “pelvic tilt”, we’re assigning a label. And those labels shape how people view their bodies and what they believe they can or can’t do.
That’s why language in coaching matters so much. Instead of saying, “You have an anterior pelvic tilt,” try saying, “Let’s see if playing with your pelvic position helps you get depth more comfortably.” One of these communication strategies creates fear, whereas the other creates curiosity.
As trainers, we need to understand biomechanics deeply enough to make informed adjustments, but then communicate it in a way that builds confidence, not fragility. Our words shape our clients’ beliefs about their bodies. When we use language that pathologizes normal human mechanics, we teach people to fear movement. But when we use language that empowers, that’s when the good stuff happens.