Gym coaching cues like “keep your back straight” and “knees out” are repeated constantly, but many of them cause more harm than good. Kraken Fitness trainers in North Burnaby ranked eight of the most common cues and found that no single cue deserves S-tier because every cue is contextual. A good trainer adapts the cue to the person, not the other way around.
Watch: Gym Cues Tier List
In this video, Josko and Brandon from Kraken Fitness rate eight of the most commonly used gym coaching cues on a tier list, explaining what each one gets wrong, what it gets right, and when it might actually work.
D-Tier: The Cues That Cause Confusion
Three cues landed in D-tier because they consistently create more confusion than they solve: “keep your back straight,” “keep your tummy tight,” and “knees out.” These cues sound helpful but they’re too vague to produce the right movement. Most beginners interpret them in ways that make their form worse, not better.
“Keep your back straight” is the classic Instagram comment under every deadlift video. The problem is that it doesn’t specify what part of the back. A person who is rounding their upper back hears “keep your back straight” and may try to arch their lower back even harder. It doesn’t distinguish between what should happen at the neck, upper back, or lower back, and each of those areas might need a different correction. Josko used this cue early in his coaching career and watched it fail consistently. People simply don’t know what “straight” means in this context.
“Keep your tummy tight” (or “keep your core engaged”) is another beginner-trainer staple. It sounds right, but most people interpret it as sucking their belly button toward their spine. That’s the opposite of what you want during compound lifts. The goal is to create intra-abdominal pressure by bracing outward, not pulling inward. When someone sucks in their stomach during a heavy squat, they lose the stability the cue was supposed to create. A better approach is to teach the bracing pattern directly rather than relying on a phrase that gets misunderstood almost every time.
“Knees out” gets the same treatment. When a client’s knees cave inward during a squat, yelling “knees out” treats the symptom, not the cause. The knees are caving because of what’s happening at the ankle or the hip. Cueing at the foot or the hip joint addresses the root problem. Telling someone to force their knees outward can lead to rolling off the toes, lifting the inside of the foot, and creating a different set of problems. If the person needed two or three mobility exercises before they could naturally keep their knees tracking properly, no amount of “knees out” is going to fix it mid-set.
C-Tier: Decent But Easy to Misuse
Two cues landed in C-tier: “chest up” and “pinch your shoulders.” Both can work in the right context, but they carry enough risk of misinterpretation that Kraken’s trainers reach for better alternatives first.
“Chest up” is a cue that most people in a kyphotic (rounded) position can understand at a surface level. The issue is what happens next. When someone hears “chest up,” they often flare their ribcage, lift their chin, or pull their shoulders all the way back. During a deadlift, pulling the shoulders back is not the goal. During a bench press, people hear “chest up” and retract their shoulder blades too aggressively, when they actually want upward rotation of the ribcage. Josko prefers “chest tall” because it encourages vertical extension rather than the ribs-flared, overextended position that “chest up” often produces.
“Pinch your shoulders” works at the right moment but causes problems when applied to the entire movement. During a row, you want the shoulder blades to move freely through the full range of motion, with the pinching happening at the end of the pull, not throughout. Keeping the shoulders pinched the whole time restricts natural scapular movement. The same applies to pressing movements. People who hold their shoulder blades pinched during a bench press lose the ability for the scapula to move properly. And the cue doesn’t address ribcage position at all, so someone might achieve a good shoulder pinch while sacrificing thoracic spine position — which defeats the purpose.
Both C-tier cues aren’t bad. They’re incomplete. A trainer who understands their limitations can use them selectively, but they shouldn’t be the first option.
B-Tier: Solid Everyday Cues
“Stay tall” is the B-tier cue that Josko and Brandon both agreed on quickly. It’s the upgraded version of “chest up” — it encourages vertical extension without the rib-flare risk. When someone hears “stay tall,” they tend to lengthen through the spine rather than thrust their chest forward or pull their shoulders back. It’s a cleaner image that produces a cleaner movement.
The reason it doesn’t rank higher is the same reason every cue on this list has limitations: context. “Stay tall” works well for squats, deadlifts, and standing movements where spinal extension and length are the goal. It could even work as a bench press cue if interpreted as maintaining stacked positioning. But it’s not specific enough for every situation, and some clients need a more targeted correction than a general “stay tall” can provide.
What makes B-tier different from C-tier is reliability. “Stay tall” rarely causes the opposite problem. When someone misinterprets “chest up,” they can end up in a worse position than they started. “Stay tall” doesn’t carry that risk. The worst case is that the person doesn’t fully understand it and needs a follow-up cue. That’s a much better failure mode than a cue that actively creates a new problem.
This is a cue that Kraken’s trainers use regularly with clients in North Burnaby, especially during warm-ups and compound lifts. It serves as a reliable baseline that gets refined with more specific cues once the client’s movement pattern is established.
A-Tier and Why Nothing Is S-Tier
Two cues made A-tier: “ribs down” and “tuck your tailbone.” Both are specific, actionable, and address real problems that most gym-goers have.
“Ribs down” is a direct answer to the overextension pattern that so many beginners default to. When someone flares their ribcage during overhead presses, squats, or deadlifts, “ribs down” gives them a specific body part and a specific direction. It’s a step up from “keep your back straight” because it tells the person exactly what to do and where to do it. Brandon noted that this cue is underused among coaches because many trainers don’t fully understand what a neutral spine position requires. At Kraken Fitness, “ribs down” is one of the most frequently used cues, particularly with clients who come from a background of overextending during lifts.
“Tuck your tailbone” is Josko’s personal favorite. Most people default to an anterior pelvic tilt during exercises, with their lower back arched and their pelvis tipped forward. “Tuck your tailbone” corrects this directly. It engages the posterior chain and helps create the braced, neutral position needed for safe lifting. The one downside is that some people over-tuck, going past neutral into a posterior pelvic tilt. But even that is useful, because once they’ve over-tucked, a trainer can find the midpoint between the extremes. The over-correction becomes a teaching tool.
Why nothing is S-tier: This was the most important takeaway from the entire ranking. No cue is perfect for every person, every exercise, or every situation. A cue that works brilliantly for a deadlift might be irrelevant during a lateral raise. A cue that clicks for one client might confuse another. Even the D-tier cues — “keep your back straight,” “keep your tummy tight,” “knees out” — can work for a client who has already learned the proper movement patterns and just needs a quick reminder.
The real skill isn’t knowing which cue is “best.” It’s knowing which cue works for this person, in this exercise, at this moment. That’s what separates a good trainer from someone who just memorized a list of phrases.
FAQ
What is the best coaching cue for beginners at the gym?
There is no single best cue. “Ribs down” and “tuck your tailbone” rank highest because they’re specific and actionable, but the best cue depends on the person and the exercise. A good trainer matches the cue to the individual, not to a universal list.
Why do so many gym cues cause confusion?
Most common gym cues are too vague. Phrases like “keep your back straight” or “keep your core tight” can mean different things to different people. Without specificity about which body part to move and in which direction, people guess, and they usually guess wrong.
Should personal trainers use cues during every exercise?
Cues are most useful during compound lifts where multiple joints are moving at once. Simple isolation exercises may not need cueing at all. Over-cueing can overwhelm beginners. Kraken’s trainers prioritize one or two cues per exercise rather than correcting everything at once.
What does “ribs down” mean during a workout?
“Ribs down” means bringing the front of the ribcage downward toward the pelvis instead of letting it flare upward. This helps maintain a neutral spine position during lifts. It’s especially useful for people who tend to overextend their lower back during overhead or pulling movements.
How do Kraken Fitness trainers decide which cues to use?
Kraken’s coaches base cue selection on each client’s individual movement patterns identified during the initial assessment. Trainers watch how a client moves, identify the specific compensation pattern, and choose the cue that addresses that pattern directly rather than defaulting to generic phrases.
Ready to Train with Coaches Who Actually Know How to Cue?
Kraken Fitness is a personal training gym in North Burnaby near Brentwood. Every client gets a movement assessment before training starts, so cues are specific to your body, not copy-pasted from a textbook. Try a free week — no commitment, no pressure.
About the Author
Josko Kraken is the founder of Kraken Fitness in North Burnaby near Brentwood, and Brandon is co-owner. Together they host the Kraken Power Podcast and have over a decade of combined coaching experience helping everyday people transform their health at a gym built for non-gym people.
[Josko]
What’s going on guys? Welcome back to another tier list video. Today, we’re going to be rating the best gym cues on a tier list.
And we’re going to be starting off with number one, keep your back straight. So keep your back straight. Uh, this one’s very crappy.
[Brandon]
I would really put this down low. Yeah, I just don’t think it’s quite specific enough. Obviously, we want to keep our spine in somewhat of a neutral position when doing some compounds lifts.
But it’s not really specific to what to do with your upper back versus your lower back or maybe even your neck.
[Josko]
When I was first starting out as a personal trainer, I would use this cue and obviously like it didn’t work. There would be times where, let’s say, somebody was over arching their back and I would say, keep your back straight. And they try to arch it even more.
Obviously, it doesn’t work because people don’t understand what you’re trying to say. This could mean many different things to somebody. So I’m going to put this down into D tier.
Keep your back straight does not work. And it’s so funny because people will like, let’s say somebody on Instagram is posting their deadlift and the comments are like, keep your back straight, you know, D tier. Next one.
So ribs down. I think this one’s a great one because it’s underused, underutilized for a lot of coaches. A lot of coaches don’t say this one enough because they don’t understand what it means to keep your back in a neutral position.
[Brandon]
I think this is actually a step up from this one that we just talked about because it’s actually going to provide a little bit more specificity of how to keep your upper back in a certain position for people who are in a little bit more of an extended position. We want to bring those rib cage down. It’s going to put them in a little bit better of a position to do their lifts.
Yeah.
[Josko]
So with ribs down, I think this one would go probably into A tier or S tier.
[Brandon]
Let’s go A. We got to save some special ones for us.
[Josko]
We always think that there’s going to be special ones, but I think the problem with a lot of cueing is that it’s very contextual, you know? So like, yes, like ribs down is a good one, but it might not be good for every single situation or every exercise. So yeah, A tier.
All right, next up we have keep your tummy tight. So, oh man, there’s going to be a lot of D tiers, aren’t there? Yeah, there is.
So keep your tummy tight. Keep your core tight. That can mean so many different things.
And I remember, again, when I first started as a personal trainer, I didn’t really understand this one either. I would say keep your core tight when I would be demoing, but a lot of people were actually sucking in. They think that keeping their core tight meant like pulling their belly button to their back, which is not a good cue for them.
Obviously, you don’t want to be doing that when you’re doing pretty much any exercise. So I would put this one on D tier to be honest.
[Brandon]
I think this one is absolutely terrible. It’s along the same lines of saying like, keep your core engaged. And this is something that I find that a lot of beginner trainers will say, and they have good intentions with it.
But when you first say keep your core engaged or keep your tummy tight, people often, you know, either suck their belly button to their back or they’ll just go into this like over-flex position to try to like squeeze their abdominals on the front side. And again, there is a purpose for that. But let’s say you’re doing a big compound lift.
You might want to keep that in a little bit more of a neutral kind of position, but driving outwards to be able to create that intra-abdominal pressure. And that is different than just flexing the front side of your abdomen. All right, so next one we have, chest up.
[Josko]
So I didn’t like this one, but we did see this one before we started the video. And Brandon said that he did like it. So I’d like to hear his opinion.
The reason why I don’t like this one is because people lose that rib cage position that we talked about when you say chest up. So like a lot of times somebody will be like, let’s say in a rounded position for a deadlift, and then they’ll be told chest up. And they’ll like lift their ribs too far up or like lift their chin too far up because it doesn’t really explain what you’re supposed to be doing.
So that’s why I don’t really like it. And I think it just overemphasizes the ribs flared position. So that’s why I don’t like it.
I would prefer to say something like chest tall where somebody would extend more this way. Yeah.
[Brandon]
But that’s me. I get what you mean. But for this one, a lot of beginner coaches, what they’ll try to do is, you know, they’ll either try to be too general with their cues or overly specific.
This is something that a lot of people will still understand, especially if they’re in that kyphotic kind of position, to try to get them into a little bit more of a taller position. What I actually prefer more than chest up is actually being like, hey, get your sternum in more of an upwards angle or tall.
[Josko]
Another one that I wanted to say about this too is, let’s say somebody has their shoulders forward during a deadlift or any kind of exercise. They’ll have their shoulders forward and then you say chest up. They may think like this and pull their shoulders all the way back as well, which is not good as well.
Let’s say like during a deadlift that you don’t want to pull your shoulders back. Or even let’s say on a bench press, if you say chest up, right, they end up pulling their shoulder blades together, which is not what you want to do. You don’t want to bring your shoulder blades together even during a bench press.
You actually want to be pulling it. You want to be more upwardly rotated with your rib cage, not pulling your shoulders back. So that’s why chest up.
C or B? Let’s put it on C. All right.
All right. So next up, stay tall. This is exactly what I was talking about.
So stay tall. This one is good. Obviously, it depends on the context.
But this one, I could automatically just put this one into the B tier.
[Brandon]
Yeah, we already kind of talked about it.
[Josko]
So we already talked about it. So this one’s a better cue, I think. But obviously, it’s going to be contextual.
You can’t say stay tall. I mean, maybe you could during your bench press as well. Maybe it might be okay.
But yeah, I think it’s an okay cue. Anyway, so next one we have here is pinch your shoulders. So this one, it really depends.
So pinch your shoulders, in my opinion, could be a good cue if in the correct context. So like let’s say when you’re teaching somebody how to do a row, right? A lot of trainers will say like keep your shoulders pinched together.
And then they’ll do their row like this the entire time with their shoulder pinched together. However, you don’t want to keep your shoulders pinched the whole time. You want to let the shoulder blade move freely the entire time.
And near the end of the movement, that’s where you should be pinching your shoulders. So yes, it does work, but only at the end, not the entire time. And same thing with your bench press.
A lot of people will say pinch your shoulders together during your bench press or during a dumbbell press. And that’s actually incorrect as well. You want to be able to leave the shoulder to move freely.
[Brandon]
So yeah, just to kind of add on to your point, it is really good to have your shoulders be able to articulate through that full range of movement through any kind of like upper body pull or kind of press. But where kind of like pinching your shoulders may kind of fall short is it doesn’t really address the position of your thoracic spine or your ribcage, right? So if you’re going to a very pinched shoulder position and sacrificing that ribcage position, that might be something that a lot of people will get confused with when you say this.
[Josko]
C-tier. C-tier. All right.
Hopefully we get something that’s in S-tier. Knees out. Okay, so I don’t really like this one either.
[Brandon]
I don’t really like this one.
[Josko]
Yeah, I think this one’s going to be either C or D for sure. The reason why is because a lot of trainers will use this one to obviously get their client’s knees out when they’re doing like, let’s say a squat or something. And the problem is that you don’t want your client to go too far out and end up rolling off their toes.
I don’t know if you can zoom into that, but rolling off and their toe lifts off the ground like this. Even a little bit is not good. So that’s why it’s like knees out, yes, but at the same time you want to keep your toes dug into the ground.
So there are better cues. And like, for example, let’s say rotating out from the hips. Some sort of cue that uses that would be better.
[Brandon]
Yeah. Yeah, I would say something along the similar lines. The reason why I don’t really like knees out is because knees too far in or too far out is a byproduct of maybe something going on at the ankle or the hip line.
That’s a really good point. So why not just cue them at the foot or the hip line instead of trying to push them out from the knees and hopefully that corrects the top or bottom kind of joint issue.
[Josko]
Yeah, exactly. So yeah, that’s actually a really good point. Because, yeah, their knees are in because like there’s some sort of issue and you’re just yelling at them like, knees out, knees out, knees out.
But it’s like they needed to do probably two or three more exercises before this to be able to push their knees out.
[Brandon]
Yeah, it’s not really addressing the root cause of why the knees are out. It’s just telling them just to just jam them out because.
[Josko]
Okay, so now that we’re talking so much shit, do you think it goes on D tier?
[Brandon]
Sure.
[Josko]
Okay, so that one goes on D tier. And then we got, this is the last one? Is the last one?
Yeah. Okay, so last one. Oh, this is an all-time favorite of yours.
Yeah, I really like it. I use it all the time. I find that there is one problem with it.
And it’s that like sometimes people don’t really understand what you’re saying. But if they understand like where’s my tailbone, they’ll quickly kind of get it, right? They tuck their tailbone.
The other problem with it is that sometimes people end up over tucking as well. But I think that’s actually okay sometimes because they over tuck it. And then you can actually find the midpoint after they’ve over tucked it.
So I do really like this one. I do understand there’s faults with it as well. I use it all the time.
But yeah, I really like it.
[Brandon]
Yeah, I just think most people are often in an anterior tilt when they’re doing a lot of their exercises. Or they have lengthening on the backside. So this is just a very easy way for people to understand what exactly you’re trying to say.
Especially engage that posterior chain. But like you said, it does have downsides. I don’t know if there should ever really be an S tier Q.
[Josko]
Yeah, because it would be contextual.
[Brandon]
It’s all contextual. So I mean, I don’t mind putting this in the A. But let’s leave the S completely blank because there’s not going to be one perfect Q that fixes every little thing.
And for every single person. Exactly. A really good trainer is going to figure out which Q works for them in their own individualized situation.
[Josko]
Honestly, knees out could work. Even keep your tummy tight could work. Even keep your back straight could work.
Especially if your client has kind of learned all of the other ones. And so this could be a really quick way for them to be like, oh, keep your core tight. Or make sure your knees are out.
Let’s say you know that they can keep their knees out but their knees are coming in. So even these ones, maybe they shouldn’t be on C tier. Maybe they shouldn’t be on anything on D tier either.
They’re pretty crappy though.
[Brandon]
Yeah.
[Josko]
Let’s leave them there. Alright, so that’s pretty much it for this video. If you guys liked it, leave it a like.
Subscribe to the channel and we’ll see you in the next one.