I listened to something the other day that talked about training by feel, as in you shouldn’t need a mirror to exercise with etc as you should be able to feel what your body is doing.

Whilst I get the principle I have to say I disagree. 

Whenever I see someone performing an exercise and they aren’t quite lined up right or using the correct muscles they often have no idea that they are doing it wrong. I also may find when I ask them to correct it they have no idea how. They can’t send a message to the brain to get their body to move like that. 

If they could they’d already be doing it right? 

Also if they have no idea how to get their body to do it they have no idea how it feels? 

This plays into how we learn as individuals. Some people learn by listening, others by watching or by doing. 

So, if you’re struggling with something in your own body when you ride and you can’t figure out what you are or aren’t doing try a different way of tackling it. 

The reason my training has great results 121 is that I’m there to spot movement patterns that may be a little off kilter for riding and help people address them. 

This won’t be the same technique for everyone. 

Some people can be told what’s wrong and fix it, others need to see themselves do it and then work from there. For some people they might need help getting into that position. For all of those scenarios the person needs help to find what right feels like. They couldn’t get there on their own. 

If you’re having trouble trying to fix a movement pattern that affects your riding, try considering how you learn best. 

Do you need to video it and see it?

Do you need to try things out in front of the mirror so you can see what happens when you adjust?

Do you need something that gives you feedback-like a trainer or going through movements on a gym ball/wobble board etc? 

Or maybe a combination of the above? 

How do you think you learn best?