It should also be noted that it takes a long period of time before a trainer or a strength and conditioning coach can learn all of the nuances of exercise execution. For example, when I was a university instructor, Kinesiology of Exercise was used as the text to cover about 70 plus exercises in class as well as in the gym for practical experience. The forty hours of class time devoted to learning about the exercises was insufficient to cover all of the exercises described in the book.
But yet it is not uncommon to find many personal trainers having a weekend course after reading a book as the only requirement needed before they are certified. They are then considered knowledgeable in exercise execution and capable of teaching and training their clients.
As a result, even though many experts state that trainers and coaches should give attention to proper technique, they cannot do this because they do not have enough knowledge to make the exercise adjustments biomechanically sound. As a result, they are unable to make each exercise effective and safe for each individual.
We may demand that trainers and coaches know proper technique and that they should be able to correct exercise mechanics, but these words become moot points when trainers do not have the education necessary to do this. And it appears that with every passing year, rather than getting better trained and more qualified coaches and trainers, we are seeing the opposite. Proof of this can be found in most any recent book or magazine.
For more information on exercise technique read Kinesiology of Exercise and Build a Better Athlete: What’s Wrong With American Sports and How to Fix It.