Research
The Three Word-Endings That Turn A Vague Description Into Something You Can Coach
From the FASTER syllabus: this article is taught in full in Movement Trainer (AFT) — where this precision is built module by module →
In short: Every joint description ends in one of three ways. A held position ends -ed: flexed, extended, abducted, rotated. The movement as it's happening ends -ing: flexing, extending, abducting, rotating. The whole event described afterwards ends -ion: flexion, extension, abduction, rotation. All three sit inside one of the body's three planes, sagittal, frontal or transverse. Movement Trainer teaches this so a trainer can watch one rep and say precisely what a joint did, rather than reaching for 'that looked a bit off', which is the same skill that lets a coach build an exercise and then check it actually delivered what it was meant to.
The gap between seeing something and being able to say it
A client's knee does something different between one rep and the next. Any trainer standing there sees it happen. Fewer can say, in one exact word, what "it" actually was, which is why so much coaching lands as "that looked a bit off" instead of something a client can act on. The gap isn't the eyes. It's the vocabulary.
Three endings cover every joint, every time
Movement Trainer starts this with the body's three planes: sagittal (the one that splits left from right, where flexion and extension happen), frontal (front from back, abduction and adduction), and transverse (top from bottom, rotation). Every joint movement lives in one of those three, which already narrows the guessing down before a word is even chosen.
Then the course gives the naming rule, and it's the same rule for any joint doing anything. A position held still ends -ed: flexed, extended, abducted, rotated. The movement while it's actually happening ends -ing: flexing, extending, abducting, rotating. The whole event, looked back on afterwards, ends -ion: flexion, extension, abduction, rotation. Three endings, and a trainer who knows them has a precise word for a knee at the bottom of a squat, a hip mid-stride and a shoulder finishing an overhead press, without learning three separate vocabularies.
Why the loose word costs more than it looks like
Building an exercise and then checking it actually delivered what it was meant to both depend on being able to name the movement it's built from. "Bend your knee more" is an instruction. "Take that knee further into flexion" is the same instruction with a word attached that a trainer can also use to check, afterwards, whether it happened. The vocabulary isn't decoration on top of the coaching. It's what makes the coaching checkable.
Where it stops being a memory test
Nobody needs all six plane-and-motion pairs mid-session. Most sessions live almost entirely in one plane, flexion and extension, because most of what a client does standing up bends and straightens something. The other five are there waiting for the day a client's movement genuinely calls for a more exact word than the two everyone reaches for by default, which is most of what separates a trainer who can watch closely from one who's only watched carefully.
What to do next
Movement Trainer (AFT), £375, builds this module by module alongside the coaching and programming skills that sit on top of it. Every FASTER course, this one included, opens PT Manager the moment you sign up, with the client record and the full programme builder unlocking the day you pass one.
The FASTER Journal shares the next teaching point first. Sign up at /newsletter and it arrives the moment it's ready.
You just read one answer. The course is all of them.
Movement Trainer (AFT) — where this precision is built module by module — taught by the people who wrote it, 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, free with any FASTER course.
See what the course covers →Frequently asked
Do I need to memorise all six plane-and-motion pairs before I can use this?
No. Most sessions only ever need two or three, sagittal-plane flexion and extension cover most of what a squat or a press does. The rest are there for the day a client's movement genuinely needs a more precise word.
Isn't this just anatomy class again?
It looks like vocabulary, but it's the gap between telling a client 'that looked a bit off' and telling them exactly which joint did what, on that rep, which is a coaching skill rather than a memory test.
Does finishing Movement Trainer get me PT Manager?
Yes. PT Manager opens the moment you sign up with any FASTER course, and adding real clients unlocks the day you pass one.
Reading this for your own training? Every trainer on the FASTER register has been assessed by us — search by town or speciality, free.
Find a FASTER trainer →
