TrainersBookForm check by video: how personal trainers coach technique online
The hardest part of coaching online is the technique you cannot see. A short video fixes most of that, if the client films from the right angle and you send one clear cue instead of ten. Here is a camera guide for the main lifts, a message that teaches clients how to film, a review routine that takes minutes, and cues to copy.
When to ask for a video
Not every set needs a video. Too many and you spend your evenings watching squats, too few and a habit sets before you see it. Ask for one when:
- The exercise is new. The first week of a new lift is when technique is decided.
- The weight takes a jump. Form that holds at 60 kilos can change at 80.
- Progress stalls. A lift that has not moved for three weeks often has a technique reason.
- A set felt wrong. "Something felt off" is worth a video before it is worth a guess.
- The block starts and ends. The same lift, filmed the same way four weeks apart, shows the change better than any note.
A good default is one or two videos per client per week, each of one working set. That keeps it useful for the client and possible for you.
Camera angles for each lift
Most bad form-check videos are filmed from the wrong place. The side shows depth, bar path and back angle. The front shows knees moving in, shifting to one side and uneven arms. When in doubt, film from the side.
| Lift | Where to film from, and what it shows |
|---|---|
| Squat | Side, at hip height. A second clip at 45 degrees from the front. Depth, back angle, bar over the middle of the foot. From the front: knees following the toes. |
| Deadlift | Side, at hip height. Bar close to the legs, back position at the start, hips and shoulders rising together. |
| Bench press | Side, at bench height, or 45 degrees from the head end. Where the bar touches, the bar path, elbows, feet and how the shoulder blades hold. |
| Overhead press | Side, at shoulder height. Bar path past the face, leaning back, the bar finishing over the middle of the foot. |
| Rows | Side, at hip height. Whether the torso angle stays the same, where the weight is pulled to. |
| Lunge and split squat | Front at knee height, then side. From the front: the knee following the foot. From the side: step length and depth. |
| Hip thrust | Side, at bench height. Full hip extension at the top, ribs and chin. |
| Push-up | Side, low to the floor. A straight line from head to heels, depth, hands under the shoulders. |
A filming guide for your clients
Clients do not know how to film a lift until someone tells them. Send this once, when they start, and point back to it when a video misses the mark.
How to film a lift for me: 1. Lean your phone against something steady, at hip height, two to four metres away. 2. Film from the side, unless I ask for the front. 3. Your whole body and the weight should be in the picture for the whole set, from the setup to the last rep. 4. Film a normal working set, not your heaviest single. 5. Good light, and clothes where your hips and knees are visible. 6. One set per video is enough. Send it with one line: the weight, the reps and how it felt from 1 to 10.
The last line matters. "80 kilos, 6 reps, felt like an 8" tells you how to read what you see. Grinding reps at a 6 is a different problem from grinding reps at a 10.
Review a video in three minutes
Long reviews are rarely better reviews. This order finds what matters and stops you from listing everything you see.
- Watch it once at full speed. No pausing. What is your overall impression: solid, shaky, rushed?
- Compare the first and the last rep. What changes as the client tires is usually what needs work.
- Step through the hard part frame by frame. The bottom of the squat, the first inch of the deadlift, the moment the bar touches the chest.
- Choose one thing. The change that makes the biggest difference to the lift, not the longest list.
- Write the reply in four parts: what is good, the one change, how it should feel, and what to film next.
Feedback that changes the next set
A correction the client cannot feel during the set is hard to use. Many clients respond better to a cue about what to do with the floor, the bar or the room than to a cue about a body part. Here are swaps to try:
| Instead of | Try |
|---|---|
| Your knees cave in | Spread the floor apart with your feet |
| Keep your back straight | Show the logo on your shirt to the wall in front of you |
| The bar drifts away from you | Drag the bar up your legs |
| Your elbows flare | Try to bend the bar into a U |
| You are not going deep enough | Sit between your heels, not behind them |
| Do not lean back so much | Squeeze your glutes before you press |
| You rush the reps | Count two seconds on the way down |
Then put it together. Here is a reply to adapt:
Nice work, [name]! Your setup is really consistent now, every rep starts the same. One thing for next time: [drag the bar up your legs] all the way to the top. It should feel like [the bar is brushing your thighs]. Same weight next session, and film set two from the side so we can compare.
One change per video. When that is solid, the next one. A client given five corrections usually fixes none of them, and starts to dread sending videos.
A form-check rhythm for each block
Tie videos to the program, so they come at the moments that matter instead of whenever the client remembers.
| When | What to film | What you do with it |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Each new main lift, one working set | Fix the setup before habits form |
| Weeks 2 to 3 | The lift you corrected | Check that the cue worked, or try another |
| Last week | The same lift, same angle as week 1 | Compare the two side by side and show the client |
The week 1 and last week pair is one of the best progress pictures you have. Technique that changed is easy to miss for the client and obvious in two clips next to each other. Use it in the monthly look back. Client progress tracking covers the rest of what to show.
Coaching hybrid? Use the session together to teach the lift, and the video between sessions to check it. Hybrid personal training has three ways to set it up.
Common questions
How do I do a form check online?
Ask the client to film one working set from the side, with the phone at hip height and the whole body in the picture. Watch it once at full speed, compare the first and last rep, step through the hard part frame by frame, and reply with one thing to change and how it should feel.
What is the best camera angle for a squat form check?
From the side at hip height, which shows depth, back angle and whether the bar stays over the middle of the foot. Add a second clip from 45 degrees in front to see whether the knees follow the toes.
How often should clients send form-check videos?
One or two per week is a good default, more in the first week of a new exercise or after a jump in weight. Tie them to the program: new lifts in week one, the corrected lift in the middle, and the same lift again at the end of the block.
How long should a form-check video be?
One set, from the setup to the last rep. Longer videos take longer to review without showing more. In TrainersBook a video can be up to 50 MB.
Is there a form check app for personal trainers?
Any app with video and chat covers the basics. In TrainersBook the client adds the video to the exercise while logging, you both see it from any phone, and you review it in Coach Studio.
Can I draw on a client's video?
Yes. In TrainersBook you open the video in Coach Studio, step through it frame by frame, draw arrows, lines and shapes, measure angles and record a voice-over that plays back with your drawings.