The 3 Stages of Motor Learning

Have you ever wondered how a client learns to move? Specific movements like the squat, deadlift and clean can take years to perfect. Cardiovascular exercises like running, swimming, and biking also require high degrees of coordination to smooth out form and erase errors.

The truth is we are all at different stages in our movement journey. The faster you learn where your client is at, the better you can serve them and help them reach their goals. Today we're going to be going over Fitts and Posners (1967) Three Stages of Motor Learning.

1. Cognitive stage

Do you remember what is was like to ride a bike for the first time? With nothing to judge your movements by, you likely did a lot of thinking and less pedaling. Or if you’re like me, you went down a big hill and crashed gloriously at the bottom.

• The cognitive stage is defined by the following:
• Large errors
• Instruction needed for improvement
• Slow response time
• Confusion, no past experience
• Frustration

As a learner spends more time thinking and practicing a movement such as the squat, they can advance to the next phase of motor learning.

2. Associative stage

During this phase, your client will start to recognize the movements and errors in their own form. Now instead of falling off the bike at every turn, your client will be able to balance and start to coordinate upper body and lower body movements.

The associative stage is defined by the following:

• Understanding of the key features of a movement
• Muscle memory created to recall a movement
• Bad habits in form may creep in without feedback
• Recalling information when needed

3. Autonomous stage

During the autonomous stage, your client can focus on the details of the environment without having to think about form. One example is taking a tight turn on the bike without having to worry about balance while focusing on objects on the ground. The movement has now become nearly automatic.

The autonomous stage is defined by the following:

• Muscle memory allows the learner to focus on the environment instead of movement
• Aware of errors and how to correct them
• Highly accurate movements
• Not much time spent thinking
• Difficult to describe movement to someone else

It’s relatively easy to progress through the first two stages of motor learning. The autonomous stage takes the most amount of time as you learn to master a movement. It may take thousands of hours and countless mistakes to truly perfect a movement and that’s ok.

Your job as a trainer is to understand where your client is at. Meet them on their level and help them progress from day to day. You can’t expect someone to run before they can walk.

As a trainer, you need the perfect balance between simplicity and stress. If a program is too simple your client won’t progress. If it’s too stressful your client will regress. Seek to challenge your clients so they can adapt physically and psychologically without regression.

SOURCES
Fitts, P. M., & Posner, M. I. (1967). Human performance. Belmont, Ca: Brooks/Cole.