[Bytsi]

I find that explaining what muscle you should be working, and where you should feel it helps. But it's a learning curve and some people get it more quickly than others. And of course they have to care and WANT to learn. If they're just there to put in time (like people who talk on their phones on treadmills), then nothing is going to help them. My favorite example is lat pulldowns - I see people working everything except their lats on this machine, and many have no clue it's even for the back at all...

I had a "lesson" on this concept myself today - I had the chance to try a pilates reformer demo - totally different than anything I've ever done, and it took a while to catch on to what muscles I was supposed to be feeling / working / using for the different exercises... I suspect I felt much like a beginner in the weight room would feel when trying a new exercise - and a good trainer makes ALL the difference. The pilates teacher could tell when I wasn't utilizing the right muscles and guided me to make the exercises work...

But you have to want to do it right, and be taught properly. There's too many subtleties (just look at the different versions of squat or deadlift form we see here and in the gym) to just wing it without risking injury (or at least lack of progress), yet that's what so many people do.