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Personal trainer intake form for new clients.

The questions to ask before you write a first program: goals, schedule, training history, equipment, pain, eating habits, lifestyle and how they like to be coached. Copy a section or the short version into any form tool.

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The questions

Intake questions you can copy

Start with the short version. Add sections from the full list only where you need the answers. Every extra question costs you completion rate.

Short intake (10 questions)

For most clients. About five minutes to fill in, sent before the first session.

  1. What is your main goal, and why does it matter to you right now?
  2. What would a good result look like in 12 weeks?
  3. How many days a week can you realistically train, and for how long?
  4. What have you done for training in the past, and what worked?
  5. Where will you train, and what equipment do you have?
  6. Do you have any injuries or pain I should know about?
  7. What does a normal day of eating look like?
  8. How many hours do you usually sleep, and how stressful is your work and home life?
  9. What has stopped you from reaching this goal before?
  10. How do you like feedback: short and direct, or detailed?

Goals

To find out what the client wants and what is behind it.

  1. What is your main goal right now?
  2. Why does it matter to you now?
  3. What would a good result look like in 12 weeks?
  4. Is there a date or event you are working toward?
  5. On a scale from 1 to 10, how ready are you to change your routine?
  6. How will you know the coaching is working?

Schedule

To fit the program into a real week.

  1. How many days a week can you realistically train?
  2. Which days and times work best?
  3. How long can a session be?
  4. Are there weeks coming up that will be difficult, such as travel or work deadlines?
  5. What usually makes you skip a workout?

Training history

To pick a starting point and avoid repeating what did not work.

  1. How long have you been training, and how consistently?
  2. What types of training have you done?
  3. Which exercises do you know well, and which are new to you?
  4. What was the best training period you have had, and what made it work?
  5. What did you dislike about previous programs or coaches?
  6. Have you worked with a coach before?

Equipment and location

To build a program the client can actually do.

  1. Where will you train: gym, home or both?
  2. What equipment do you have access to?
  3. Do you have dumbbells, a bench, a barbell, bands or cardio machines at home?
  4. Do you share the gym with others at busy times?
  5. Are there exercises you cannot do or do not want to do?

Injuries and pain

To know what to ask a health professional about. This is not a medical screening.

  1. Do you have any current injuries, pain or discomfort?
  2. Do you have any past injuries that still affect you?
  3. Are there movements that hurt or feel uncomfortable?
  4. Has a doctor or physiotherapist given you advice about exercise?
  5. Is there anything else about your health that you want me to know?

Eating habits

To understand where the client is starting from, before you talk about changes.

  1. What does a normal day of eating look like?
  2. How many meals do you eat, and when?
  3. Do you cook at home, eat out or use meal services?
  4. Are there foods you avoid, allergies or dietary preferences?
  5. Have you tracked what you eat before? How did it go?
  6. How do you feel about food: what is easy, and what is hard?

Lifestyle

To see what else is competing for the client's energy.

  1. What does your job look like, and how active is it?
  2. How many hours do you usually sleep?
  3. How would you rate your stress, from 1 to 10?
  4. Who or what supports you in this, and who or what makes it harder?
  5. How many steps do you take on a typical day, roughly?

How they like feedback

To decide how you talk to this client.

  1. How do you like feedback: short and direct, or detailed?
  2. Do you want reminders, or do you prefer to check in on your own?
  3. How often would you like to hear from me?
  4. Do you do better with encouragement or a push?
  5. What is the best way to reach you: chat, email or phone?

Please note

This is not a medical screening

This form helps you get to know a client and plan their training. It is not a PAR-Q, a medical screening or a waiver, and it does not replace any of them.

Follow the rules that apply where you work, including any health forms or consent your insurer, employer or local regulations require. If a client mentions pain, a health condition or anything that worries you, refer them to a doctor or physiotherapist before you train them.

How to run a good intake

The point of an intake is to start coaching with facts rather than guesses. A client who has answered ten good questions before you build their program saves you a call.

  • Send it as soon as they sign up and before the first session, so you can read it before you build anything.
  • Keep it to 10 to 15 questions. Add the optional sections only when you need them.
  • Make most questions short answers or scales. Reserve open questions for goals and what got in the way before.
  • Reply to it. Quote one answer back in your welcome message so the client sees you read it.
  • Keep the answers where you will find them again when you write the next program.

In Coachplan

Run this intake in Coachplan

In Coachplan you build the intake yourself as a questionnaire, so it asks exactly what you want. Paste in the questions above, send it to the client and read the answers on the client's profile. Questionnaires are templates, so you build it once and assign it to every new client.

Coachplan doesn't come with a ready-made intake form, so the questions on this page are yours to adapt. After the intake, the same place holds the weekly check-in.

Client check-in form template · Guide: manage online coaching clients · Check-ins in Coachplan · Workout program template

Questions about client intake forms

  • Goals, schedule, training history, equipment, injuries or pain, eating habits, lifestyle and how the client likes feedback. That is enough to write a first program. Add more only when you will use the answers.

  • Ten to fifteen questions, about five to ten minutes. Longer forms get skipped or answered carelessly.

  • No. It is a coaching intake. It does not screen for medical conditions and is not a waiver. Follow the rules where you work, and refer health questions to a doctor or physiotherapist.

  • As soon as the client signs up, and before you build the first program. Then you read the answers first and start from facts.

  • Yes. Copy them into any form tool, a document or Coachplan and adjust them for your clients.

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