How should you handle a client’s consent and data?

Ask only for what you will use, say why you need it, and get the client’s agreement before they answer. Keep the form private, let them see, correct or delete their answers, and delete them when coaching ends unless a law needs you to keep them. This is good practice, not legal advice.

Client intake form template

A client intake form to edit, fill in and print.

Template

Fill inEdit questions

Your business name

New client intake form

Date

Coach

Personal details

1 of 9

Only what your coach needs to coach you and to reach you, or someone close to you, in an emergency.

Full name

Date of birth

Sex (for calorie estimates)

FemaleMalePrefer not to say

Mobile number

City and time zone

Emergency contact: name, relationship and phone

Copy to print

BlankFilled in

Nothing you type is saved or sent.

Your business name

New client intake form

Date
Coach

1. Personal details

Only what your coach needs to coach you and to reach you, or someone close to you, in an emergency.

Full name
Date of birth
Sex (for calorie estimates)
FemaleMalePrefer not to say
Mobile number
Email
City and time zone
Emergency contact: name, relationship and phone

2. Goals

Main goal
Lose fatBuild muscleGet strongerGet fitterFeel healthierTrain for an eventOther
What would success look like in three months?
Why does it matter to you now?
Any event or date you are working towards?

3. Training history

Training experience
New to trainingSome experienceI train regularly now
What training have you done in the last year?
What has worked for you before, and what hasn’t?
Exercises or activities you enjoy, or want to avoid

4. Availability

Days a week you can train
23456
Time for each session
30 minutes45 minutes60 minutes90 minutes
Best days and times
Where you will train
GymHomeOutdoorsOnline sessions
Equipment you can use

5. Lifestyle

Your work, and how active it is
Hours of sleep on a typical night
Sleep quality (1 = poor, 10 = great)
12345678910
Stress these days (1 = calm, 10 = very stressed)
12345678910
Steps or daily activity outside training
Alcohol, smoking or tobacco

6. Nutrition habits

Diet type
VegetarianEggetarianNon-vegetarianVeganJainOther
Meals a day, and when you usually eat
A typical day of eating
Allergies or intolerances
Foods you avoid or dislike
Water a day
Supplements you take

7. Health and injuries

If a doctor has told you that you have a heart, diabetes or kidney condition, if you get any of the symptoms below, or if a doctor has advised you to limit exercise, please check with your doctor before you start. Your coach will plan around their advice. This form is not a medical assessment.

In the last three months, have you done planned exercise for at least 30 minutes at a moderate effort on three or more days a week?
YesNo
Has a doctor told you that you have a heart condition (including a heart murmur), diabetes or a kidney condition?
YesNo
Do you get pain or tightness in your chest, neck, jaw or arms; breathlessness at rest, with light effort or lying down; dizziness or fainting; a racing or pounding heartbeat; swollen ankles; calf pain when you walk; or unusual tiredness in daily life?
YesNo
Has a doctor advised you to limit or avoid exercise?
YesNo
Other conditions, such as high blood pressure, thyroid, PCOS/PCOD or asthma
Medicines you take now
Injuries, surgery or pain in the last year: where, and what makes it worse?
Are you pregnant, or have you had a baby in the last year?
YesNo

8. Measurements

Every measurement is optional. Measure in the morning, relaxed, at the same spots each time.

Height
Weight (morning, before breakfast)
Waist at the navel
Hips at the widest point
Chest
Upper arm
Thigh
Photos taken today
FrontSideBack

9. Consent and your data

Your answers are used only to plan and adjust your coaching. They stay private and are not shared without your permission. You can ask to see, correct or delete them, or withdraw your consent, at any time, and they are deleted when you stop coaching unless the law requires them to be kept.

I agree that my coach may keep these answers to plan and adjust my coaching
YesNo
I agree that my progress photos may be kept, for my coaching only
YesNo
I will tell my coach if my health, medicines or injuries change
YesNo

Client’s signature and date

Parent’s or guardian’s signature and date (clients under 18)

This form is not a medical assessment and does not replace advice from a doctor. For the official PAR-Q+ screening form, see eparmedx.com.

A template, not medical or legal advice. The health questions are our own; for the official PAR-Q+, use its publisher’s version at eparmedx.com. Nothing you type is saved or sent.

A free client intake form template for personal trainers and online coaches: personal details, goals, training history, availability, lifestyle, nutrition, health screening, measurements and consent. Rename, add or remove questions, then print a blank copy for the client or a filled one for your records.

Free, no sign-up or email
Edit, fill in and print
Runs in your browser; nothing is saved or sent

How to use the template →Coaching clients? Try Trainaq free →

What is a client intake form?

A client intake form is the questionnaire a new client fills in before you write their first plan. It records who they are, what they want, how they train and live, what they eat, any health conditions or injuries, their starting measurements and their consent, so you plan from facts instead of guesses.

Nine sections, every question editable
Health questions built on ACSM’s 2015 screening recommendations
A pointer to the official PAR-Q+, never a copy of it
Print a blank copy or a filled one, or save it as a PDF

How to use it

How do you use this intake form template?

Make the form yours first: rename the sections, reword or remove questions and add your own. Then either print a blank copy for the client to fill in, or go through it together on screen and print the filled copy. Read the health answers before the first session and plan from the rest.

1
Edit the questions
Switch to Edit questions. Rename any section, reword a question, change its answer type or remove it, and add your own at the end of a section. Put your business name and the form’s title at the top.
- Six answer types: short, long, yes or no, one choice, several choices, 1 to 10
- Choices are a list separated by commas
- Reset the template to start again
2
Fill it in, or leave it blank
Switch back to Fill in to answer the questions with a client, on a call or in person, one section at a time. Or skip that step and print a blank copy for them to fill in by hand.
- Back and Next move between sections
- Nothing you type leaves your browser
3
Print it or save it as a PDF
Choose Blank or Filled in under Copy to print, then press Print or save as PDF. Only the form prints, in black on white, with lines to write on, tick boxes and signature lines for the client and, for under-18s, a parent or guardian.
- A blank copy keeps your edited questions
- Save it as a PDF to send by email or WhatsApp
4
Read it before the first session
Go through the health section first. A known condition, a symptom or a doctor’s advice to limit exercise means the client checks with their doctor before you start. Then plan from the goals, availability, lifestyle and nutrition answers.
- Keep the signed copy somewhere private
- Ask again when anything changes

What to ask

What should a client intake form include?

Nine things: personal and emergency contact details, goals, training history, availability, lifestyle, nutrition habits, injuries and health screening, starting measurements, and consent with a short note on how you use the data. Each section answers a question you face when you write the first plan, so drop anything you won’t use.

Personal details: name, date of birth, contact numbers and an emergency contact
Goals: the main goal, what success looks like, why now and any deadline
Training history and availability: experience, what has worked, days, time and equipment
Lifestyle: work, sleep, stress, daily activity, alcohol and smoking
Nutrition habits: diet type, a typical day, allergies, foods avoided and supplements
Health and injuries: conditions, symptoms, medicines, pain, surgery and pregnancy
Measurements and photos: the starting point for every progress check
Consent: what the client agrees to, and how you keep and delete their answers

Health screening

When should a client see a doctor before training?

ACSM’s 2015 screening recommendations look at three things: whether the client exercises regularly now, whether they have known heart, metabolic or kidney disease, and whether they have signs or symptoms of it. Any symptom means medical clearance first. Known disease without symptoms means clearance before starting, or before vigorous exercise for regular exercisers.

Exercises regularly now?	Known heart, metabolic or kidney disease?	Signs or symptoms?	ACSM’s recommendation
No	No	No	No clearance needed: start at light to moderate effort and progress gradually
No	Yes	No	Medical clearance before exercise of any intensity
No	Either	Yes	Medical clearance before exercise of any intensity
Yes	No	No	No clearance needed: continue at moderate or vigorous effort and progress gradually
Yes	Yes	No	Continue at light to moderate effort; medical clearance before vigorous exercise
Yes	Either	Yes	Medical clearance before continuing exercise of any intensity

Regular exercise: planned, structured activity of at least 30 minutes at moderate intensity on at least 3 days a week for at least the last 3 months. Metabolic disease: type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Medical clearance: approval from a healthcare professional to exercise. Source: Riebe et al. 2015, as reproduced in Whitfield et al. 2017.

Warning signs

Which signs and symptoms should make you stop and refer?

The ones ACSM lists as possible signs of heart, metabolic or kidney disease, at rest or during activity. If a client reports any of them on the form or in a session, stop or don’t start training and ask them to see a doctor. Your form records that you asked and what they said.

Pain or discomfort in the chest, neck, jaw, arms or elsewhere that may come from the heart
Shortness of breath at rest or with mild effort, or when lying down or at night
Dizziness or fainting
Swollen ankles
A racing, pounding or fluttering heartbeat
Cramping pain in the legs when walking (intermittent claudication)
A known heart murmur
Unusual tiredness or breathlessness with everyday activities

The PAR-Q+

Should you use the PAR-Q+ as well?

You can. The PAR-Q+ is a pre-participation screening questionnaire published by the PAR-Q+ Collaboration at eparmedx.com. Its publisher asks that it stays unaltered and isn’t built into electronic surveys or other materials without written consent, so this template points to it instead of copying it. Print the official version and attach it.

Download it only from eparmedx.com, where the current version is kept
Use it as it is: don’t retype, shorten or reword its questions
The same site offers the ePARmed-X+ physician clearance form
Our own health questions follow ACSM’s three screening factors, in plain words

Measurements

How should you take starting measurements?

The same way every time, so later checks compare fairly. Weigh in the morning after the toilet and before eating. Measure with a soft tape on skin, relaxed, at fixed points such as the navel for the waist. Take front, side and back photos in the same place, light and clothes.

Measurement	Where or how	Keep it consistent
Weight	Morning, after the toilet, before food or drink	Same scale on a hard, flat floor
Height	Barefoot, back to a wall, looking straight ahead	Once at the start is enough for adults
Waist	Level with the navel, after a normal breath out	Tape flat, snug but not pressing in
Hips	Around the widest part of the buttocks	Feet together
Chest	Around the fullest part, under the armpits	Arms relaxed by the sides
Upper arm and thigh	At the widest point, or a set distance from a landmark	Same side every time
Photos	Front, side and back	Same spot, light, distance and clothes

Practical guidance for comparing a client with themselves over time, not a clinical measurement protocol.

Coaching in India

Consent and client data in India

The DPDP Act, 2023India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 covers personal data collected in digital form, or on paper and digitised later, such as an intake form you type into an app.
Consent for a stated purposeThe Act says consent must be free, specific, informed and limited to the data needed for the purpose you state.
A notice, and easy withdrawalA request for consent comes with a notice of what you collect and why, and withdrawing consent must be about as easy as giving it.
Erase it when you’re donePersonal data is to be erased when consent is withdrawn or the purpose is no longer served, unless a law requires you to keep it.
Clients under 18For a child, meaning anyone under 18, the Act asks for verifiable consent from a parent or lawful guardian.
Check what applies to youThe Act comes into force on dates the government notifies, provision by provision. Check the current position or ask a lawyer; this page is not legal advice.
Diet types in the formThe nutrition section lists vegetarian, eggetarian, non-vegetarian, vegan and Jain, and you can add your own.

For coaches

How does Trainaq handle client intake?

Every new client fills in your business’s intake form in the free Trainaq app as they join. You edit the form once in Trainaq Coach, in seven sections with nine question types, including front, side and back photos. Answers sit on the client’s profile, in the coach app and on the web dashboard.

“Save and finish later” keeps a client’s answers until they come back
Measurements become the first entry of their progress, and intake photos join their progress photos
“Send intake again” sends a fresh copy, and earlier answers stay on record
The form builder is in Trainaq Coach; the web dashboard shows the answers
On the web dashboard, AI can draft a first program or a week of meals from the intake, on Pro and Studio, and nothing reaches the client until you review and assign it
Intake forms come with Trainaq Coach, on every plan

Intake forms in Trainaq →

Sources

FAQ

Client intake form FAQ

Is this intake form the same as the PAR-Q+?

No. The health questions here are our own, written around the three factors in ACSM’s 2015 screening recommendations. The PAR-Q+ is a separate form from the PAR-Q+ Collaboration, and its publisher asks that it stays unaltered. If you want it, download the official version from eparmedx.com and attach it to this form.

What if a client answers yes to a health question?

Pause before you plan. A known heart, diabetes or kidney condition, any listed symptom, or a doctor’s advice to limit exercise means the client should check with their doctor first. Ask them to share what the doctor clears them for, keep a note of it with the form, and plan within that advice.

How long should a client intake form be?

Long enough to plan safely, short enough to finish. You need goals, availability, health screening, injuries and a starting point; the rest depends on how you coach. Remove questions you never use, because every extra one makes the form slower to fill in and gives you more personal data to protect.

Can I use this form for online clients?

Yes. Save the blank form as a PDF and send it, or go through it with the client on a video call and print the filled copy. For photos, ask for front, side and back pictures taken in good light. Clients who join you in Trainaq fill in your intake in the app instead.

Do clients under 18 need a different form?

They can use the same questions, but a parent or guardian should consent and sign as well, and the printed copy has a line for that. In India, the DPDP Act, 2023 asks for verifiable parental consent before processing a child’s personal data. Ask about school sport and other training too, so you see their whole week.

How often should I update a client’s intake?

Ask again when something changes: a new injury, a new medicine, pregnancy, a new goal or a long break. It also helps to repeat the health and lifestyle questions at the start of each new training block. Keep earlier copies, so you can see what has changed since the client started.