8 Key Questions to Ask Your Fitness Clients

Whenever you land a new fitness client, it’s important to ask them a couple of questions, during the first consultation. Asking these questions will provide you with valuable insights into the client’s expectations. Also, the answers they provide will give you a better idea of the type of training approach that you will use.

Also, asking new clients some questions before you begin the training sessions provides an opportunity to begin building rapport. And building rapport will increase the client’s trust in you. As a result, they will open up to you about what’s working and what’s not working. And such information will help you to make the necessary adjustments. This interaction will also help you retain your clients much more easily.

So, what type of questions should ask your new fitness clients? Well, here are a couple of fitness questions to ask fitness clients before you schedule their first workout session with you.

1. What Is Your Fitness Goal?

One of the most important fitness questions to ask fitness clients is what they intend to accomplish by training with you. And this means their fitness goals. This question will provide you with insights into the results this particular client is expecting from your workout sessions.

For example, some clients may be looking to build muscle and strength. Others may sign up for your personal training services, looking to lose weight. As you can see, these two clients are chasing two different fitness goals. Consequently, the workout programs you design and the training routines you will use will be different from these two clients since they are after different outcomes.

If you fail to ask this question, you may end up making some assumptions about a client, based on their appearance. And as a result, the workout programs that you design for them will not produce the results they may be looking for, which may ruin your brand’s reputation.

So, regardless of how eager you may want to start training a particular client, never skip this question. It will set the pace for everything else that you will do with a particular fitness client.

2. Have You Tried Achieving this Goal Previously?

Another important fitness question to ask clients is whether they have tried to pursue this goal previously. For example, in the earlier question, if the client indicated they are trying to lose weight, you can ask them whether they have attempted to do it before and whether they achieved any results.

Asking this question will give you an insight into the client’s journey. In case they have tried it before, this question will help you to determine what worked and what didn’t work.

From the answers you receive, you will then incorporate what worked for the client previously into their workout programs and discard what didn’t work. As a result, you will be able to come up with an effective workout program, or maybe even a challenge, which will help them to achieve their desired fitness goals.

3. What Do You Do for a Living?

While this may appear like an unnecessary question or an intrusion into the client’s personal life, the answer to this question will help you to determine how active they are. And with this information, you will know the intensity levels that you can begin with as well as how hard you have to push them.

For instance, if someone plays tennis with their friends thrice per week, their body is already active. And, you can begin your workout sessions at a higher intensity. Furthermore, you may not have to push them hard to pursue their fitness goals.

On the other hand, if you have a client that wants to shed 20 pounds and they spend their entire day sitting in front of a computer, you will have to push such an individual harder, to help them achieve their fitness goals. At the same time, you will have to begin with a lower intensity, to give the body enough time to adjust to the increased level of activity.

4. What Type of Workouts do You Like?

As a fitness coach, you may have certain exercises that you like or you’ve enjoyed massive success with such exercises. Unfortunately, some of your clients may not like them, regardless of how effective you may think they are. And, forcing them to stick to these exercises may feel like a punishment to them. And, there’s a high possibility they may drop out after a few days.

Instead of using such an approach, you should first ask your new clients whether they are certain types of workouts that they like. By letting your clients do or choose exercises they enjoy or they are comfortable with, your sessions will feel more of a fun time and less of a workout session. Consequently, they will always be looking forward to the workout sessions.

You can then switch things up after some time, once the client is already committed to their fitness routine.

5. How Many Hours Do You Sleep?

The number of hours your fitness clients are getting every day has a direct impact on their performance during your training sessions. Also, sleep has an impact on the progress they will make in their fitness journey.

Studies show that getting adequate sleep can lead to more productivity and enhanced concentration. And holding all other factors constant, your clients who get adequate sleep will perform better during their workout sessions, compared to those who don’t.

Furthermore, good sleep quality can lead to greater muscle strength and vice versa. At the same time, getting enough sleep can also help muscles to grow.

Hence, if you have a client that’s looking to build muscle and strength, sleep will be important to their success. And by determining the number of hours they sleep per day, you will be able to advise them accordingly. In case they are not getting sufficient sleep, you can discuss some strategies that can help them get quality sleep.

6. Do You Have any Underlying Medical Conditions?

It’s also important to determine a client’s medical and health condition before you schedule the first workout session with them. As much as this may appear as if you are being intrusive into the client’s personal life, there are some health conditions, which can restrict any form of physical activity. At the same time, some medical conditions may require you to make some modifications when designing the workout program for the client.

And in some cases, you may not be adequately equipped or skilled to train clients with some health conditions like heart disease or diabetes, meaning they may require a fitness instructor who has specialized in these areas. To this end, you will then refer them to trainers, who have that expertise.

Asking this question will help you to determine whether you have the credentials or training to help them achieve their fitness goals, in case they have any underlying health issues.

Furthermore, documenting this information and having the client sign release or waiver forms can help to shield you against liabilities, in case they sue you, claiming that your workout programs caused their medical or health conditions.

7. What is your Nutrition Like?

Regardless of whether a client is trying to build muscle and strength or they want to lose some pounds, the food they eat will determine whether they achieve their goals or not. So, ask the client to give you an honest answer about the type of food they eat as well as the frequency during a 24-hour period.

Noting down all the foods they eat will give you an idea of their nutritional situation and make the right nutritional recommendations, which will help them to achieve their goals.

For example, if someone is trying to lose weight and their entire diet is composed of junk food, you can recommend to the client to shift to healthier food choices such as fruits or foods with dietary fiber.

At the same time, if a certain client is looking to build muscle and bulk up, you can recommend they include more protein-based foods into their diet like chicken, red meat, eggs, fish, milk, and cheese, just to name a few.

For a deeper dive into specific dietary approaches, Carnivore Snax discusses the carnivore diet tailored for women.

8. What Would Your Ideal Workout Program Look Like?

Your clients will only stick to the workout programs you design for them if they align with their lifestyle or routine. The closer the program is to their routine, the higher the chances of them sticking with it long-term.

To achieve this, you can ask them questions like how many days in a week they can manage to dedicate to a workout, their preferred days of working out, how long they would want the sessions to be, as well as their preferred time of working out. The answers to these questions will help you to come up with the best fitness program for them.

9. Wrapping It Up

While asking the above questions may feel like a tedious or time-consuming process, you shouldn’t overlook it. They will help you to understand your clients better before you begin training them. And, the more you understand your clients, the better equipped you will be to develop effective and safe workout programs, which will help them to achieve their fitness goals.