Personal Training Intake Form Template
The biggest risk in personal training isn’t the program design — it’s the paperwork that never got done. The client with the undiscussed heart condition, the torn rotator cuff from 2019, the emergency contact nobody has because the waiver was signed in a hurry at the front desk. When something goes wrong in a session, what’s in your records is what protects both of you.
This intake form is the gate every client passes through before their first session. Not a goal questionnaire, not a vibe check — the safety and consent spine of a professional training business, completed at home, at their own pace, before any weight moves.
The Safety Checklist, In Order
- Who they are — name, contact details, date of birth
- Emergency contact — the name and number you hope to never dial, captured while everything is calm
- Informed consent — a legal acceptance covering the risks of exercise and your studio’s terms, signed digitally before training begins
- Injuries and conditions — a long text disclosure: past surgeries, chronic pain, diagnosed conditions, current medications worth knowing about
- The clearance path — for significant red flags, a file upload where the client attaches their physician’s written clearance
- Current activity level — an opinion scale from sedentary to highly active, so your first program meets them where they are
- Start date and training times — when they begin, and the slots that fit their week
The Clearance Path, Made Explicit
“Get medical clearance if unsure” is the instruction everyone ignores. This intake makes it a visible, trackable step: when a client discloses a significant condition, the clearance upload appears, your confirmation reply states that training starts once the letter is in, and the instant notification you receive shows whether the file is complete — so a client never starts on a maybe.
Privacy Is Part of the Service
Health disclosures are among the most personal things a client will hand you, and how you handle them is part of why they trust you with their training. Answers stay in your records rather than in forwarded emails and group chats, access is limited to your team, and completed intakes remain retrievable years later when a question about a 2023 disclosure finally arrives. Saying “your answers are confidential and kept securely” in your welcome message is a small line that closes more sales than a discount.
Send It With the Booking
The intake works when it’s attached to the moment of commitment: booking confirmation goes out, intake link goes with it, and a progress bar keeps a seven-part form feeling like two minutes. Clients complete it on the sofa, not on the gym floor with a queue behind them. This template belongs to our healthcare forms collection alongside other screening documents.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as a red flag worth the clearance step?
Chest pain history, diagnosed cardiac or respiratory conditions, uncontrolled hypertension, recent surgery, pregnancy, and any condition a client names with uncertainty. When in doubt, request the letter — one week of waiting beats one bad Tuesday forever.
Can this replace my paper waiver?
The legal acceptance field covers digital acknowledgment of your written terms. Whether it satisfies waiver requirements in your jurisdiction is a question for local advice — many studios pair this intake with their lawyer-reviewed document attached as the consent text.
What if a client refuses to disclose?
You can’t compel honesty — but you can make disclosure easy, confidential, and visibly consequential, and you can decline to train on an incomplete file. A client who won’t complete safety paperwork is telling you something worth hearing.
Do returning clients redo the intake?
Annually is a common rhythm, or after any injury or life change. Ask them to confirm what’s unchanged rather than re-entering everything — an update takes two minutes instead of ten.