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Personal Trainer Consultation Questions and an Intake Form That Sign Clients

By Jason O'Dell, founder of RiseForIt. Took two gyms' personal training sales from negative to about $200K a month. Updated October 27, 2026

Quick answer

In a personal training consultation, ask what they want, why it matters now, what they've tried before, and what their health, sleep, food, work and schedule really look like. Put those facts on an intake form they fill out before the call, and spend the call on the why, then ask for the sale.

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What goes on a personal training client intake form

Your intake form collects the facts, so your consultation can be about the person. Send it a day or two before the call. Read it before you talk. That's prep beats polish: the work you do before the call matters more than how smooth you sound on it.

Put these sections on the form. Name, contact details, time zone, and the days and times they can really train. Their goal in their own words, short term and long term. A PAR-Q style health screen covering heart problems, chest pain, dizziness, joint or bone issues, medications, surgeries, and pregnancy or a recent birth. Injuries, past and present. Exercise history, including past trainers and what they liked or hated. Their job and how much they sit or stand. Sleep, stress, and what they eat on a normal day.

End the form with a short consent line and a privacy note. Health details are sensitive. Keep forms in a password-protected folder. Don't pass them around by text. Ask your certifying body or insurer what you need to keep and for how long.

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Stop making these 5 mistakes with your client intake forms

• Making it too long. If it takes more than about ten minutes, people quit halfway. Keep the facts on the form and save the deep stuff for the call.
• Writing it like a doctor. Don't ask "Do you have hypertension?" Ask "Has a doctor ever told you your blood pressure is high?" Plain words get honest answers.
• Asking the same thing twice. If the form says they sleep six hours, don't ask how they sleep. Ask what happens on the nights it's worse.
• Using judging words. "Do you eat junk food?" makes people lie. "What does a normal lunch look like?" gets the truth.
• Never reading it. A form you skim in the parking lot is a form you didn't need. Read it, mark anything that worries you, and write down two questions it raised.

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7 personal trainer consultation questions to ask out loud

• "What made you reach out now?" The answer tells you what hurts today. If they say "I just felt like it," ask, "What happened this month that made it feel important?"
• "If we nailed this, what would be different in 12 weeks?" When they say "I want to tone up," follow with, "What would you see in the mirror? What would you wear or do that you don't now?" Keep asking until you can picture it.
• "What have you tried before, and what made you stop?" Past quitting is your best warning sign. Ask, "What week did it usually fall apart?" Then plan for that week.
• "Walk me through a normal Tuesday, from waking up to bed." This checks the form without calling anyone a liar. "I sleep fine" often turns into "I'm up at 5 and on my phone till midnight." It also shows how much time they really have.
• "Has a doctor ever told you to avoid anything, or does anything hurt right now?" If they say "my knee is a little off," ask, "When does it hurt, and has anyone looked at it?"
• "Who at home is on board with this, and what would make you quit?" Support at home matters. Write their answer down, because you'll need it later.
• "On a scale of 1 to 10, how ready are you to start this week?" If they say 6, ask, "Why not a 3?" Their answer is the reason they'll buy, in their own words.

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What to do with the answers: change the plan, refer out, fit the client

Every answer should change the program, or it wasn't worth asking. A desk job means more work for hips and upper back. Short sleep means fewer hard sessions and more walking at first. Someone who always quit in week three gets a check-in planned for week three. Tell them what changed and why. That's how they know you listened.

Some answers mean you stop and refer out. Chest pain, fainting or dizziness during exercise, blood pressure they say isn't under control, a recent surgery, or pregnancy or a recent birth: get a doctor's okay in writing before you train them. You're not losing a client. You're becoming the trainer they trust.

Adjust for who's in front of you. A beginner needs simple early wins. An older adult needs questions about balance and falls. Someone coming back from injury should tell you what their physical therapist said. A teen needs a parent's signature on the form. An athlete needs to share their season calendar. Online clients also need to list their equipment and send a short video of a squat or push-up so you can see how they move.

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How to go from consult to sale without being a salesman

You close by saying their pain and their finish line back to them, then asking one clear question. Don't walk them through sets and reps. Sell the vacation: where they hurt now and where they'll land. Nobody buys the flight.

My first sale was Miss Gertrude. I talked for about two hours, giving her the moon. I didn't think the training package was great, but I learned how to sell it for what it was. I was a horrible salesman, then a mediocre one, then a great one. Two hours of me talking is not a consultation. Let them do most of the talking and save yours for the end.

Use these 5 sales questions to close. "So the real problem is ___, right?" "And if we fixed it, you'd finally ___?" "Do you want help getting there?" "Here's the plan and what it costs. Does that work for you?" If they pause: "What part are you unsure about?" Say the price once, then stop talking.

If money comes up, don't cut your price. Add value instead, like an extra weekly check-in, so the price stays the price. And if you'd rather not run sales calls at all, that's the part I handle for trainers at RiseForIt.

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Common questions