Personal Training Consult: Client Intake and Prescription
In pairs, one student acts as a personal trainer: they interview their client, run two quick tests, and prescribe a mini-workout they coach on the spot. Then they switch roles. It builds the skill of planning a workout for someone else.
How to play
- Intake (3 min): using the form, the trainer asks about goals, sports played, injuries or soreness, and available days.
- Assessment (3 min): run two quick tests, squats in 30 seconds and a max plank up to 60 seconds, and record the results.
- Prescription (3 min): choose three band or bodyweight exercises and set sets, reps, and rest based on the client's goal.
- Workout (5 min): coach the mini-workout, give technique cues, and adjust the load if the client finds it too easy or too hard.
- Switch roles and repeat all four steps (14 min).
- Wrap-up (2 min): each client shares one thing their trainer did well and one thing to improve.
Rules
- If the client reports an injury or pain, avoid exercises that load that area.
- The trainer does not do the exercises: they watch, correct, and encourage.
- Intake information is confidential and stays on the form.
Variations
Easier
The trainer picks exercises from a set menu of six options.
Standard
Intake, two tests, and three freely prescribed exercises.
Harder
Add a specific 3-minute warm-up and a progression plan for the following week.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: the student can be an excellent trainer; as a client, tests are adapted to upper body and core.
- Autism: provide a fixed question script and a completed prescription example.
- Advanced students: they must justify each choice with a training principle.
Learning goals
- Design a short workout tailored to another person's needs.
- Give clear technique cues and adjust load in real time.
- Respectfully evaluate a partner's work as a trainer.
Equipment for a class of 25
- recording cards: 25
- pens: 25
- resistance bands: 13
- yoga mats: 13
Teacher tip
Prepare a form with the intake questions, tests, and a prescription table so students stay on track. Circulate and listen to their explanations: that is where you see who truly understands load.
PatioLab has "Personal Training Consult: Client Intake and Prescription" and 2499 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
More activities like this
More main activities for High School
1-2-3-2-1 Running Pyramid Intervals
An interval workout where the fast segments build from 1 to 3 minutes and back down, with half that time as jogging recovery.
1-on-1 Self-Pass Volleyball
One-on-one games on narrow 10 x 20 foot courts where each player must self-pass before sending the ball over.
10-20-30 interval running in pairs
The 10-20-30 method strings together 30 seconds of easy jogging, 20 at a moderate pace and 10 at top speed, in five-minute blocks.
1v1 Ball Volley Matches
1v1 ball volley: singles games on a small court with a low net, hitting the ball over the net and allowing one bounce.
2-on-1 Fast Break with a Chasing Defender
Two attackers push a fast break against a defender waiting at the basket while a second defender chases from behind with a few yards' head start against them.
2-on-1 Through Three Defensive Zones
Pairs of attackers cross the court through three zones, each with a defender who cannot leave it, and finish with a shot on goal.