Check-ins are easy to keep on top of with five clients. With twenty-five, they arrive on different days, in different apps, with different questions, and replying to them starts to fill your week.
Check-ins keep working as you grow when every client answers the same 8 to 10 questions on the same day, and you review them all in one sitting. Weekly suits most online and hybrid clients because it's often enough to catch problems early, and light enough that clients keep doing it.
PT Distinction is a personal trainer software platform where the check-in form, the client's training and results, and your reply all live together, which makes that routine much easier to keep.
A good weekly check-in covers five things: how training went, how nutrition and habits went, how the client feels, any measurements you track, and what they need from you.
Keep it to roughly 8 to 10 questions, short enough that clients answer it properly every week, and long enough to give you the information you need.
Use a mix of question types:
This set works for most online and hybrid clients. Adjust the measurements to match each client's goal.
| # | Question | Answer type | Why it's there |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | How many of your planned workouts did you complete this week? | Number | Shows adherence at a glance |
| 2 | How did your training feel overall? | Score, 1 to 10 | Flags programs that are too hard or too easy |
| 3 | Any pain, minor aches or exercises that didn't feel right? | Short text | Lets you adjust before it becomes a problem |
| 4 | How closely did you follow your nutrition plan or habits? | Score, 1 to 10 | Tracks nutrition without a full food review |
| 5 | Average sleep per night | Hours | Context for energy and recovery |
| 6 | Energy and stress levels this week | Score, 1 to 10 each | Explains dips in training or nutrition |
| 7 | Bodyweight or other measurement you're tracking | Number | Only if it's part of their goal |
| 8 | What went well this week? | Short text | Gives you something specific to recognize |
| 9 | What got in the way? | Short text | Shows you what to change next week |
| 10 | Anything you want help with before next week? | Short text | Opens the conversation |
Questions 8 to 10 do the most coaching work. The scores tell you something changed. The text answers tell you why.
For clients who also track nutrition in detail, keep their food logs separate from the check-in and ask one summary question about it here.
Weekly suits most online and hybrid clients. It matches the way people plan their lives, gives you enough information to adjust a program, and keeps regular contact without feeling like a chore.
Some clients need a different rhythm:
Whatever the rhythm, keep the day fixed. Agree it during client onboarding, so the check-in is part of the service from week one rather than something you add later.
Ask every client to check in on the same day, such as Sunday, and block time on Monday to review them all. This is what keeps check-ins manageable as you grow.
Clients know when their check-in is due and when to expect your reply. You review with fresh context, comparing clients against their own previous weeks, rather than answering a check-in in between sessions every day of the week.
A clear reply window, such as "within 24 hours of the check-in day," sets expectations without tying you to your phone.
Read the check-in next to the client's training and results, not on its own. A client who rates training 4 out of 10 means something different if they also missed two sessions, or if they hit a personal best.
A useful reply usually does three things:
Keep it short. Clients value a reply that shows you read their answers more than a long one. Voice notes work well here because they're quick to record and feel personal.
A submitted check-in appears in PT Distinction's Activity Feed alongside the client's completed workouts. Comment on it there and your reply goes straight to their messages, so you can review their progress and give feedback without switching screens.
A check-in system scales when you build the form once and send it automatically, instead of messaging each client every week.
The setup looks like this:
Once the form is in your All Clients group, adding a client doesn't add any extra work. New clients get the form automatically when they start and join the routine.
For a step-by-step walkthrough, see how to send a check-in form to every client using PT Distinction.
A weekly check-in is a short questionnaire a client completes on a set day each week, covering training, nutrition, recovery and anything they need help with. The trainer reviews it and uses it to adjust the client's coaching for the following week.
Around 8 to 10 questions is enough for most clients. Use scores for things you compare week to week and short text answers for context. Shorter forms are easier for clients to answer every week.
Pick one day for all clients, such as Sunday, and review them together the next day. A fixed day helps clients build the habit and lets you batch your reviews.
They can. In-person clients spend most of the week away from you, so a short weekly check-in shows you how their training, nutrition and recovery went between sessions.
Weekly check-ins work best when the form, the client's data and your reply are in one place and the form goes out on its own. Start your 1-month free trial of PT Distinction and set up your first check-in form today. Every feature is included on every plan.
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