Most trainers do a 10-minute intake with a form. But the conversation you have there determines whether your client is still around after 3 months.
Wouter Middelbos
Ask any (/en/opleidingen/personal-trainer) what their intake looks like. Chances are the answer is something like: "I ask what their goal is, whether they have injuries, and then we start training." Ten minutes, a few boxes ticked, done.
And then they wonder why the client stops showing up after eight weeks.
The intake is not an administrative hurdle before the fun part begins. The intake is the fun part. It is the moment you determine whether you can actually help this person and how. It is the foundation under everything that follows.
In healthcare, the biopsychosocial model has been the standard for decades. It says something simple but fundamental: a person is more than a body. What someone needs to become healthier, stronger or fitter depends not only on biology. It also depends on psychology (how does someone think, what motivates them, what are they afraid of) and social context (what is their home situation, how much time do they have, who supports them).
Most trainers work purely biomedically. What is your goal? Lose weight. Okay, calorie deficit and train three times a week. Technically correct. But completely detached from that person's reality.
What if that person has three children and a 50-hour work week? What if they have started and stopped ten times before? What if the real problem is not that they do not know what to eat, but that food is their way of coping with stress?
If you do not know these things, you write a programme for a person who does not exist. And that programme will fail. Not because it is bad, but because it does not fit the human who has to execute it.
The first rule of a good intake: listen more than you talk. Sounds obvious. It is not.
Most trainers are doers. They want to offer solutions. Someone says "I want to lose weight" and the trainer is already thinking in programmes and macros. But the question is not how that person should lose weight. The question is why they want to lose weight, what has been tried before, why it did not work, and what is different now.
Ask open questions. Let silences land. Follow up when someone says something that does not match the rest of their story. That is not psychotherapy. That is good listening. And good listening gives you information you will never get from a form.
"I want to get fit again" can mean anything. It can mean: I want to run a marathon. It can also mean: my relationship just ended and I need structure. The approach is completely different. And you only know the difference if you ask further.
After hundreds of intakes I have done myself and hundreds I have supervised with our students, there are three questions that always matter. Not as a checklist, but as a compass.
"What have you tried before?"
This is gold. If someone says they have had three PTs before and quit after two months each time, you know the problem is not knowledge. It is something else. Maybe the relationship, maybe the expectations, maybe the frequency. But if you do not ask, you will make exactly the same mistake as your predecessors.
"What would need to change in your life if this succeeds?"
This question forces someone to think beyond the surface goal. "I want to lose 10 kilos" becomes "I want to feel confident again" or "I want to play with my kids without getting out of breath." Those are the real goals. And real goals keep people going when it gets hard.
"What is already going well?"
Most people come to a trainer because they want to change something. They focus on what is not going well. But when you ask what is already going well, you shift the perspective. You show that you do not only see problems, but also strength. And you identify things you can use as a foundation.
A good intake has structure. Not a three-page form you work through point by point, but a logical flow that ensures you do not miss anything while leaving room for the unexpected.
At Milo we teach students to build an intake in four phases:
Getting to know each other. Who is this person? Not what do they want to achieve, but who are they? What do they do, how do they live, what do they enjoy? This is not small talk. This is the context without which the rest does not add up.
Exploration. This is where you ask questions. About goals, but also about obstacles. About previous experiences. About expectations. This is where you listen and dig deeper.
Physical. Only now do you get to the physical part. Posture analysis, mobility check, a few basic movements. Not to test, but to observe. How does someone move? Where are restrictions? What feels uncomfortable?
Moving forward together. The last phase is the most important: you summarise what you have heard and seen, and you make a suggestion. Not a programme, but a direction. "Based on what you have told me, I think we should start with..." And then you ask: "How does that sound to you?"
That last question is crucial. It gives your client ownership of the process. And those who feel ownership persist.
Trainers underestimate what a bad intake costs. Not in money, but in trust.
A client who does not feel heard during the intake trusts you less. They ask fewer questions. They do not say honestly when something is not working. They eventually drop out without telling you why.
A client who does feel heard trusts you more. They are honest about obstacles. They call you when it gets difficult instead of quietly disappearing. They stay.
The difference is not talent. It is a skill. And skills can be learned.
The intake is not the start of a training programme. The intake is the start of a relationship. And as in any relationship: how you begin determines how it continues.
Take the time. Ask the right questions. Listen to the answers. And then make a plan together.
That is not a luxury. That is the craft.
Not just a certificate, but proof of real expertise!
This article is part of this guide
