Pre-screening Questionnaires and Forms
Client pre-screening is vitally important for a coach because it enables you to risk stratify each of your clients and collect as much useful information as possible to assist in designing individualized training and nutrition plans.
Until now coaches have had to rely on getting their clients to fill out hard copy pre-screening forms and either storing them in a filing cabinet or scanning them and storing them in an online folder. With iNutrition Pro the coach can instantly send out an online pre-screening form when they create a new client account. When the client fills out the form all their data will be saved in one secure location which can be edited at any time.
Excel Spreadsheets
There are many calculations involved in designing a meal plan such calculating basal metabolic rate, daily activity level, target energy intake, and macronutrient ratios for the day as well as each individual meal.
As result most coaches that design customized and specific meal plans for their clients have moved away from doing these calculation on paper to using excel spreadsheets. The problem with Excel sheets is that they are messy and once all the macros have been calculated they still need to be converted to food portions. This means the coach also has to use a calorie counter app or chart in order to do that which in itself is very time consuming.
Online Calorie Trackers
Some coaches calculate their clients daily energy and macronutrient requirements using a calculator or Excel spreadsheet, and then we send them off to My Fitness Pal and let them select their own foods.
Although this reduces the workload for the coach substantially, it is essentially a ‘cop out’. Most clients, especially in the beginning, need more structure with their meal plan. That because the more decisions a client is left to make on their own, the quicker that leads to decision fatigue, and they start making poor choices. With iNutrition Pro once the coach sets a client’s daily macro targets, they can select from a list of predesigned menus, or input their own foods for each meal and the software will automatically calculate the food portions.
Body Fat Tracking Software
For a serious coach tracking their clients body fat is vitally important for two reasons. Firstly clients improve what you measure, and secondly it provides useful feedback to determine if their plan is working or not and if any adjustments need to be make.
There are several ways to assess a client’s body fat all with their own inherent limitations. Although a DEXA scan is considered the gold standard, it is expensive, inconvenient, and exposes the client low level radiation.
Bio impedance scales are generally very inaccurate and inconsistent unless you have access to one of the high end models which cost in the vicinity of $25-30k. Skinfolds are probably the most convenient and reliable method (provided the tester is consistent) for assessing body fat on a regular basis with face to face clients. The iNutrition Pro software uses the Jackson-Pollock 4 site and 7 site body fat equations, which are most commonly used in clinical settings to assess and track body fat.
Client Tracking Sheets and Follow Up Emails
Apart from body fat tracking, a good coach should also be monitoring their clients consistency and biofeedback markers on a regular basis. This is especially true for online coaching which is a rapidly growing market, but there is no face to face contact.
Regular client tracking and monitoring gives the coach useful feedback about the effectiveness of their plan and how consistently a client is following it. They can then use that information to make adjustments to the plan as needed. For the most part coaches that regularly monitor their clients, either use Excel spreadsheets, email follow ups, or check in with their client’s in person. The iNutrition Pro software contains a weekly client tracker that can be set up to send clients automated reminders to check in. All client data is then stored in a secure online location that the coach can access at any time.
