It may sound simple, but taking a beat between performing an assessment and designing a training program to write down your client’s priorities is an often overlooked step that is essential for keeping your designs on track.

Priorities

Defining priorities is the first step in transitioning from assessing to designing a program. This begins with analyzing the assessment and deciding what is most important to focus on first within the program.

• For example, in the consultation, you may have identified that improving sleep quality and protein intake are nutrition and behavior priorities. 

• From the movement assessment, improving anterior core strength and scapular stability may be a priority, while their body composition assessment may have revealed that decreasing body fat is a priority. 

• Finally, an initial work capacity assessment may have highlighted that developing the aerobic energy system is a priority.

All of these priorities must be recorded in a way that you can reference easily every time you sit down to program for your clients. One of the biggest mistakes we see coaches make is losing track of priorities over time. 

Priorities will make sure you always select progressions that are appropriate for each client, relative to their goals and function, and keep them progressing towards their goals.

In CoachRx, you can track priorities in a couple of places with slightly different intentions:

1. The Priorities icon [ ! ] in the sidebar from the training calendar

This is the best place to keep track of all exercise, lifestyle, and nutrition priorities. Take a quick peek at priorities from the sidebar each time you sit down to program. These can be removed over time as the client makes progress and it’s best practice to update the list after consultations and assessments. 

2. The Cycle Priorities in each short term plan you create

When you create a short term plan in the Planning & Periodization feature, you can edit Cycle Priorities. This automatically pulls in your Priorities list, but you can add additional priorities for the training cycle or remove priorities that you will focus on in a later short term plan. 

Priorities ensure you never forget what each client is working on and help you manage your program design flow. Take a few minutes per client to update their current priorities and feel confident that your program design is aligned with their goals and capabilities.

Start your free trial of CoachRx and upgrade your programming flow with this tip today!