Weekly check-in questions for online coaching clients
A weekly check-in only works if clients finish it every week and you can read it in a few minutes. Here are ten questions that do both, why each one is there, and a version you can copy into Google Forms, Typeform or your coaching app.
The 10 questions
Four numbers, four quick ratings and two open questions. It takes a client a couple of minutes.
Numbers
- Average morning weight this week. Ask clients to weigh in at least three mornings, after the bathroom and before eating, and send the average (or let your app work it out). One weigh-in says little; an average says a lot.
- Waist measurement. Optional, but useful when weight stalls. Same spot, same time of day, once a week or every two weeks.
- Sessions completed. "How many of your planned sessions did you do?" Record it as done out of planned, for example 3 of 4.
- Average daily steps. Only if steps are part of the plan. The weekly average from their phone is enough.
Ratings from 1 to 5
- Sleep quality. 1 = very poor, 5 = great.
- Energy. 1 = drained, 5 = full of energy.
- Stress. 1 = calm, 5 = very stressed.
- How closely they followed the plan. Training and nutrition together. 1 = not at all, 5 = fully.
Open questions
- "What's one win from this week?" Anything counts: a heavier set, a good choice at a restaurant, going to bed earlier. Ask for one, so it never feels like homework.
- "What got in the way, and is there anything you need from me?" This is where you hear about travel, a sore knee or a crazy week at work before it turns into a lost month.
Why ratings from 1 to 5 work
Clients answer them in seconds, and they add up. After four weeks you can average each rating and compare it with last month. "Your sleep went from 2.8 to 3.6" is something you can show a client. "Sleep was okay-ish" is not.
Write what 1 and 5 mean next to every rating. Stress is the one that runs the other way, where a higher number is worse, so say it clearly on the form.
Questions to add for some clients
- Pain or injury: "Any pain this week? Where, and how bad from 0 to 10?"
- Performance: the top set of one or two main lifts, or a benchmark like a 2 km run time.
- Hunger: a 1 to 5 rating during a fat-loss phase, to spot a diet that has become too hard to keep.
- Progress photos: every two to four weeks rather than every week, in the same light and the same poses.
- Menstrual cycle: only if the client wants to share it. It helps explain swings in weight and energy.
Questions to leave out
- "How was your week?" on its own. The answer is usually "fine". Keep it as an optional comment box at the end.
- Two questions in one. "How were your sleep and stress?" gets one answer for two different things.
- Anything you never look at. Every extra question makes the form less likely to get finished. If an answer has never changed a decision, drop the question.
When to send it and how to review it
Send it on the same day every week, usually Sunday evening or Monday morning, with one reminder the next day. Then go through each check-in in the same order:
- Reply to the win first. It's the part clients read.
- Compare the weekly average with the last three or four weeks, not with last week alone.
- Check sessions and plan ratings before you change anything. Most stalls come from the week, not from the plan.
- Read the open answer and deal with what they asked for.
- Make one change at most, and explain why.
Copy-paste version
From weekly check-ins to a monthly report
Four check-ins make a month. Average the numbers and ratings, compare them with the previous month, add the client's wins and a few lines from you, and you have a monthly progress report your client will actually read.
Published 26 October 2026