Online Coaching Foundations and Client Assessment
Domain 1 covers the foundations of remote coaching and the intake-to-baseline assessment sequence. The exam tests whether you can screen safely, collect defensible baseline data, and recognize what falls outside a coach’s scope.
Screening and scope
- Use a health-history questionnaire plus PAR-Q+ before exercise; follow up “yes” answers with clarification and, when indicated, physician clearance.
- Coaches do not diagnose or treat injury or disease. Red flags such as chest pain, syncope, unexplained weight loss, locking or swelling joints, or neurological symptoms trigger referral.
- Obtain informed consent and explain data storage before collecting videos or health data.
Baseline assessment remotely
- Choose tests with low equipment, clear instructions, and acceptable reliability: 3-minute step test for HR recovery, push-up or plank for muscular endurance, sit-to-stand, and self-measured circumference with a tape.
- Standardize camera angle (front and side), lighting, footwear, and framing for video movement screens; 2D video cannot measure joint angles precisely.
- Record test conditions and retest at the same time of day; interpret trends across 3–4 data points rather than one result.
Worked example
A new client reports knee pain, swelling after walking, and “locking.” The coach completes intake, documents symptoms, refers to a physician, and pauses lower-body loading. After clearance, the coach uses pain-free range, open-chain and low-impact options, and reassesses. Reasoning: swelling and locking are red flags, not programming problems.
Traps
Treating a PAR-Q+ as a diagnosis; skipping consent; using max lifts remotely without a spotter; changing tests between retests; accepting self-reported height and weight without instructions.