Program Design and Exercise Prescription for Remote Clients
Domain 2 tests remote exercise prescription: selecting safe exercises with limited equipment, setting volume and intensity, and progressing clients you cannot physically spot.
Design rules
- Start with a needs analysis: goal, schedule, training age, space, equipment, injury history, and preferred activities.
- Build around movement patterns-squat, hinge, push, pull, carry, rotate, gait-rather than machines.
- Prescribe intensity with RPE/RIR and the talk test when HR data are unreliable; use HR zones only when resting and maximum HR are reasonably estimated.
- Include a general warm-up, skill or main lift, accessory work, and a cool-down; keep sessions within the client’s stated time.
- Progress one variable at a time. A common rule: if a client can perform two extra reps beyond the target in two consecutive sessions with stable technique, increase load slightly.
Remote safety
- Replace exercises that need a spotter (barbell bench press, back squat near failure) with dumbbell, machine, or band alternatives.
- Provide regressions and a pain rule: stop and report sharp, joint, or worsening pain.
- Use video demonstration, written cues, tempo, and rest periods; check technique by submitted video before loading.
Worked example
A client has dumbbells, bands, a bench, 30 minutes, three days a week, and knee irritation. The coach programs goblet box squats, dumbbell Romanian deadlifts, floor press, band rows, and farmer carries at RIR 3. When the client completes two extra reps in two sessions with clean video, the coach adds load. Reasoning: the plan matches equipment, avoids deep knee flexion under load, and uses a measurable progression rule.
Traps
Copying an in-person program; testing 1RM remotely; changing load and volume together; no regression; ignoring the client’s space; programming through pain.