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2. Health & medical history

The gate. Everything downstream depends on this section being answered honestly, so it comes early and its wording should stay plain and non-judgemental.

Stop rule

A Yes to any question in 2.1 Pre-exercise screening means no exercise testing and no programming until, where indicated, written medical clearance is on file. See Screening red flags.

2.1 Pre-exercise screening

Modelled on the PAR-Q+. All are required, all are Yes/No unless noted.

2.2 Conditions

2.3 Vitamins and dietary supplements

2.4 Surgical & hospital history

2.5 Family history

The source sheet asks per relative rather than in aggregate, which surfaces noticeably more than a single yes/no does.

2.6 Blood tests & other practitioners

health_practitioners prevents contradictory advice

Clients frequently arrive already working with someone else and don't mention it. Finding out on day one avoids a programme that pulls against a physiotherapist's plan or a dietitian's protocol.

2.7 Reproductive health

Safety-critical questions only. Cycle detail lives in section 3.7 — don't duplicate it here.

2.8 Lifestyle risk factors

I do not drink alcohol is an exclusive escape option: selecting it clears every other option, and selecting any other option clears it. See Multi-select conventions. Enforced as showNoneItem on health_alcohol_units in survey/sections/02-health-history.json.

2.9 Red flags

The PAR-Q+ screening in 2.1, and the conditions and history below, drive most of triage. Full outcome definitions are in Screening red flags; what follows is the subset this section's own fields feed.

Stop and refer immediately — no assessment, no session, today:

  • Shortness of breath at rest (parq_2a_breathlessness = Yes, at rest or Yes, both at rest and during physical activity)
  • Loss of consciousness or unexplained collapse in the last 12 months (parq_3_dizziness = Yes)

Chest pain is not on this list, and that is correct

No field in this section asks about it — parq_1_heart asks about a diagnosis, and parq_2a_breathlessness asks about breath. Chest pain is asked once, as an option on sys_cardio in 3.3, and its stop entry lives on that page with the field that produces it.

Clearance required before training — written clearance from the client's doctor, on file, before anything else:

  • Any Yes on the PAR-Q+ (2.1) that is not otherwise resolved by the rest of the questionnaire
  • A known heart condition, previous cardiac event, or cardiac surgery (health_conditions includes Heart disease or Stroke)
  • Uncontrolled diabetes, or diabetes with complications — neuropathy, retinopathy, kidney involvement (health_conditions, health_diabetes_mgmt)
  • Cancer treatment currently underway or completed within the last 6 months (health_conditions includes Cancer)
  • Epilepsy with seizures in the last 12 months (health_conditions includes Epilepsy — cross-check against sys_head / sys_neuro in 3.10)
  • Recent surgery — within 12 weeks, or outside the surgeon's stated return timeline (health_surgeries_detail)
  • Osteoporosis with a previous fragility fracture (health_conditions includes Osteoporosis)

Proceed with caution — train, but with documented modifications and a note of what was changed and why:

Flag Source field Typical modification
Controlled asthma health_conditions Extended warm-up; inhaler present and accessible
Controlled type 2 diabetes health_conditions Fixed session timing, glucose checked pre-session, fast-acting carbohydrate on hand
Osteopenia, no fracture history health_conditions No spinal flexion under load, no twisting under load; build impact gradually
Under active physio care health_practitioners Coordinate with the clinician before loading the affected area

health_smoking and health_family_matrix also count toward the cardiovascular risk factors used by the age thresholds in 1.6.

If a stop condition fires here, use the wording in Stop conditions and hand off immediately — do not finish this section first.


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