Managing Athletes
Learn how to add, organize, and effectively manage your clients within OwnFit.
Managing Athletes 👥
Your athletes are the heart of your business. This is where you'll spend a lot of your time—adding clients, tracking their progress, and building relationships that last.
The payoff
Master athlete management and you'll spend less time on admin, more time doing what you love—coaching.
The Athletes List
When you open the Athletes section, you get a smart directory of all your clients:
| What You See | Why It's Useful |
|---|---|
| Name & photo | Quick recognition |
| Last trained | Spot who's been MIA |
| Status | Active, inactive, or archived |
| Search | Find anyone instantly |
Search is forgiving—typos, partial names, even notes you've added all work. Can't remember "Sarah"? Search "marathon training" if that's in her notes.
Adding Athletes
Two ways to get clients into the system:
Option 1: Email Invitation (Recommended) ✉️
Click "Add Athlete"
Enter their email address
They get a welcome email
Explains OwnFit and how to set up
They create their account
Auto-connected to your organization
You get notified
They appear in your list, ready to go!
Why invitations rock
Clients own their account—they can update info, check schedules, and message you. Less admin work for you!
Option 2: Quick Add (For Immediate Needs) ⚡
Need someone in the system right now? Quick Add lets you create a profile with just a name. Convert to a full account later when they're ready.
The Athlete Profile
Every athlete has a detailed profile. Think of it as their personal coaching file:
📋 Personal Info
| Field | What to Put There |
|---|---|
| Name & Photo | The basics |
| Contact details | Email, phone |
| Notes | Goals, injuries, preferences, life context |
Use notes liberally
"Knee surgery 2023, avoid deep squats" or "Prepping for August marathon" or "Works night shifts, morning sessions only"—this stuff is gold for personalized coaching.
📊 Training History
A complete record of every workout:
- Exercises performed
- Weights and reps logged
- Performance trends over time
Pro move: Reference this when designing new programs. What loads have they handled? Where are they strongest/weakest?
📋 Active Plans
Which training programs they're currently following. View details, check progress, make adjustments, or assign new ones.
📅 Scheduled Sessions
Upcoming sessions appear right here. Schedule new ones directly from the profile—athlete pre-selected to save clicks.
💬 Communication Log
Every message you've exchanged. Never wonder "what did we discuss?"—it's all searchable.
Organizing Your Roster
As your client base grows, organization becomes critical.
Tags: Your Secret Weapon 🏷️
Create custom labels that make sense for your practice:
| Tag Ideas | Use Case |
|---|---|
| weight-loss, strength, sports | Training goals |
| beginner, intermediate, advanced | Experience level |
| morning, evening, weekend | Scheduling preferences |
| remote, in-person | Training location |
Tags become powerful filters. Want to message all marathon clients? Filter by that tag—done.
Status Management
| Status | When to Use |
|---|---|
| Active | Current clients—show in all normal views |
| Inactive | Taking a break (travel, life stuff)—hidden but preserved |
| Archived | Relationship ended—preserved for records, hidden everywhere |
Tracking Progress
Understanding how your athletes are progressing is fundamental to good coaching.
Performance Metrics 📈
OwnFit automatically tracks:
- Strength trends — Are loads going up?
- Volume patterns — Total work over time
- Consistency — How regular is their training?
Visual charts make it easy to spot: improving steadily, plateauing, or maybe overreaching.
Feedback Integration 💭
When athletes rate workouts and leave comments, that data flows here:
- Consistently "too easy"? → Ready for more challenge
- Mentioning fatigue? → Maybe needs recovery
- Loving certain workouts? → Do more of those
Progress Photos 📸
Some clients track visually. OwnFit stores photos securely for comparison over time. Physical changes that numbers don't capture.
Communication
Effective communication = strong relationships.
💬 Direct Messages
Real-time conversation, delivered instantly
📢 Group Messages
Reach multiple athletes at once for announcements
Everything is logged and searchable. Reference past discussions anytime.
Best Practices
The Habits That Matter
| Practice | Why It Works |
|---|---|
| Keep profiles updated | New goal? Injury? Add it immediately |
| Review before sessions | 2 minutes of prep = prepared and professional |
| Use the data | Make programming decisions based on evidence, not guesswork |
| Communicate proactively | Notice missed sessions? Reach out first |
The 2-minute pre-session ritual
Before every session: open their profile, scan recent training, check feedback, review notes. You'll walk in prepared and clients will notice.