The PAR-Q+ (Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone) is Canada's pre-participation screening form: seven yes-or-no questions about your heart, blood pressure, chest pain, dizziness, chronic conditions, medications and joints. Seven answers of no clear you to become more active; a yes routes you to follow-up questions and sometimes to your physician.
The PAR-Q+ is a one-page screen, not an exam. Its seven questions ask whether a doctor has told you that you have a heart condition or high blood pressure, whether you get chest pain, whether you lose balance from dizziness or have fainted in the last year, whether you have another diagnosed chronic condition, whether you take prescribed medication for one, whether a bone or joint problem could be made worse by activity, and whether you have been told to exercise only under medical supervision.
It is published by the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology and used by coaches and rec centres across the country. Most adults answer no to all seven and get on with it.
One yes, and what it triggers
Say a new member answers yes to the medication question: she takes a daily pill for blood pressure, well controlled. That yes does not stop anything. It opens the follow-up pages, where the blood-pressure section asks whether the condition is controlled with or without medication. If it is, she signs the form and trains. If a follow-up answer is also yes, the form points to a physician or a qualified exercise professional before starting, and that conversation, not the coach, decides.
The first weeks avoid breath-holding on heavy sets, the heart-rate display stays in view, and the effort is built up from conversational rather than tested on day one. The screen changed the program, not the permission.
The confusion: a yes is not a no, and a screen is not a note
People treat a yes as disqualification and stay away, the opposite of the form's purpose. The PAR-Q+ was designed to send fewer people for unnecessary clearance than the older PAR-Q did, by asking better follow-up questions instead of referring everyone with a condition. A yes means a closer look, and the closer look usually ends in a signature.
It is also not a doctor's note, a waiver or a fitness test. It is a self-report that tells the coach where to be careful. When a physician's clearance is genuinely needed, and when it is not, is the subject of do I need a doctor's note to start training.
Where it shows up at Coresa
Expect the PAR-Q+ questions, in one form or another, before your first coached session. The free 15-minute consult is a conversation in street clothes, and these are the questions a coach needs answered by the time you lift anything. 1-on-1 personal training starts with an assessment, where the answers shape what gets screened first; in a small group the coach uses them to decide which swaps to write before you arrive. The assessment itself is described at fitness assessments: what to expect.
Common questions
How long is a PAR-Q+ valid for?
Twelve months from the date you sign it, and sooner if your health changes: a new diagnosis, a new medication, an injury. Tell your coach when something changes.
Is the PAR-Q+ the same as the old PAR-Q?
No. The original PAR-Q was aimed at people aged 15 to 69 and referred anyone with a condition to a doctor. The PAR-Q+ replaced it, applies to all ages, and adds follow-up questions so that a controlled condition does not automatically mean a referral.
Who sees my answers?
The coach responsible for your program, so they can write it safely. Ask any studio how the form is stored.
