Sequencing Your Coaching Interventions for Better Client Outcomes

 Written by Sarah Bishop, MS Exercise Science, Functional Health Coach

As coaches, heck, as females with goals and timelines you’re excited to act on, it’s tempting to want to tackle everything at once: nutrition, training, supplements, lifestyle, testing…

Clients often arrive with a laundry list of goals, things to work on, and a willingness to do “whatever it takes.” But when too many changes happen at once, it becomes nearly impossible to know what’s working and what’s not.

Coaches also need to be careful not to look at goals separately. This is functional health coaching after all, meaning we look at the person as a whole. When someone is working through multiple things — say poor sleep, a downregulated thyroid, slow motility, learning to train with more intention — our first move needs to be to step back and pick the domino(s) that will have the biggest trickle-down effect to move them closer to their health goals.

And when anxiety, adrenal fatigue, or burnout is in the mix, as it often is (any imbalance is due to the body adapting to a “stressor” of some sort after all), this calm, methodical approach matters even more — because piling on more protocols can fuel the very stress we’re trying to resolve.

Why Sequencing Matters

When we make too many changes, we blur the lines between cause and effect.

• Did digestion improve because we increased magnesium?
• Or because we added aloe and a digestive enzyme?
• Or was it moving cardio to the evening so they could sleep more?
• Heck, did they just need more sleep?

I’ve seen this play out in complex cases: hormonal support, body composition goals, and recovery needs all overlapping. Without sequencing, we lose the ability to pinpoint what actually moved the needle.

With intentional ordering of interventions, you gain clearer feedback, protect client trust, and create sustainable, measurable progress.

The other thing this does? Gets us away from the “pill for every ill” or idea of broken physiology. The body is never broken. It’s simply adapting to inputs. Our job is to focus on better inputs to get someone to their goals and optimal health.

When (and How) to Make Coaching Changes

I use three main filters before deciding to implement something:

Urgency

Is there a clear, time-sensitive health need? (Chest pain, suicidal language, rapid weight loss, blood in stool — these warrant immediate referral.)

Impact

Will this meaningfully affect the client’s main goals and symptoms right now?

Clarity

Will this change cloud our ability to assess other variables?

Sometimes that means telling a client:

“We’re not quite a year post–birth control, and I see the argument for us to continue letting your body do its thing before adding in progesterone support.”

The Functional Health Framework for Sequencing Interventions

No, we don't always need to go as slow as one change at a time. There can be such a thing as going too slow with making a change.

For example, in a reverse diet after a fat loss phase: we want to increase food and not leave someone in a deficit longer than needed.

Many lifestyle changes can be stacked because they’re foundational and health-promoting:

• Working on sleep hygiene and consistent bedtime/wake time

• Blood sugar stability (consistent meals, avoiding excessive caffeine)

• Increasing steps, implementing post-meal walks and breath work

• Adding in more dark green veggies and improving nutrient variety

Example:
In week one of a reverse, I might increase carbs, drop cardio, add post-meal walks, and bump magnesium for sleep support. That’s strategic for the goal at hand: recovering from the diet.

Use the Rule of 2

Pick ≤2 targeted products at a time; 4-week trial (unless urgent); measurable endpoint; then keep/cut.

If someone isn’t yet taking magnesium and fish oil, we may be able to “break the rule” and include magnesium, fish oil, and creatine all at once.

Regardless:

• Use the Rule of 2

• Track biofeedback, performance metrics, and/or labs

• Only add the next change when confident in the impact of the first

When we get to supplements and more diet changes — such as when reintroducing foods after an elimination diet — we would want to go one food at a time and not make changes to digestive enzymes at the same period of reintroduction.

This protects the why behind your client’s progress and reduces overwhelm.

When It Comes to Testing

Consider starter labs: CBC, CMP, lipids, an iron panel, full thyroid panel, A1c/fasting insulin, vitamin D.

Rules:

• Test to answer a question; don’t test to collect souvenirs.

• Test only when the result would change your next move.

Step-by-Step Coaching Decision Tree

Step 1: Identify the Main Priority

Life-threatening or severe health risk? → Address immediately.
High discomfort/impact on daily life? → Consider prioritizing.
Mild inconvenience but client eager to start? → May wait.

Step 2: Assess Clarity of Feedback

Will adding this change now make it harder to evaluate other interventions?
Yes → Delay.
No → Implement.

Step 3: Consider Readiness & Resources

Does the client have the capacity (time, money, energy) to do this now?

If a client isn’t drinking more than 50 ounces of water, I’m not starting a fat loss phase.

Step 4: Decide Order

• Stabilize lifestyle and foundational habits (sleep, stress, baseline nutrition/training)

• Adjust nutrition and/or training variables

• Layer in targeted supplements or medications

• Advanced protocols only after assessing impact of previous steps

Step 5: Set Evaluation Period

Minimum 4–12 weeks before layering the next major change.

Case Studies

Let me give you a some real life coaching scenarios:

I’ve had cases where we thought a GI Map would possibly be needed on our intake call, but after working through nutrition and lifestyle changes for 4 weeks, getting serum labs after ~8 weeks, then supporting thyroid health for 12 weeks, we found that by upregulating her thyroid, her bloat and constipation resolved.

But it was only through strategic sequencing that I was able to identify her root cause. Each phase had a defined timeline and goals, and she understood that she had to be consistent so we could know what was working. Plus she started feeling better quickly with some of the changes, so that helped!

Simple protocols= data clean, and an empowered client .

The Art of “Less Is More”

Framing “less is more” is part of the art of coaching. I’ll say things like:

“We have options, but for clarity’s sake I want to see what happens with one change this week, and assess in your next check-in before adding another.”

One change at a time isn’t about slowing down progress. It ensures every move is intentional, measurable, and aligned with the client’s capacity.

Whether you’re troubleshooting digestion, optimizing hormones, or supporting a client with anxiety, a calm, strategic approach protects clarity, improves adherence, and makes you a better coach.