Field types
Add field offers five categories. Every field type knows what it expects: a weight is always in kilograms, a BMI calculates itself. You build a form quickly, and the answers stay comparable across your whole team.
What you set on every field
Click a field in your form to edit it:
- Label: the question as the person filling in the form sees it
- Help text: a short explanation under the question, for example how to measure something
- Required field: the form can only be submitted once this field is filled in. A form that is not complete yet stays a draft
- Condition: show the field only for a certain answer, see Questions with a condition
Some types have extra settings, listed with the field below.
Structure
| Field | What |
|---|---|
| Section | A heading that splits your form into parts. A section asks nothing itself. A condition on a section applies to every field up to the next section |
Generic
Fields you shape yourself: you pick the options, the range and the unit.
| Field | What |
|---|---|
| Text | A short answer on one line |
| Text area | A longer answer over several lines |
| Text area with preset texts | A text area with texts you prepare in advance. Whoever fills in the form picks one with Insert a text and edits it from there. Useful for a standard conclusion or a recurring remark |
| Number | A number. You set the minimum, maximum and unit yourself |
| Scale | A slider, 1 to 10 by default. You change the minimum, maximum and unit yourself |
| Checkbox | One box to tick. You choose the text next to the box, "Yes" by default |
| Single choice | Radio buttons: pick one option |
| Dropdown | A dropdown list: pick one option. Handy when there are many options |
| Multiple choice | Checkboxes: pick one or more options |
| Date | A date from a calendar |
| Time | A time of day, such as when the last meal was |
For the three choice fields you type the options under Options: type an option and press Enter. An option may contain a comma, such as "Yes, sometimes".
Measurements
Measurements come with their own unit and a realistic range. The range is deliberately wide and mainly catches typos, such as 720 instead of 72. You cannot change the unit or the range, so every coach in your team measures the same way.
| Field | Unit | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Waist | cm | 40 to 150 |
| Resting heart rate | bpm | 25 to 150 |
| FVC | l | 1 to 9 |
| FEV1 | l | 1 to 8 |
| Temperature | °C | -10 to 45 |
| Sex | Male or Female | |
| Athlete level | Beginner, Recreational, Competitive or Elite |
Resting heart rate is a measurement on purpose, not a metric: the heart rate you take at rest right before a test is a different value from the morning pulse on waking. For the morning pulse, pick the field from Metrics.
Sex and Athlete level also drive the reference scales, see Reference scales.
Metrics
Metrics fields are the same fields you see when you add a metric in the calendar. When you fill one in on a form, submitting it also saves the answer in the athlete's metrics. You record a weight or last night's sleep once, and you see it in the athlete's calendar and charts too. Under such a field the form says: Also saved as a metric on the day of the test.
| Field | Unit |
|---|---|
| Height | cm |
| Weight | kg |
| Body fat | % |
| Morning pulse | bpm |
| HRV | ms |
| Sleep hours, Work hours, Hours awake | hours |
| Blood pressure | mmHg |
| Moisture percentage | % |
| Number of steps | |
| Calories | kcal |
| Water usage | ml |
| SpO2 | % |
| Breathing rate | per minute |
| Sleep quality, Feeling, General feeling, Mental feeling, Motivation, Stress, Color urine, Menstruation | the same choices as a metric in the calendar |
How a metrics field writes through
- Which day: the date of the test the form belongs to. You often fill in a form a day later, so the test date counts, not the day you fill it in. When the form does not belong to a test, it is the day you submit it.
- The form wins: the answer overwrites what was already there that day, also a value that came from a watch or ring. You measured it on purpose. Other metrics of that day stay as they are.
- Only on submit: a draft writes nothing. Neither does a field hidden by a condition.
- Clearing erases nothing: when you empty an answer, the metric of that day stays. That value may come from a watch.
- Hours as a decimal: you enter sleep and work hours as 7.5. In the metrics that becomes 7h30.
- Height in whole centimetres: the metrics store height without decimals, so 178.4 becomes 178.
You create a form with your training condition from Metrics in one click from a test, see Forms in your tests.
Calculated
You do not fill in calculated fields. Coachbox works them out from the other fields of the same form and shows them with the label calculated.
| Field | Calculated from | How |
|---|---|---|
| BMI | Height and Weight | weight / (height in metres)² |
| Lean mass | Weight and Body fat | weight minus the fat in kilograms |
| FEV1/FVC | FEV1 and FVC | FEV1 divided by FVC, in % |
| Age | the date of birth in the athlete's profile | in years, as of today |
What to keep in mind:
- Add the source fields to the same form. A BMI without a Height or Weight field has nothing to calculate with. The builder then warns with Fields missing and tells you which fields to add.
- The name of the source fields does not matter. Coachbox looks at the field type, not the label. You can call the Weight field "Fasted weight" if you like.
- Use each source field once. With two Weight fields in your form, the BMI uses the last one.
- The value always follows the answers. A calculated field is not stored but worked out again every time. Fix a typo in the weight and the BMI is right straight away.
- No date of birth, no age. Age reads the date of birth from the profile. When it is missing, the field stays empty.
- A calculated field cannot be required and has no condition.
Reference scales
Under BMI, Waist and Body fat, Coachbox shows a scale with zones and where the athlete's value lands on it. That scale also goes into the report.
| Field | Source | Zones |
|---|---|---|
| BMI | WHO | Underweight, Normal weight, Overweight, Obesity class I to III |
| Waist | WHO | Low risk, Increased risk, High risk |
| Body fat | American Council on Exercise | Essential fat, Athletes, Fitness, Average, Above average |
- Add Sex when you use Waist or Body fat. The zones differ between men and women. Without a Sex field, Coachbox uses the zones for men.
- Add Athlete level with Body fat. A competitive or elite athlete aims for the Athletes zone, a beginner or recreational athlete for the Fitness zone. Coachbox marks that target on the scale.
- BMI and muscle: BMI does not distinguish muscle from fat. In muscular athletes the value often lands in Overweight without saying anything about body composition. That note also appears under the scale.
The zones are fixed and you cannot change them. That way "Normal weight" means the same thing on every report.