Picture this: you are at the gym during peak hour. Every trainer is occupied. You’ve finished your warm-up and today is leg day, but you’re stuck. Do you start with squats, lunges or deadlifts? In what order? How many reps?You scan the room, hoping to catch a trainer’s eye. No luck. Then it hits you… you don’t actually need one.You reach for your phone, open ChatGPT, and quickly type: On Monday I did upper body, Tuesday was core, Wednesday I rested. Today is Thursday. What leg workout should I do?Within seconds, a full routine appears, one that is structured, progressive, and tailored to what you’re already familiar with. Squats first, then Romanian deadlifts, followed by walking lunges and a finisher to burn out your quads.Welcome to the new age of fitness, where artificial intelligence (AI) is stepping onto the gym floor and going head-to-head with human coaches.But the question remains, can AI replace the trained human eye, or is it simply changing how we train?“AI became my structure”For Aisha Maalim, AI-powered fitness was less a trend and more a necessity.“I am training for a full marathon, but it seemed like I had limited time to train, so I had to break my plan into three phases,” the fitness enthusiast says.Like many new runners, Aisha’s journey into fitness began with uncertainty but also with purpose.“I started running in July 2024, then I added strength training because you can’t just run. You have to go to the gym because you need strength for proper form and endurance.”Her motivation was twofold.“The first reason was my mental health, and the second one was just my general health, because at the time when I started running, I wasn’t really moving much.” Aisha says.But showing up, she realised, was not enough.“The more consistent you are, the more you learn about your body, your progress and the sport itself,” she says.What she needed was structure.“AI ended up being my structure.”ChatGPT became her coach, planner and motivator all in one.“I use it for all my training…for strength training and for my running. I go to the gym, I run, but I don’t have a trainer. I’ve seen people investing in trainers, but AI has done much better for me, to be honest.”She adds that her reliance on AI deepened when she had an injury.“I started getting more into AI when I got an Achilles tendonitis. I was trying to figure out how I can heal and that’s where I started researching with AI. I felt a lot better with the exercises it recommended.”From there, it became part of her daily routine.“Then I started using it more, for my planning for runs, creating a timetable, balancing the gym and strength training,” Aisha says.Since September 2024, she has stuck with it, and says the results speak for themselves.“If I wasn’t seeing results, I’d be looking for a trainer.”Convenience is a major factor.“As much as having a trainer works for others, for me, it wasn’t convenient. I work well with AI. I don’t have to think, you know, what am I doing today? It is all planned out,” she adds.Aisha has mapped her ambitious fitness goals.“I want to complete a full marathon by October, improve my half-marathon personal best, and hit a specific finish time. All that has been structured by AI.”Even in moments of uncertainty, her instinct is no longer to ask a person, it’s to consult her screen.“Let me tell you, if there’s someone who is a pioneer for ChatGpt, it is me. Sometimes people look at me and say I’m doing too much. I use AI for almost everything. That’s my life, and it’s working for me, and I’m still going to use it.”AI in multi-sport trainingFor Kenneth Kinyanjui, who is a chief product officer for Exodus mobility, AI is less about discovery and more about optimisation.“I wanted a programme that would allow me to achieve my goals. I swim, I run, and sometimes I cycle. What I’ve done is put my goals, then I prompt it, in this case I use Chatgpt.”Unlike beginners, Kenneth feeds the system with detailed data.“If I have a target, I input my training volume and ask it to create a plan toward a competition—in my case, swimming meets.”The results have been measurable.“Since I started using AI for programming last year, I’ve broken my personal best times in every swimming meet over the past six months.”For him, AI excels in precision.“I’ve used AI mostly in swimming, to improve my technique and structure my workouts. Even if it’s going to the gym, AI will prompt you on things like, you have to warm up, these are the drills you’re supposed to do, and how you’re supposed to structure your workout,” he says.And perhaps most importantly, it adapts to Kenneth’s schedule.“If I’m only able to do three swims a week, AI can tell me how much time I should spend in the pool to achieve a certain result.”Although part of AI’s appeal is in its intelligence, it is also accessible.“I’m sure more people are adopting it. For me it made sense because I was already paying for Strava, so I was like, why do I have to pay another tool?” Kenneth says.He’s pragmatic about it.“And I’m not looking for very bespoke coaching at the moment. Since I already pay for the AIs, like the ChatGPT and cloud, I can just prompt it, give it a goal and it generates a plan,” he says.“I used to pay for an app, but it was pricey. It’s called SwimPro, and it costs about Sh5,000 ($40) a month which is quite steep considering you’re paying for many other things,” he adds.Re-asserting human expertiseStill, he acknowledges AI’s limits.“A coach is still important, especially for technique. They can observe your form, your kick, your movement in ways AI can’t.”“AI still hasn’t solved everything”Yet for all its advantages, there is a line AI has not crossed and perhaps may never.For Kevin Moruri, owner of Kevin Fitness 254 Gym, the shift is already visible on the ground.“I’ve seen a number of clients who don’t want to pay for a personal trainer to plan their workouts or show them how to train because of AI,” he says.But confidence doesn’t always equal correctness.“New clients come in with AI-generated plans, but they don’t always know how to use the machines or maintain proper form.”And that’s where human expertise reasserts itself.“As much as they have that information from AI, as a trainer, you can find yourself coming in and advising on how to use the machine, how to use the form and also giving them the benefits of the machine. AI still hasn’t solved everything, they still need us.”His concern is not just about accuracy, it’s also about nuance.“AI gives you what you ask for, but it doesn’t always account for underlying issues. You might have a back problem, an injury or a limitation that it doesn’t fully factor in.”The same applies to nutrition.“It can suggest meals without fully understanding your health conditions, whether you have stomach issues and stuff like that.”The presence of AI is also shaping behaviour inside gyms.“Some clients ignore trainers completely. They put headphones on and follow their phones even when they’re doing movements incorrectly.”The result?“A good number of them don’t fully achieve their goals.”→ mrsitawa@ke.nationmedia.com Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
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