Imagine being trained by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Better yet, envision an AI that can create workouts inspired by Schwarzenegger's routine, designed to match your fitness level and goals. This episode is all about exploring the awe-inspiring potential of AI in personalized workout designs. I will take a look at how this evolving technology can whip up unique workouts tailored to your fitness level and goals. I construct an example of a muscle-burning workout reminiscent of Schwarzenegger himself.
But as we marvel at the fitness revolution heralded by AI, I also discuss its limitations. I will examine a range of popular fitness apps such as FitON, Map my Fitness, Nike Fitness, and Hevy, and evaluate the pros and cons of each. We'll also take a deep dive into the power and limitations of social media, emphasizing the significance of human-to-human interaction and the role of accountability partners in fitness. By the end of the episode, you'll understand the game-changing role of AI in fitness, but also recognize the importance of balancing technology with a dash of fun and a personal touch.
Imagine being trained by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Better yet, envision an AI that can create workouts inspired by Schwarzenegger's routine, designed to match your fitness level and goals. This episode is all about exploring the awe-inspiring potential of AI in personalized workout designs. I will take a look at how this evolving technology can whip up unique workouts tailored to your fitness level and goals. I construct an example of a muscle-burning workout reminiscent of Schwarzenegger himself.
But as we marvel at the fitness revolution heralded by AI, I also discuss its limitations. I will examine a range of popular fitness apps such as FitON, Map my Fitness, Nike Fitness, and Hevy, and evaluate the pros and cons of each. We'll also take a deep dive into the power and limitations of social media, emphasizing the significance of human-to-human interaction and the role of accountability partners in fitness. By the end of the episode, you'll understand the game-changing role of AI in fitness, but also recognize the importance of balancing technology with a dash of fun and a personal touch.
Welcome to the Pain Free Athlete Podcast. I'm your host, dana Jones. I am a certified personal trainer and I'm here to help you achieve your fitness goals without pain. In each episode, I'll share tips and strategies that will help you stay safe and pain free while you're working out. I'll also interview experts in the field of fitness and pain management. So if you're ready to learn how to stay active and pain free, then subscribe to the Pain Free Athlete Podcast today. Hi everyone and welcome to the Pain Free Athlete Podcast. I'm your host, dana Jones, and today we're going to talk about how to use AI to build workouts.
Dana:
There's just been so much discussion lately about AI and how you know robots are going to take over the world all that kind of good stuff. That's happening, but you know we're all going to die. But it's been in the news, right, you know. As you know, because you probably have crappy TV right now the writer strike was going on for a long time and the discussion was how things can be copied and the possession of such items forever, and people didn't want their likenesses being used and, you know, having AI write scripts and replace people, because that would suck. There's something fundamentally enjoyable about humans and their ability to entertain. And the computer does a halfway decent job, but not really. And you know it's leaked into other things, right? I'm, as you know, my main gig is I'm a high school teacher and of course that's come up right, is that? Oh, we have to make sure that the kids aren't cheating because they're using AI, and the best part about it is that you know the ones that are using it are the ones that never wrote anything before, and so now they're turning in like elaborate stuff and you're like, yeah, dude, you used AI and we know. So then they're like, yeah, I did. And it's like, okay, well, next time don't go from like nothing, you know zero to hero and one full swing like you should learn how to, you know, loosen it up a little bit. So it's not that obvious that you're cheating. But inherently the kids don't really care. But it's everywhere you know it is. We're using it to Dr Pictures. We're, you know, using it to Dr Voices. You know it's just showing up and with the implementation, or at least the acquisition of chat GPT, which is one of the main AI sources, you are starting to see how people are using it and you know just where it's going and obviously there's limitations, right For me.
Dana:
I'm somebody who likes to embrace technology, so even in my teaching gig I'm all well. Let's see what the kids can find out by using chat, gpt. Of course it's blocked by our district's website because they don't want everybody using it, which totally makes sense. But for me I want to know like is it accurate, is it worth it? Is this going to save me hours of work or, you know, watching something or doing whatever, reading an entire book or whatever it may be, but it's, you know, I'm finding it slightly helpful. I use it a little bit here and there. I find that it lies a little bit, you know, because it fills gaps and you know obviously the way that the programming runs or the algorithm goes right. It doesn't like a gap in knowledge, and so it fills in the gaps and you're like, oh, that didn't happen. But you know it's there and it's only going to get better because people are going to want to make it get better.
Dana:
And so my curiosity was like what does it look like if I were to use it to design a workout? So you know, obviously, just like anything, right garbage and garbage out. So what does that mean that means that I have to be very specific about my ask, right, and make sure that whatever I'm doing is getting what I want to come out right. I could say, hey, you know, please design me a workout, and you know it's going to come up with some generic workout that's probably not going to meet my needs and that's not what I was looking for. So I wanted to know, like is there something that can happen right? Like, where are we heading with this? So I started playing around, and so then I asked some questions. And so the first question, because I was like, all right, let's go with three different styles of workouts and let's see what happens. So, workout number one I said, please help me design a workout that resembles a workout that Arnold Schwarzenegger would use. That's not easy for me to say. And so it was on point, right, it was a typical Schwarzenegger type workout.
Dana:
You know, five to ten minutes of cardiovascular to warm up, dynamic stretching. You know arm circles, leg swings, hip rotations, those kinds of things, and then whatever he would use, right. So you have your barbell bench press, you have your dumbbell flies, your wide grip pull-ups, your bent-over rows, cable crossovers right, because that was a big one for him because you know long arms, that kind of stuff. And then it goes to shoulder and arms right, dumbbell press, arnold press right why not use a press that is named after him Upright rows, bicep curls, closed grip, bench, hammer curls. And then for the legs, obviously it's going to be squats, leg press, romanian deadlift, leg extension, standing calf raises. And then for the abs, you're going to do your hanging leg raise, russian twist and a plank, and then cardiovascular is like doing some kind of running or cycling or hit training. And then at the end of it it says remember to adjust the weights and repetitions based on your own fitness level and gradually increase the intensity over time. Rest for one to two minutes between sets and exercises. Proper form and technique are crucial, so focus on maintaining good posture and engaging the target muscles throughout each exercise.
Dana:
So I was like that's pretty cool, that's legit. I think that if I was just learning I would figure this out, and I have some experience in bodybuilding and workouts and of course, I would never do my entire body in one day, but I didn't ask for that, I just said design a workout. So it came up with four different things or five different things and so, like a lot of times, you have a chest day or back and bice or whatever it may be. So I felt like it was a good effort, it came through, it gave a pretty good workout. So then I said let's see, please write me a workout based off of Ben Patrick's ATG standards.
Dana:
So ATG has very different exercises based off of levels, and standards is like the basic core level, and so, of course, it goes into a description of who Ben Patrick is, which is also known as the Knees Over Toes guy, and it has popularized the ATG astagrass training method focusing on developing strength, mobility and resilience in the lower body. Here's a workout routine inspired by it, and then it says the workout primarily focuses on lower body exercises. It is important to complement it with upper body in your overall fitness routine, and so it goes into all these squats and it gives the same thing. So this is where things get a little funny. You're like, oh, five to 10 minutes of like cardiovascular exercise, very similar to the Arnold workout Dynamic stretches right Like swings, hip circles, walking lunges, right and then it goes into squat variations, single leg exercises, mobility and stability exercises, plyometric stuff, core and then cardiovascular, which is the same pattern that we had for the Arnold stuff.
Dana:
The interesting part of it is that it's wrong. If you Google ATG standards workout, you realize like there's a process, and how it goes is that you know, monday and Thursday are reserved for sport, so whatever, play basketball, tennis, you know those kinds of things and then Tuesday, wednesday and Friday are your workouts, and so how it goes is that generally the way it always goes is that you do your tibialis raises, you do your calf raises, you do your L-sit, then you do an ATG squat, which is basically that's the astragraph squat, and then you do a split squat, and that is you know where you go, float your knees. So the squat is a very low squat and you float your knee completely ahead of your toes and then come back up. And then there's the I think it's called a polyquin step up, which is where you start at a high level and then you drop down and then you raise your body up to that high level. And then what is the other one? Oh, there's the elephant walk, and then you have a straight leg back where essentially you sit against a box or against the wall and you lift your legs Right. So you alternate lifting, a straight leg lifts, and then there's a couch stretch, there is the elevated bridge or not elevated bridge, elevated what do I want to say? Pigeon stretch, and then there's one more stretch, I can't remember. Anyway, this is how it goes.
Dana:
And they do have upper body, right, and the upper body is part of the standards, right. So they do full range of motion, pull ups, pullovers, push ups or a dip you row. You know there's a rotation, external rotation and whatever. So I guess what I'm saying is that this is completely wrong, right? Sorry, chat GPT, you try to give it the old college try. It didn't work out, right. So again, you know, verify your sources right, make sure that everything is. And just because you put it in doesn't mean it knows.
Dana:
So then the final one that I wanted to choose was I said please write me a workout based off of Pete Agasky's pain free technique. And then again it goes in. He's a renowned postural alignment specialist who developed the Agasky method to address pain and improve functional movement through specific exercises and stretches. While it's important to consult with a certified Agasky method practitioner for a personalized program, I can provide you with a sample workout based off of the principles. And then it goes down and it has, you know, a posture reset.
Dana:
Upper body exercises are like wall angels and shoulder rolls. Lower back or lower body exercises are hip bridges and wall squats or wall sits, that he calls them the air bench, core exercise or bird dogs or a dead bug, and then there's a couple of stretches. So, and it only gave me a couple of things per body part or per area, and if you go to his pain free book, you could see there's a lot more exercises that are provided, because there's the balancing of the hips by putting a ball between your knees and doing squeezes, there's, you know, just a lot of other things that are available there. But at least it was kind of closer to what you needed, right, like at least you would have an idea, but again, not on point. And so you know, and then it says you know, remember to perform each exercise with control and focus on maintaining proper alignment and form. Start with lighter intensities and gradually increase as your body adapts. If you experience pain or discomfort, you know, stop and consult with a professional and it's like, okay, cool, thanks for that, you know.
Dana:
But all in all, there are videos that are out there, especially at Austin that show you a goscue methods. One of his big things is where it's called static back and it's you lay on your back and you put your feet in an elevated position and that is fantastic and it's basically his idea of like resetting your hips, because you understand funny, you do whatever and you get used to this, and that is one of his core exercises and or east sizes as he calls them, and that wasn't used. So you know AI, you know we'll see how it goes, we'll see if it tightens up as information, and maybe I just didn't ask the right questions, maybe I needed to get more specific, but you know, just so you know it's. It may be okay to a certain extent, but if you have any kind of knowledge about the direction in which you want to head with the exercises, you're going to notice that things aren't quite accurate. So, from the chat, gpt or ask AI, end of it. You know it is definitely a garbage in, garbage out situation, so just get that.
Dana:
Now there's some apps that are starting to like use AI in little ways, but there's, you know, there's a ways. I think that you're probably going to get the same amount of information, but you're gonna understand that it's an app and then, as a part of an app, you're gonna get some accountability right. So either your friends are gonna see you working out and they're gonna get notified when you complete something, or you're going to get a little reminder for using this particular app and that's going to help you. So I wanted to list my top four apps that I like and that I have used in the past and have found to be successful. So the first one is that if you like live classes or at least having an instructor work with you, that is possibly not crazy. I don't know, because some of the stuff, like I hear, is kind of funny, like where you know they kind of shame you until you can do more, you know, and you're at home going. No, I can't. But I like FitOn. They have a lot of good different. They have a very good variety of instructors and I think it's a good app. It syncs with your Apple Watch so it gives you your heart rate. If you do the live version, it could show like who else is it working out with you and where are you in terms of effort, if you're that competitive person. I don't do that. I use the free version of it and I think there's a lot of choices for the free version, which is really nice. With the paid version, you can cast it to your TV so you can have it on a bigger screen and say it. I just use my iPad or my phone because I pretty much know what I'm doing. I just I'm usually going for the person you know. So I'm going for the yoga instructor, I'm going for somebody who's going to do Pilates or whatever.
Dana:
Another app that I have been using for a number of years is called Map my Fitness, and that's really just an accountability app. It shows that I did the workout. There's some stuff that's in there, but it's not really terribly helpful. It kind of runs in the line of Strava where it just kind of keeps track of it, and then you have friends so they know what you're doing and that kind of works. Nike Fitness is good. They're a little crazy, right. They're like you can jump upside down, you know, and do that kind of stuff. So you got to be mindful of what workout you use. But again, it works with the Apple Watch and Garmin and so you can make sure you get a pretty decent workout of it. And then, finally, my new one is Heavy and it's HEVY and it's a pretty good little app. It keeps track. So if you are a weight lifter and you want to track your progress and you want to see how you've improved over time, or even just like the cool thing of knowing, like how many thousands of pounds that I lift this week, it's going to give that to you and you plug it in as you go. It's good. It's a good accountability thing. I was just made aware that they added a coaching feature to it, so your coach can have one aspect of it and then share that with you or give you workouts or whatever. So that's kind of neat. I like it just for the basics, because it allows you to create workouts for body weight. It allows you to create workouts for barbell workout straps and mobility bands like all that kind of stuff. So it's a nice little feature to have in there. So they're working on improving it and I always like something that's continually updating and trying to listen to its audience to improve stuff.
Dana:
Another one that I heard that is pretty good, as Peloton they are will kind of. If you're somebody who does not like to be motivated by shame or pressure, you may not like it. You know, because they're like you can do it and you're like Nask or you. But they have a lot of variety in workouts. They have a lot of variety in instructors, and you know. So you get equipment. So it's not only for the bike stuff. They do have the running aspect of it, for the treadmill and then, as well as they have weights and body weight workouts and you know there's a good amount of it. I think they're seeing a decline because people just aren't working out the way they did with COVID. Right, their sales were off the chain during COVID and now people are like I don't have time to that or they want to go back to the gym. So some challenges that I want you to be aware of when you're using an app is that you know it's not as motivating as a coach.
Dana:
Right is that you choose your time when you want to work out. You choose what you want to work out, how many minutes. You know that kind of thing and it doesn't really give you a full schedule. Heavy does like it hasn't laid out for you or you can choose, but the other ones don't, and so that could be a problem if you're somebody who needs to be scheduled. And that's and I think that's probably the biggest hang up is that if you need some more supervision, this may not be the right thing for you to use the app.
Dana:
Things to keep in mind, going back to the whole AI discussion, is that how you ask AI for something means everything right. So if you're not asking very clear questions or you're not being terribly specific, you're going to get that response back, right Is that it's not going to be very specific. And if you're somebody who needs details or you want to know what I'm doing every day, that kind of thing you may have to ask, like what does a Monday work out, look like if I do chest and back or chest and trice or whatever it may be? Always remember, you know, just with any kind of technology, garbage in, garbage out. So if you're not maintaining a high quality of standard, you're going to get that back. And you do have the ability to say you know, to create some accountability. You know, like, remind me to do this or whatever, but so does your phone, so it doesn't necessarily have to fall in that. So those are some of my thoughts about AI.
Dana:
Please feel free to share with me what you think you know you can contact me on social media. You can contact me through this app or through the podcast, and I think that's about it. So you know, play around with it, have some fun. You know, don't think of it as a demon. Look at it, you know, understand it, because the more you understand it then the more you understand its limitations. And if you're somebody who doesn't want that kind of limitation and you really need that human to human contact, then it's always a smart idea to hire a coach and, you know, have that accountability partner pre loaded for you and not have to ask questions of it. Anyway, that's all I have for now. Thank you so much for listening. Do not forget to rate and review and we will catch you next time.