How are people using ChatGPT as their personal trainer?

From writing code to coming up with scripts for movies and TV shows and even penning essays, people across the world have been putting ChatGPT to the test. But now, some people are setting ChatGPT another task – to act as their personal trainer and improve their fitness. Let’s take a closer look at how people are doing so and whether it is safe: ‘Get me addicted to running’ Tech worker Greg Mushen told Business Insider he began using ChatGPT to improve his health in February. Mushen said he told ChatGPT to get him ‘addicted’ to running and to advise him as if it had doctorates in sports psychology and neuroscience. “I was curious about what would happen, but didn’t think it would work,” Mushen said. It took a lot of prompting to come up with a plan that seemed feasible – although Mushen said he didn’t really think it would work. Mushen said ChatGPT actually told him to hold off on running till the third day. And even then it only assigned him a five-minute run. “It seemed really strange that the steps were so small. I’m a ‘go to 11’ person, really all in, and so this was the opposite of how I probably intuitively would have done it,” Mushen told the outlet. Mushen said the plan gave him plenty of time to rest up and left him with enough energy to keep going. “It had an interesting effect on me because it was holding back so much, for whatever reason, that made me want to do it more,” Mushen added. [caption id=“attachment_12744312” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Representational image.[/caption] Mushen said he now runs six times a week – of which four are leisurely runs from around 45 minutes to an hour. He said he’s also does more gruelling hill sprints but only for around a half hour. “It’s something I really look forward to now,” Mushen added. “I had a tendency to go really hard, get burned out. The maxim burned into our collective consciousness is no pain, no gain. But I’ve learned that it’s not always right.” ‘Want a better butt’ Christianna Silva, a senior culture reporter at Mashable, requested ChatGPT make her a four-week diet and fitness plan. “Sure, I can help you create a 4-week fitness plan to help you achieve your goal of getting a larger, firmer butt,” ChatGPT responded “However, please keep in mind that everyone’s body is different, and results may vary based on various factors like genetics, diet, and consistency.” ChatGPT immediately gave her the first two weeks of the plan, and then abruptly stopped. Silva said she had to prompt the bot to give her the workout routine for the next two weeks. While it advised her to eat 2,000-2,200 calories a day and to consume 165 grams of protein daily, when push came to shove over food choices it resorted to the usual advice – chicken, eggs, beef, turkey. It also kept reminding Silva that each person’s exercise and diet needs vary and that she ought to consult a dietitian or personal trainer. While Silva at the end of the four weeks lost a couple of pounds, gained an inch on her glutes and lost an inch on her waist and said she ‘loved using ChatGPT’ (especially for its convenience) – she found its recommendations far too imprecise. ‘Can mimic a personal trainer’ In Texas, 32-year-old Nicholas Gunning is tracking his monthly workout following ChatGPT’s instructions on social media. “ChatGPT is very budget friendly in the sense all you need is your internet connection or cellphone,” the former personal trainer said. In Denver,  31-year-old Sidharath Chhatani is using ChatGPT as a personal trainer. Both men say it ChatGPT when prompted correctly, can  mimic a personal trainer. “It gives me the workout, it gives me instructions on how to do that specific (workout), exactly what a trainer would do,” Gunning said after asking for muscle-specific exercises. [caption id=“attachment_12744322” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Representational image.[/caption] TikTok content creator John Yu told TechnologyReview.com he did a six-day, full-body training programme tailored by ChatGPT. Yu said that while the exercises were easy to follow, the lack of variety did him in. “Strictly following what ChatGPT gives me is something I’m not really interested in,” he told the website Lee Lem, an Australia-based bodybuilding content creator said ChatGPT got it right when asked to create an ‘optimal leg day’ workout, but wrong when it suggested a short rest period. “It’s hard!” Lem added. “It’s very unrealistic to only rest 30 seconds between squat sets.” Is it safe? But experts say ChatGPT is not a real replacement for a personal trainer. Jill Goodtree, a certified personal trainer in New York City, told NBC ChatGPT fell short when asked for an upper body workout for muscle growth. More importantly, the bot cannot monitor a person’s form – perhaps the most crucial key to personal training. “ChatGPT cannot keep you safe,” Goodtree said. “Free is not always better, especially when it comes to your health, your wellness, your well-being. You only have one body. ” Daniel Lucas, who has been in the personal training game for 25 years, also identified familiar shortcomings in a ChatGPT workout plan shared on Reddit.

“ChatGPT lacks specificity,” Lucas said.

MH Elite coach and founder of Battle Cancer, Scott Britton, told the website Men’s Health, “People presume because it’s AI that it has all the answers that humans still have. But in terms of fitness, it’s very difficult to get active feedback. It doesn’t know you, it doesn’t know your body, it also can’t make changes for you. It’s going to be very generic information.” ‘The information isn’t necessarily wrong or harmful, but, it can’t listen back to you. It doesn’t know your age or your circumstances and can’t feedback adequately. It also doesn’t know what you’re doing and how well you’re doing it, whereas a good strength and conditioning coach is able to.’ And then there’s the human touch – or lack thereof. “There’s no substitute for human contact and human energy,” Lucas told NBC. “In every interaction with a human, you’re either giving or receiving energy. And that doesn’t happen via artificial intelligence.” As Silva summed up in her Mashable piece, “ChatGPT is helpful and free if you’re looking for a starting point, but it lacks the detailed personalisation needed to reach very specific goals. Overall, the cons far outweigh the pros for me. So, no, ChatGPT cannot be your personal trainer.” Regardless, some believe ChatGPT isn’t going anywhere. Men’s Health Fitness editor Andrew Tracey told the website, “In terms of people getting their fitness programmes from ChatGPT, I believe as a writer of programmes, [it] will be far more efficient and trustworthy than even me.” “Simply because it has access to the entirety of the internet. And, unlike me, it is not subject to memory failure. ChatGPT doesn’t have that liability. Personal training has become less of a luxury commodity, but as the industry becomes more saturated, ultimately the democratisation of fitness information is only ever going to be a good thing.” With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .