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How capable is AI of producing an effective training plan for a goal event? Joseph Branston<\/p>\nIf you\u2019ve spent any time on the internet in the last two to three years, you\u2019ll be familiar with the four-word prompt of ChatGPT: “Where should we begin?”.<\/p>\n
Launched in November 2022, OpenAI\u2019s artificial intelligence chatbot started an arms race in the world of generative AI, with Microsoft, Google and Meta all releasing their own iterations in the intervening years.<\/p>\n
On first use, it appears to be nothing more than a glorified search bar or a means to write overly formal emails to complain to utility companies. But spend enough time with the technology and refine your prompts, and you can unlock its full potential.<\/p>\n
This extends to the world of fitness, where the rapid integration of AI appears to be gunning for the jobs of coaches and personal trainers.<\/p>\n
How capable is AI of producing an effective training plan for a goal event? Joseph Branston<\/p>\n
Apps such as Strava\u2019s recently acquired Runna use AI to analyse and monitor if you\u2019re on track with a training plan, suggesting adjustments if it thinks you\u2019re off the pace; users of HumanGo AI can call upon their own AI chatbot, Hugo, to create and modify training plans, while answering all the questions you’d ask a real-life coach.<\/p>\n
But how good is generative AI at creating training plans? And will it actually be able to replace a coach? I fired up ChatGPT to find out.<\/p>\n
OK computer
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As a seasoned endurance athlete, Charlie knows his way around a training plan. Joseph Branston<\/p>\n
As a seasoned marathon runner with a 2hr 43min PB and years of race-specific blocks under my belt for running, cycling, swimming and triathlon, I know my way around a training plan.<\/p>\n
From free guides found on the internet to a bespoke schedule drawn up and updated weekly by a coach for when I tackled the Paris-Roubaix Challenge and Manchester Marathon in the space of eight days in 2024, I’ve also experienced the sizeable difference between a generic, one-size-fits-all plan where you’re left to your own devices and a tailored and structured system where a qualified professional is on hand to guide you through each session and a WhatsApp message away to answer any questions.<\/p>\n
To put ChatGPT through its paces, I thought I\u2019d start with a fairly generic prompt that would be the goal of a lot of beginner-to-intermediate runners:\u00a0“Could you create me a sub-4 16-week marathon training plan? I currently run 3-4 times per week.”<\/p>\n
Its response was a lot longer than I expected, including plan goals, a breakdown of the sort of things I\u2019d be doing each week, the 16-week plan itself, explainers of key workouts (such as pacing targets and interval instructions) and general tips on warming up and cooling down, listening to my body, hydrating and fuelling properly and considering a half marathon tune-up in weeks 8-12.<\/p>\n
Each week featured four runs \u2013\u00a0three easy and one hard, with a long run on a Sunday that built up to 18 miles. There was also a recovery week every fourth week. So far, so good. Delve a bit deeper, though, and things started to look a bit basic.<\/p>\n
While the plan followed a periodised, polarised approach<\/a>, the hard day itself only tasked me with running at two different intensities \u2013\u00a0tempo and 5K pace \u2013\u00a0throughout the entire 16 weeks.<\/p>\n Anaerobic work, such as sprints and high-intensity interval training<\/a>, was completely absent. There was also a lack of strength and conditioning work<\/a>, despite the known scientific benefits that combining running-specific strength training and endurance training can have on everything from body fat percentage and lean mass to running economy and VO2 max<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s very generic, it’s very repetitive, and when I saw this programme, my first thought was \u2018that is so boring\u2019,\u201d says Faye Johnson, running coach and level 4 PT at Maximum Mileage Coaching.<\/p>\n To keep things interesting, Johnson says she would have employed a selection of different sessions depending on the particular training block, while also gradually introducing different types of speed work \u2013 \u201cwhether that be a progressive run, maximal intervals or threshold intervals, or, just below that, so tempo\u201d \u2013 adding that it\u2019s something that beginners might not have done a lot of.<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s also not a single hill session in here. I obviously wouldn’t overdo it, but if someone’s doing an undulating marathon, or even a relatively flat one, hills are really good for strength and it translates into better speed when you go back to a flat route.\u201d<\/p>\n Coach in the machine Johnson concedes that the plan itself wasn’t bad and would probably achieve the desired goal, explaining that the structure and weekly breakdown were nice additions.<\/p>\n ChatGPT is able to pump this out in seconds because the core of its output is based on any publicly available training plan on the internet. <\/p>\n Trained on a near-infinite amount of text and data, it\u2019s no surprise that the plan has structure, science and coaching principles at its heart. <\/p>\n When asked, it responded that it had based the plan on principles from \u201cseveral reputable coaching sources and methodologies\u201d, and included \u201cinput from RRCA and USATF-certified coaches\u2019 practices\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you know what you’re doing, and you\u2019re pretty comfortable with what your pace is \u2013 you know what your easy pace is, you know where you are when you’re pushing yourself to threshold pace or beyond that \u2013 it’s a pretty straightforward and easy program to follow,\u201d says Johnson.<\/p>\n She adds that this sort of coaching would probably work for those who are happy working solely off a set plan. <\/p>\n \u201cThere are certain people who like to have structure and accountability; they have something to follow and it helps motivate them, keep going and a reason to think, \u2018that’s on the plan today, I’ve got to go out and do that\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n But this isn\u2019t the sole reason people turn to a coach, which is where the cracks in ChatGPT\u2019s coaching abilities start to appear.<\/p>\n Cannot compute \u201cSome people value that someone has put together a programme for them, and if they miss that session, what are the implications?\u201d says Johnson, who coaches her clients remotely using TrainingPeaks<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople think, \u2018she’s going to see exactly what I have and haven’t done\u2019. You can’t hide anything.\u201d This lack of accountability could leave some with a lack of motivation, while there\u2019s no financial outlay to act as a carrot, like there is when employing a coach.<\/p>\n But there is another benefit to a coach having an overview of each training session that ChatGPT can\u2019t compete with \u2013\u00a0a human will be able to see if you\u2019re following the plan correctly, even if you can\u2019t see it yourself.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the biggest things for me is that \u2018easy run\u2019 is quite vague,\u201d she says. \u201cIt translates into so many different things. <\/p>\n “I get people who I know damn well have been puffing during their easy run, so I give them that feedback whereas, if you were following a programme based solely on pace, it doesn\u2019t account for variables like heat, tiredness, etcetera.\u201d<\/p>\n
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AI may struggle to factor in the specifics of a marathon course. Getty Images<\/p>\n
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Accountability to a coach is one of the big motivators of a personal trainer. That is lost with AI. Getty Images<\/p>\n