Training apps are getting smarter and more platforms are incorporating artificial intelligence, to varying degrees of success. How will the technology change the way we train?
Kristof Ramon, Gruber Images
Jonathan E. Kaplan is an Escape Collective member and freelance writer based in Washington, DC, who writes the Riding With newsletter. This is his first story for Escape.
For the past 17 years, my friend Dave Marchick has organized the Tour de Dave, a long weekend of riding in late April or early May in scenic locations throughout the East Coast. We’ve ridden past the homes of US presidents and through Civil War battlefields, over the Shenandoah Mountains, and around the Finger Lakes in Upstate New York.
It is an enjoyable weekend with friends on a bike – what could be better? But this year, I wanted to make sure I was fit enough to enjoy both the riding and the socializing. I wanted energy to spare so that I was not a zombie at the dinner table.
So I put my max heart rate and Zone 2 wattage into ChatGPT and asked it for a six-week training plan for a Master’s 50+ cyclist to prepare for a three-day, 180-mile ride, as well as a plan for strength and mobility work. ChatGPT produced an entirely reasonable program.
But I’m an experienced-enough cyclist and fitness nerd to worry that it was missing … something, and I did not have 100 percent confidence in the plan. I wanted – no, I needed – an experienced coach’s stamp of approval. Moreover, the chatbot was not going to hold me accountable and the idea of taking the time to enter the training sessions into Zwift was discouraging all on its own.
So I reached out to Zach Nehr, a coach, freelance writer, and elite rider who put together a six-week riding and strength training plan, which proved to be incredibly effective. I texted with Zach from time to time with questions and updates – fortunately, his plan did not need to be tweaked because I responded so well to it – and the $300 fee was enough to keep me on track.
ChatGPT delivered a reasonable training program (I think). While Nehr’s plan was almost certainly better, it was more expensive, and a higher tiered plan – a structure most coaches offer – would have allowed for even more communication.
As artificial intelligence percolates through cycling and the platforms and services athletes use for coaching, training, recovery, and nutrition, I began to wonder whether we’ll still need human coaches in an AI world?
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