Artificial intelligence is everywhere these days, from the emerging chatbots of Open AI, Google Gemini, and the Apple Intelligence overhaul to more frivolous and irreverent applications like AI-powered smart fridges and an AI-powered Jesus that can take confessions in churches.
In many ways, AI promises to make things better by speeding up processes, handling busy work, and even coding apps from scratch. But to some, the impersonal nature of AI threatens to dissolve creativity and rob us of the personality behind art and entertainment.
What about fitness? Can a large language model or AI app help improve your physical health and well-being? There are already well-established tools like Push, the best fitness app for building muscle, but could AI save you money on a personal trainer? To find out, TechRadar’s fitness team asked ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini to generate two workouts using the same prompt. We then took to the gym (well, the garden at least) to try those workouts and find out what happened.
The prompt
My colleague and I, ages 33 and 29, are doing a fitness challenge. Give us a home workout we can use to develop muscle and improve cardio fitness that will take approximately 30 minutes per workout. We are both reasonably fit and familiar with basic workout terminology, although we do not have access to gym equipment.
ChatGPT workout
ChatGPT supplied us with a comprehensive workout, including a 5-minute warm-up, circuits, and then a cool-down routine
To see the full ChatGPT workout routine, click to expand this section
That’s great! Since you and your colleague are reasonably fit and familiar with basic terminology, we’ll combine strength training exercises that develop muscle and cardio movements to ensure a full-body workout in 30 minutes. The circuit format below alternates between strength and cardio to help improve both muscle development and cardiovascular fitness. You’ll perform each exercise for 45 seconds, followed by 15 seconds of rest before moving on to the next exercise. Complete the circuit 3 times with 1–2 minutes of rest between rounds.
Warm-Up (5 minutes):
Jumping Jacks – 1 minute
Arm Circles – 30 seconds forward, 30 seconds backward
Bodyweight Squats – 1 minute
High Knees – 1 minute
Hip Circles – 1 minute
Main Workout (20 minutes):
Round 1:
Push-Ups (Chest, shoulders, triceps)
Perform regular or knee push-ups if necessary.
Jump Squats (Legs, glutes, cardio)
Focus on explosiveness when jumping.
Plank to Push-Up (Core, chest, shoulders, triceps)
Start in a forearm plank, push up to your hands one arm at a time, then lower back down.
Mountain Climbers (Core, cardio)
Quick and controlled, driving your knees towards your chest.
Bulgarian Split Squat (Legs, glutes)
Use a sturdy chair or couch behind you for the rear foot, lower into a lunge.
Burpees (Full-body, cardio)
Full-body movement with a jump and push-up.
Superman Hold (Back, core)
Lie face down, lift arms and legs off the ground, and hold.
Round 2:
Diamond Push-Ups (Chest, triceps)
Hands together under your chest in a diamond shape.
Lunges (Legs, glutes)
Alternate legs, making sure your knee does not go past your toes.
Side Plank (left side) (Core, obliques)
Hold for 45 seconds, keeping your body in a straight line.
High Knees (Cardio, core)
Drive knees up quickly as you run in place.
Single-Leg Romanian Deadlifts (Hamstrings, glutes)
Balance on one leg, hinge forward at the hips, and lower your hands toward the floor, then return to standing.
Jumping Lunges (Legs, glutes, cardio)
Alternate legs as you jump explosively.
Side Plank (right side) (Core, obliques)
Round 3:
Decline Push-Ups (Chest, shoulders, triceps)
Place your feet on a raised surface (like a couch or chair) to increase intensity.
Squat Pulses (Legs, glutes)
Hold a squat position and pulse up and down.
Bicycle Crunches (Core)
Alternate bringing opposite elbow to opposite knee in a cycling motion.
Skater Jumps (Cardio, legs)
Jump side to side, mimicking a skating motion, focusing on lateral movement.
Pistol Squat Progression (Legs, glutes, core)
Try assisted pistol squats using a chair or wall for support, or do Bulgarian split squats for a modified version.
Tuck Jumps (Legs, cardio)
Jump explosively, bringing your knees toward your chest.
Leg Raises (Core)
Lie flat, legs straight, and raise your legs to a 90-degree angle, lowering them back down without touching the floor.
Cool-Down (5 minutes):
Child’s Pose – 1 minute
Cat-Cow Stretch – 1 minute
Seated Hamstring Stretch – 1 minute (30 seconds per leg)
Lying Spinal Twist – 1 minute (30 seconds per side)
Deep Breathing – 1 minute (focus on slow, deep inhales and exhales)
This workout balances strength and cardio, targeting all major muscle groups while keeping the heart rate elevated. The structure also provides a good mix of compound movements for muscle development and bodyweight exercises that boost cardiovascular fitness. Enjoy your challenge, and stay consistent!
Google Gemini workout
Google Gemini also gave us a five-minute warm-up, a 20-minute circuit, and a five-minute cool-down. The main body was split into a 10-minute strength section and 10 minutes of cardio interval training.
To see the full Google Gemini response, click to expand this section
Here’s a 30-minute home workout routine designed to develop muscle and improve cardio fitness:
Warm-up (5 minutes):
Light cardio: Jog in place, high knees, butt kicks, arm circles.
Dynamic stretches: Arm circles, leg swings, torso twists, hip circles.
Workout (20 minutes):
Bodyweight Strength Circuit (3 rounds):
Squats: 10-12 reps
Lunges: 10-12 reps per leg
Push-ups: As many reps as possible
Plank: Hold for 30-60 seconds
Burpees: 10-12 reps
Cardio Interval Training (10 minutes):
30 seconds of high-intensity exercise: Jumping jacks, mountain climbers, burpees, or high knees.
30 seconds of rest or low-intensity exercise: Walking in place or light jogging.
Repeat 8-10 times.
Cool-down (5 minutes):
Static stretches: Hold a quad stretch, hamstring stretch, calf stretch, and a child’s pose for 30 seconds each.
Tips:
Progression: As you get stronger, increase the number of repetitions or sets, or add more challenging variations of the exercises.
Rest: Allow adequate rest between sets and workouts to allow your muscles to recover and grow.
Nutrition: Fuel your body with a balanced diet of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats to support muscle growth and recovery.
Hydration: Drink plenty of water throughout the day, especially before, during, and after your workouts.
Listen to your body: If you experience pain, stop and rest.
Remember: Consistency is key. Aim to do this workout 3-4 times per week to see results.
Additional Tips:
Find a workout buddy: Having a workout partner can help keep you motivated and accountable.
Use your bodyweight: Bodyweight exercises are a great way to build muscle and improve fitness without any equipment.
Mix it up: Vary your workouts to avoid boredom and plateaus. Try different exercises, change the order of your routine, or experiment with different intensity levels.
Track your progress: Keep a workout journal to track your progress and set new goals.
By following these tips and sticking to your workout routine, you’ll be well on your way to achieving your fitness goals.
Stephen
Given the prompt, some parity was to be expected between the generated workouts, but I was really surprised by how closely each followed the same formula. Generally, the ChatGPT workout was presented as a much more comprehensive offering, with a more structured warmup, lists for targeted muscles, and exercise instructions.
ChatGPT’s obvious hallucination struck me, we asked for a 30-minute workout, but the instructions would have given us more than 60 minutes of full workout time (not including warmup and cooldown). That’s a crazy amount of volume for anyone and a less experienced person might have missed that and ended up doing way too much exercise, possibly even sustaining an injury. The circuits themselves were comprehensive, but personally, I didn’t enjoy the blend of cardio and strength-based stuff. It’s not the way I’m used to training and I find that mixing cardio and strength leads to a drop in form as your heart rate climbs and you struggle for breath.
By contrast, the Gemini workout was a much simpler and less informative package, but crucially featured a strength circuit and a separate cardio interval training phase. Gemini also got the timings right. The exercises were much more generic and basic in the Gemini plan, with simple push-ups, squats, lunges, etc, as opposed to ChatGPT’s more advanced variations.
I felt more able to focus on the strength portion of the workout and that the cardio was more focused and beneficial at the end. I was also impressed by the tips Gemini offered to help users. It suggested progression, rest, nutrition, hydration, and listening to the body in case of pain or injury. It even offered some more generic tips about staying motivated and tracking progress.
Overall, I preferred the Gemini workout, but both circuits served up were intense and rigorous, and would make for a great quick session for more advanced users. I think the biggest weakness of both workouts was the format. The workouts are presented as big walls of text. There’s some formatting, but nothing helpful to reading and following a workout program in the gym, especially not a vigorous circuit. The best fitness apps out there benefit from great interfaces that make workouts easy to follow and track. Following these plans was like trying to read a workout plan printed from an email; for them to be truly useful would require the extra step of making them more digestible. Even putting them into the Notes app on my iPhone would help, but there’s a big gulf between this type of fitness offering and a dedicated app, or better, a personal trainer.
Matt
Well, these were a pair of gutbusters. I’m unused to circuit training, preferring steady-state cardio and resistance training, so I’m well out of practice when it comes to explosive HIIT workouts. This pair of boot camp-style workouts hit me like a ton of bricks, and it just goes to show you don’t need an expensive gym membership to get a hard workout in.
Were they actually any good? Well, yes and no. As my colleague Stephen mentioned, both workouts were similar in terms of structure and the moves selected, which makes sense as they were working off the same prompt. Each had its pros and cons: the ChatGPT one was far more detailed, with instructions for each movement and a comprehensive breakdown of the routine.
ChatGPT had selected more advanced accessory movements too, such as single-leg deadlifts (challenging without a counterweight in the form of dumbbells) and assisted pistol squats, for which I used two garden chairs. It was a great, highly advanced workout focusing predominantly on the legs and core, and I certainly felt it the next day.
However, it wasn’t perfect: we experienced some hallucinations here. The circuit, which lasted 20 minutes, was stated to be repeated three times, which would have made our requested 30-minute workout a 70-minute one instead!
The Gemini circuit was a lot more vague, with no comprehensive move descriptions at all, and merely suggested ideas for the cardio section. While it did offer advice on hydration, accountability, progression, and more, I wish it had offered as much practical guidance as ChatGPT did. I wouldn’t recommend that beginners use chatbots to create exercise routines until they know how to perform each move safely: it’s probably best used to come up with variations on existing routines.
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stephen.warwick@futurenet.com (Stephen Warwick)
