I marvel at technology.

I’ve been fascinated with tech in some capacity since I was a kid and I’d love to tell you that I have enough intuitive sense to be an early adopter to advancements in technology but that would be untrue.

I tend to be a slow adopter and some things take a while before they click at all.

Take, for example, ChatGPT.

If I wanted to, I could use this resource to help me craft blog posts or to create content for social media and I’m sure it would be of assistance if I needed to brainstorm a bit.

However, I tend to be something of a purist in many ways and I value having “my own voice” when it comes to the content I put out into the world. That may be a good or a bad thing but it does give me the space to put my most unique self forward as opposed to something more “artificial.”

I was having a conversation with our Coach David, here at the studio not long ago and he had asked if I had ever used ChatGPT to write a training program.

I had not.

David, having his own sense of curiosity, decided to have a strength training program written out using the A.I. software.

What we found was that the program, while admirable, seemed to have a lot of gaps.

Imagine opening up a fitness magazine you find on the shelf and deciding that since the fitness model in the magazine looks good, that we should try the same workout for ourselves.

I hope you can appreciate how this could be problematic.

I asked ChatGPT to design a 3x/week strength training program for me. Here’s what it gave me:

Day 1: Full Body

Squats – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Bench Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Bent Over Rows – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Overhead Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Deadlifts – 3 sets of 5 reps

Day 2: Lower Body Focus

Deadlifts – 3 sets of 5 reps
Romanian Deadlifts – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Lunges – 3 sets of 10 reps per leg
Leg Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Calf Raises – 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Day 3: Upper Body Focus

Pull-Ups/Assisted Pull-Ups – 3 sets of 6-8 reps
Barbell or Dumbbell Rows – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Incline Bench Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Barbell or Dumbbell Bicep Curls – 3 sets of 10-12 reps

Now, is there anything “wrong” with this workout? No.

The exercises are appropriate as are the rep and set schemes. By all acccounts, it’s a perfectly reasonable place to start assuming you can perform all of these exercises in a safe manner.

However, I have some areas of vulnerability that I would need to work around. So, I fed ChatGPT some more information and said that I needed a modification based on a lower back injury and an injured left shoulder.

Here’s the modification:

Day 1: Lower Body (Lower Back-Friendly)

Bodyweight Squats or Box Squats – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Leg Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Romanian Deadlifts – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Seated Leg Curls – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Calf Raises – 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Day 2: Upper Body (Shoulder-Friendly)

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Lat Pulldowns with a neutral grip – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Chest Supported Rows – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Incline Bench Press with a neutral grip or using dumbbells – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Face Pulls with resistance bands or cable machine – 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Day 3: Full Body (Low-Impact)

Goblet Squats – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Dumbbell Chest Press on an incline bench or flat bench – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Single-Leg Romanian Deadlifts – 3 sets of 8-10 reps per leg
Dumbbell Pullovers – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Planks – 3 sets, hold for 30-60 seconds each

Of note, I know that, based on my current issues with my shoulder I won’t be able to do any pressing movements so I had to feed ChatGPT some more information so that I could have a more effective workout. I told the software as much and, here is a new plan based on my shoulder concerns:

Day 1: Lower Body (Lower Back-Friendly)

Bodyweight Squats or Box Squats – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Leg Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Romanian Deadlifts – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Seated Leg Curls – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Calf Raises – 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Day 2: Upper Body (Shoulder-Friendly)

Lat Pulldowns with a neutral grip – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Chest Supported Rows – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Seated Cable Rows – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Face Pulls with resistance bands or cable machine – 3 sets of 12-15 reps
Bicep Curls with dumbbells or cables – 3 sets of 10-12 reps

Day 3: Full Body (Low-Impact)

Goblet Squats – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Single-Leg Romanian Deadlifts – 3 sets of 8-10 reps per leg
Dumbbell Pullovers – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Lateral Raises with dumbbells or resistance bands – 3 sets of 12-15 reps
Planks – 3 sets, hold for 30-60 seconds each

I’m getting closer to something that I believe will work. That being said, I’m also aware that there are still a couple of exercises that have a greater likelihood of bothering my lower back and the one that definitely sticks out to me is the Romanian Deadlift. I told ChatGPT that I tweaked my back doing this exercise and it gave me a new plan:

Day 1: Lower Body (Back-Friendly)

Bodyweight Squats or Box Squats – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Leg Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Machine Leg Curls – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Calf Raises – 3 sets of 12-15 reps
Seated Calf Raises – 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Day 2: Upper Body (Shoulder-Friendly)

Lat Pulldowns with a neutral grip – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Chest Supported Rows – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Seated Cable Rows – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Face Pulls with resistance bands or cable machine – 3 sets of 12-15 reps
Bicep Curls with dumbbells or cables – 3 sets of 10-12 reps

Day 3: Full Body (Low-Impact)

Leg Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Hamstring Curls on a machine – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Lateral Raises with dumbbells or resistance bands – 3 sets of 12-15 reps
Bicep Curls with dumbbells or cables – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Tricep Pushdowns with cable machine or resistance bands – 3 sets of 10-12 reps

So, after several adjustments, I believe I’ve found a routine that will give me options for strength training with the least amount of risk for my areas that are vulnerable to injury on my body.

Now, what should YOU do about your training?

Well, that depends.

If you need a plan and you don’t know where to start and you don’t want to spend money on a program, I’d say ChatGPT “might” be worth playing with.

Remember that the software will work with what you give it, so the more information it has, the more it can modify based on your needs.

I’m also in an advantageous position because I not only know how to do all of the exercises that the software gave me, but I know enough about my body to know which exercises will be safer than others.

Here are some points to consider against the software:

-If you don’t know how to perform the exercises, you can look up videos on YouTube or hire a coach.

-If you get injured, a coach can help you modify in real time so that you are less likely to lose gym time because you tweaked an area of the body.

-Depending on the type of person you are, some people are self-starters. They don’t need “guidance” they just need a plan. Others not only need the guidance and a plan but they thrive on the community aspect of a gym setting.

-For me, I’ve written my own strength training programs, I’ve followed programs out of magazines, websites and books and I’ve also had other coaches write programs for me. I will tell you, without question, my best results have come when other coaches handle my programs.

I personally don’t see myself using ChatGPT for strength training programs. That isn’t because the information isn’t valuable. Perhaps it is. I like knowing a real, live person is putting thought and care into the routines I do. It’s the same reason I like going to a checkout station at a store that has a real, live person behind the register.

Technology is a powerful, wonderful, amazing thing.

But nothing beats human connection.

(Photo courtesy of Igor Omilaev)