Artificial Intelligence Created Her Workout, Here’s What Happened

It seems like AI is everywhere at the minute. And not even the gym is safe from its influence.

Recently, Lucy Davis was curious to see what all the fuss is about, so she asked an AI programme to come up with a one-hour gym workout for her. Let’s see what the AI came up with and whether Lucy thinks it was any good.

The workout

Warm-up

• 5-10 minutes of light cardio (eg jogging on the treadmill or cycling on a stationary bike)

• Bodyweight squats
• Lunges (alternating legs)
• Press-ups
• Plank
• Side plank (each side)

On first review, eight exercises seemed a lot for a standard gym session — for Lucy’s normal sessions anyway, especially since she only requested an hour-long workout. That’s very minimal rest time between sets. Although the workout does target the whole body, besides the glutes, so it's a great option for a week where you can’t get to the gym as much as you’d like, but still want to train your whole body. Just prepare to be tired afterwards.

Bench press

1. Begin by lying down on a flat bench
2. Ensure that the barbell is racked just above your eyes
3. Grab the barbell with both hands roughly shoulder-width apart
4. Readjust your arms so that the barbell is over your chest
5. Slowly bend your arms and bring the barbell into your chest until it taps your chest slightly
6. Then drive the barbell back up until your arms are straight

Lat pull-downs

1. Take a seat at the lat pulldown machine
2. Grab the bar ensuring your grip is wider than shoulder width and ensure that the knee supports sit on your thighs, just above your knees
3. Bring the bar down into your chest while keeping your back straight and your chest up
4. Return the bar to the starting position

Shoulder press (dumbbells)

1. Grab a dumbbell in each hand
2. Take a seat on an upright bench
3. Begin with the dumbbells at the bottom of the movement, with your arms at a right angle
4. Drive the dumbbells up until your arms are straight over your head, but not locked
5. Slowly allow the dumbbells to return to the starting position

46 minutes into the workout, and Lucy was only three exercises in. Perhaps the AI didn't account for rest times or training with challenging weights. Bear this in mind if you choose to let AI in on your workout.

Biceps curls

1. Grab a dumbbell in each hand and stand with your legs shoulder-width apart
2. The dumbbells should begin by your sides, with your palms facing forwards
3. Through engaging the biceps, drive the weight upwards until your palm is facing your shoulder
4. Release the movement until the dumbbells have returned to the starting position

Triceps dips

1. Rest your palms on the edge of a bench with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart
2. Place the majority of your weight through your hands, straighten your legs and rest the back of your heels on the ground
3. Bend your arms at the elbow causing your body to dip
4. Drive your weight through your palms until your arms are straight

Leg press

1. Take a seat at the leg press machine
2. Ensure your feet are shoulder-width apart on the platform
3. Bend your legs at the knees until they roughly come into your chest
4. Drive the weight through your heels until your legs are straight again, but don’t lock your knees

Hamstring curls

1. Lie chest down on the hamstring curl machine
2. Grip the handles with your hands to keep yourself steady
3. Ensure that the resistance pad is resting on the back of your calf, just above your ankle
4. You should begin with relatively straight legs
5. Drive against the resistance until the pad reaches your bum
6. Then slowly release the movement

Calf raises

1. Take a seat at the calf raise machine
2. Begin with the balls of your feet resting on the given platform and the thigh pads resting just above your knees
3. Drive the weight through the balls of your feet until you can’t lift your heels any higher
4. Then slowly release the movement

Cardio

20-30 minutes of moderate intensity cardio (cycling or jogging).

Stretching

Spend 5-10 minutes stretching and cooling down.

Lucy’s wasn’t too impressed by the AI workout, giving it a score of six and half out of ten. As with most things, there was good and there was bad.

Starting with the positives — the warm-up was good and it did increase her heart rate, come the end she was ready to get into the workout. Equally, she appreciated the addition of stretching, especially given that’s an area of her workout that she often skips out on.

And now for the negatives. Lucy felt there were too many exercises, even for a full-body workout. And the rep and set ranges weren’t very exciting. In Lucy’s own workouts she mixes up the weights and therefore the rep and set ranges.

Take home message

It seems for now that a future of AI-decided workouts is not imminent, at least not for Lucy. It seems computers just lack the personal touch Lucy needs to really enjoy her workouts.

So until then, check out our collection of workout training plans.