PENSACOLA, Fla. (WKRG) — Cars that drive themselves, Virtual Assistants like Alexa and Siri… just a couple of examples of how Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is becoming part of everyday life. As News 5’s Drexel Gilbert learned, AI is also making its way into the gym. Drexel is On the Road in Pensacola. 

The saying “work smarter not harder” takes on new meaning at The Exercise Coach gym in Pensacola. When trainer Tracey Forbes is asked, tongue in cheek, if it’s like Star Trek come to life, she laughs and responds, “Yeah… it’s like The Jetsons, remember?”  

At The Exercise Coach, artificial intelligence is taking the guesswork out of designing individualized workout plans. This is how it works. On the first visit, a computer on each machine measures the client’s strength and range of motion, then the technology, not a human trainer, decides how difficult the workouts should be.  

“It’s a symbiotic relationship between you and the equipment,” says Forbes. 

As the client progresses, the computer takes that data and makes the workouts harder with both strength and cardio exercises.  

“Very short duration, high intervals cardio that really gets your heart going,” says Forbes, 

Jake Renfroe of Pensacola is a client. He likes this high-tech approach. 

“When I sit down in one of these machines, I enter my 4 digit code and it knows who’s sitting there. Every time I come back to a machine it’s going to add new, stronger resistance. So it’s me versus a machine that’s trying to outsmart you and build you.” 

The AI approach only requires 2-twenty minute workouts a week. 

“Because you’re working at an optimal level for the set of exercises, you can be efficiently working your muscles to their optimum level in a very short amount of time,” says Forbes.  

Important, say Forbes and Renfroe, to the over-40 crowd this technology is designed for.  

“You’re not going to hurt yourself but it’s not going to let you ease up, says Renfroe, adding  
“It’s going to fight back against you.” 

You can find more on the artificial intelligence workout here: https://exercisecoach.com/pensacola/