Latest / FitMitTuro Fitness Podcast / AI Workouts vs YouTube vs Coaching: What Actually Works Long Term

Transcript

AI Workouts vs YouTube vs Coaching: What Actually Works Long Term · FitMitTuro Fitness Podcast

• 1:11
  Turo Virta: Hey and welcome back to the podcast. Today, I want to talk something that comes up a lot lately, and that is AI workouts, YouTube workouts, and workouts created by coach, because there is a lot of noise right now in social media. When I open my social media, it seems like everyone has a plan.
• 1:35
  Turo Virta: Everyone is promising results, and so many people are confused so and there is a big debate between YouTubers like, of course, they are promoting their workouts or channel. You get them for free. Then there is a lot of coaches who are promoting, promoting AI workouts and telling that this is the new way. Or maybe you have, you have access to your AI and you type, there, you will get the workout plan. And then there is a lot of coaches who are telling that AI workout sucks, YouTube sucks, and the only way is to create coach coaches, of course, their own program workouts, and they are still the best. And so this, in this episode, I want to give my honest take, as a coach who works with the real people, real schedules, real stress, and yes, I'm also coach who uses AI. So this episode is not anti AI. I actually think that the AI workouts are useful, but I also see very clearly where where they help and where they still need adjustment. So why didn't this matters right now? Because January is full of workouts. You open youtube and there is, there are 1000s. So every influencer or YouTuber is having workouts.
• 3:05
  Turo Virta: Maybe they are creating, every week, some new workouts. And honestly, when I started my coaching career 10 years ago, I did also, I did upload very few, like random workouts. And I was thinking that this is, this is the best way how to do it. And if you open Instagram, everyone is training. They are having their own perfect programs. And if you open your chat, CPT and app and AI is creating plan in seconds and that, of course, that sounds amazing, but there is. But here is that the problem? What I see that. So more options don't always mean better results, because most people don't fail because they don't train. They fail because they jump from one thing to the next, and that's why we need to talk about this right now. So what is the first what I see when I look at random YouTube workouts, because you find exercises the problem you probably have tried. You know, exercises, there is 1000s of them. Every single muscle technique how to do, exercises they might even look nice in and makes fun actually to do them.
• 4:30
  Turo Virta: But because those workouts are everywhere and but there is a there is a huge problem. Don't, don't, get me wrong, moving your body is always better than doing nothing. But those random workouts usually have a few problems, and because there is no progression, so there is no really structure, and there is no idea if it fits for you, and there is no adjustment if something feels wrong, there is no plan for the next week. It's like if you are opening Youtube every day and typing best dinner receipt, and you are hoping that your body is changing so random workouts feel motivating at first, like if you write best dinner receipt, you will get most likely delicious receipt.
• 5:21
  Turo Virta: You try it, it works. It's delicious. It's same thing with the workouts, you might you find a workout, maybe you enjoy doing it, and then you are next day that what is next? What is next?
• 5:33
  Turo Virta: I'm curious to know, and but because there is, there is the thing. What is missing? Like with the with the receipt, there is no structure. And without structure, structure, people are quitting. If you are working out only when you feel motivated.
• 5:49
  Turo Virta: You have no plan how to actually doing, do it and what is what goals you have, what is your situation, your life? That is the most common reason, what I see why people are actually not following through what they are promising themselves and those random workouts, don't get me wrong, they are not useless, but they are rarely enough for long term change. So I just talked with you yesterday a new coaching client who had issues with solar mobility, little bit back issues to work, being in front of the desk all day, commuting to work with the car four hours, one way, every week, back and forth. So lot of sitting, lot of driving, and that is causing some issues with with shoulders back, posture and so on. So this kind of thing, this kind of person, for example, it's, I said, he knew very well that there is exercises, random exercises, what he's doing. Maybe he have joined some Pilates class or doing some kind of workouts himself. But when there is no structure, you can't expect that you are actually fixing something, because it's like, in his case, he wasn't following through. There was no structure.
• 7:19
  Turo Virta: Like you do one thing one time, maybe it's a good thing, but then you jump next day, you do something else, your body never gets a chance to actually understand what you are trying to do. Like it's it's like telling you have to think that you might feel like that. I need to have something different every single time. But if you think your body, your body, if you get every time something different, you don't know what you are trying to tell you, tell your body, just move it. But there is no, like, really, goal behind what towards you are working on and and that is, that is the biggest issue I see. I, like I said that I have no issue if it's if your options are either doing nothing following YouTube workouts, and especially in the beginning, it basically, if you haven't been moving you start working out. It's something is always better than nothing, and you will see results. But then longer you are working out more structure. You need more better plan. You need because thought that progress is not going to be the same as in the beginning. So then I want to talk a little bit about why general AI workouts are actually good. So I want to talk why.
• 8:37
  Turo Virta: Why? Because they now, there is AI, and I'm most of you have been using it, and I use it too, and it's already a big step from random workouts. And why you think it's it's that, because they give you structure, they reduce your decision fatigue, so you don't need to go you have a plan. AI have created a plan for you, and you don't have to go to YouTube and start searching.
• 9:08
  Turo Virta: What should I do today? They, you have a plan instead of guessing. And you they, those are those plans are helping people to start again. But for many people, especially beginners or people who are restarting, this is huge. So I want to say this very clear. So general workouts are often better than random YouTube workouts. I believe that. And the reason is that you get, actually, if I think my my AI tool, I have an AI coach in my workout app. So I give all information to my AI coach, which is, it's actually pretty amazing, I have to say. So you can you, you put all information goals, what equipment you have, you get the workout within a second. So this is and it's simple to follow like because if you use just a chat CPT, you get the name of exercises. But if you are not familiar with all exercises, then you take, you open youtube search exercise, maybe you find some tutorial how to actually do it, and then, okay, then you know exercises. So it's a lot of work. It's a lot of work to get that kind of workout. So you have all exercises know how to do them, how many sits, how many repetitions? So it's getting, still a bit complicated, but it's better than those random YouTube workouts called because you have a plan. So what is the in my take? What is where those general AI workouts still fall short? So here, this is honest part now. So there is still missing. Unfortunately, it. I'm sure it will change in the future. It's AI is getting all the time better, but there is still missing something important. There is missing context, because general AI workouts, they don't know your injury history, your stress levels, how you sleep, how you are recovering, what you enjoy, what made you quit last time. So they also don't adjust. When life is getting busy, your motivation is dropping, something is hurting, progress is feeling slow, and this is the part where most of the people get stuck, because when a workout feels too hard, people think I'm weak, I lack discipline, and I'm not made for this, but very often the workout just needs adjusting. It's a good example for my one of my client we talked this week about like that is the hardest part for you. If you are high achiever and and you are in your life. You know you have, maybe you have a tasks in your work.
• 12:09
  Turo Virta: You make sure you are doing everything you promise in your work, in other areas in your life, and then you are there for your family. But then when it comes to your own workouts, let's say that it's a busy season in work or family, whatever. And you have a you aim to do three workouts, because you were doing it last month too, and now you are getting only two workouts in, and that is the part where you you are.
• 12:40
  Turo Virta: You are not like that kind of people, like I'm one of those people too, that if you do two workouts and your goal was to do two three workouts, I wouldn't be happy that I made two workouts. I would be pissed off with myself that I missed one workout because my goal was to do three and I did only two. And this is where coaching and AI is still not always understanding or especially general workouts are not understanding that. Now maybe it's time to adjust. It gives you plan whatever you tell but it's not the human. It's not understanding what is actually happening in your life. And it's not, it's not there. You need that human connection, still, that who tells you that now, what if we do for this season of your life? What if we reduce your own expectations, and instead of aiming the perfect amount? What? Whatever? If it's a three workouts, it's a four, and we reduce that amount for two. And in this way, you still have, if you get two workouts in, you have always option to do third workout. But you are not.
• 14:01
  Turo Virta: There is a huge difference how you feel about yourself if you are able to hit your goal two workouts or or weeks, when you imagine your goal is to do two workouts, but you feel on on Saturday that, wow, today I actually feel like it. I want to get my third workout in, and you do it. Your third workout as an extra workout, because that is a game changer. How you feel about yourself because you hit your goal, you did something extra, instead of, if your goal was three workouts, and you get you did three so you are like, Okay, I did what I supposed to be doing, but there was no it wasn't extra or anything else.
• 14:40
  Turo Virta: So there is a huge difference.
• 14:40
  Turo Virta: And this is, this is what you still need to adjust based on your stress levels, based on your what season you have in your life, and because consistency, it matters so much more than having if you have, if you, if you, if I think people who are, I have been doing this now for over 10 years, and working with many, many, many people. So if you think that, if I think the people who got the best transformation, best results are not those who did three months, who did work out perfectly, if you if I think Person A who works out, starts working out, doing three workouts for perfectly for, let's say, three months, then something happens, and you are not working out at all, or very randomly. And then next two months, you are not doing basically nothing. Then you restart again perfectly for three months, and compared to person like, if this way, if you looked at one year is passing, if you look back, how was, how was your last 12 months? And if you look back, that was there some time that you were lacking discipline, lacking motivation, what? Or there was a busy season in life, what caused you to quit, to have a short break, and if you compare to people who are taking trying to do a bit less, but keeps promises they make themselves, not perfectly, but making sure that you do get At least something in. And that is, if you look in, if I look people who are consistently doing something for 12 months, they get always even it's a less if it's a one or two workouts per week, but they get better results than those people who have who are like kind of on all in or nothing attitude and and this is the hardest part to think, to understand that you think that you have to get perfect amount of workouts in, or otherwise you get to less results. And this is my from my own experience, that was the hardest part to learn. What I had to learn in a hard way. I'm from my background. I was a professional athlete who never if I worked out, it was never less than 60 minutes, or at least 45 minutes for a half an hour workout. It was not even worth of it to get started, because you wouldn't get good workout in and now, and that cost me, also. That caused me that mindset made me to quit for 10 years for after my professional ice hockey career, I didn't, basically, I was doing, I was the person who did random workouts, very randomly, so, so that was, that was the hardest lesson. And of course, you miss results. And now, if I look back, I love in my app, there is a My app is setting.
• 17:56
  Turo Virta: You can set your own goals for me. I said for myself that two times per week, two times 10 sets of strength training, and that have been a game changer like it sounds. It's It is not like I need maybe 1520 minutes to get that 10 sets of strength training. And this is something what motivates me, amazingly. So it sounds stupid, but if I see that, okay, like now today, when I'm recording this, it's a Saturday morning. I have had one workout in so I have a streak now. I have been doing 10 weeks in a row my two strength workouts. And if I look back from ear, last year, I think I hit 4849 weeks of those two sets to workouts to strength workouts. So that is an and if I look back my I look how many strength workouts I did last year, eight to 10 every single month. So it's two to three workouts per week. It's nothing at the moment. That is my goal is not to get the best possible transformation. I just want to maintain everything. I want to do everything I can, to maintain also my strength. Even that is not something what I naturally enjoy doing, but I know that I need to be doing it because I want to age in a good shape and be able to do things, what I love doing. I don't want to have pains or anything. And that is so motivating for me. And it's not, it's not if I would aim for perfect plan. And then there are seasons in life, like now Olympics coming up very, very busy season in life, in a work in January. All everything new, but I at this point, it's okay. I'm okay with that, that I will do a bit less. I just need to keep promises I make to myself. I want to keep my streak going on with my strength workouts. So today, I know I will go to get my 10 sets in that I keep promising, key promises, what I make to myself. So that is, that is the hardest part, but AI still doesn't understand. They don't adjust. So, so that is the, that is the, probably the biggest reason. So why then, those your workouts are often failing. So because this is very important, because most workouts, they don't fail because they are bad. They fail because they are not adjusted.
• 20:49
  Turo Virta: And this is what I just talked about, if workout is too hard, people blame themselves. Coach looks at the plan and says, this needs to change, less volume, different exercises, maybe more recovery, lower expectations for busy week, and this is difference between information and coaching. So coaches are understanding where you need, when you need to adjust something, and they are you need still, unfortunately, AI workouts are great, but you need to have some person behind Who is a human who understands what is actually happening in life, who have been maybe doing this for longer. So, you know, some trends, and it's not always about coach's job. It's not just pushing you harder. It's as to sometimes to say that, Oh, I understand. I get I get you that, what if we would do this instead? How you would feel about it, and then you are like that, oh, this actually makes sense at this point. Like it doesn't make sense to aim for something when it's causing like. Other example was from my other client we were planning.
• 22:02
  Turo Virta: She was exactly that person who wanted to do three workouts, we reduced them for two. She was used to do 45 minute workouts, three per week, and then third workout she doesn't get in. So then I wanted to go for two workouts, and then, but I want to do it longer, because the starting workout is the hardest one. And then, okay, see, I was already a bit suspicious with that approach, but said that, okay, let's try it. After two weeks, she missed some workouts, even from those two and then when we talked like, what was causing that, she didn't get herself to work out, it's a long it's a dark time of the year.
• 22:50
  Turo Virta: There is less daylight. Said she was just kind of wasting time, and she was laying in a bed.
• 22:58
  Turo Virta: Said that there is not it's at this point, this is a busy season of life. Maybe you have more stress, you need more recovery, more sleep. And when she was starting to think that, oh, I have one hour workout. And that is maybe there was in some exercises she didn't enjoy. And then she was like, No, I'm not getting myself even started. And then, as this is, at this point, this is too much we can adjust.
• 23:23
  Turo Virta: Let's go for one month shorter workouts, two times 30 minutes, and we build exercises she actually enjoys doing. So now, after two weeks adjusting the plan, she's back on track, doing everything what she promises.
• 23:41
  Turo Virta: And it's not that she's losing progress because she's doing less. She feels better about herself that she's actually keeping promises what she made to herself, and now she's back on track. And imagine, in one month, I can imagine when she keep promises, she stays what she makes to herself, she keeps going, she stays consistent.
• 24:02
  Turo Virta: Season in life is going to change at some point, I don't know when, but at some point it will change. You will have more time, you will have more motivation, and it's so much easier to start doing something more than starting over. So that is, that is why most of the AI workouts or YouTube workouts, they are failing. So how then you are curious, I want to explain a little bit how I use AI with coaching. So how I how I see this is that AI is great for structure. It's a great for ideas. It's great for building base. But structure alone is not enough. So I'm I do in my challenge, what I'm going to start in a couple days. I use AI workouts in paces, and then I adjust them. My AI coach is, I love it. You can give all information. It's that's why I have an intake form, what asks all questions about your background, your what equipment you have available, what feels realistic, what goal for this point, like, how many workouts per week, how long your system should be, and then, what is your goal in next, next two months. So then I see the answers. We have a conversation.
• 25:29
  Turo Virta: Does this make sense? Then I will adjust volume. I will adjust intensity, some exercise selection, even AI tool, it's giving, if you give, for example, recently, yesterday, I created a workout basis just with for a person. What I mentioned earlier, with the shoulder injuries, better posture, you get amazing exercises. Then there is something like that. Oh, this. I would love to have this exercise. This is still missing, or this exercise, it's more kind of like a random it doesn't access the like, what is the background with this history? So there is a small assessments you need to be doing. And then you you get, you get, you get started. It's the biggest part with this, AI, is that you get basic structure, but then I will access it on every single person, what feedback they are giving to me. If I, if I say that you are not getting work out done, there is something which doesn't feel right, which feels that it's this is, I don't enjoy. What is your schedule?
• 26:50
  Turo Virta: How is your stress level? So it gives AI is giving that structure, but Coach is giving you direction. And that combination is something, what, for me, it works amazingly well.
• 27:04
  Turo Virta: So, so if you, if you are thinking that what actually makes a good workout plan work?
• 27:11
  Turo Virta: So what is, what is the kind of free sleep, what you need to have if you want to have a workout plan that actually works? So it's not the perfect program, it's not the hardest workout, where you are sore after every single workout. It's not the fanciest exercises, what you what? Probably, if you open youtube that you where it's exercises have the most views, that is not because how social media as you know, how it how it works. It's, it's, if you do regular squats, you will not get any any views. But if you hang up yourself with 1000 pants or doing some weird things, that is something where it's like that people are at, oh, what is this?
• 28:00
  Turo Virta: So they keep watching. It doesn't tell that. Is it actually good exercise, but you get a lot of views. And maybe you think that this looks funny, I want to try it, but it's not that you get the best results with it which has the most or that is one thing. What is sure is that you are not getting the best results with the most viewed exercises in YouTube.
• 28:22
  Turo Virta: What actually gets you results is consistency, progression, adjustments and trusting the process. So because the best workout is not the most intense one, the best workout is the one you can repeat next week and week after so why didn't so many people think they need a new plan? So many people think I need something better. I need something harder. I need something new. But most of the time they don't need a new plan.
• 28:53
  Turo Virta: What they need is less pressure, more patience and small adjustments. Doing less consistently beats doing more for two weeks and quitting, as I said already before, and this is this feels like I'm repeating myself all the time, but it's just honest truth. So this is exactly why I created my next eight week challenge, and it's starting on January 26 not because people need more workouts, but because people need structure that adapts. So what you will get in. My challenge is AI based workouts.
• 29:26
  Turo Virta: I will adjust every single workout individually. You will have realistic expectations. You will get support when life gets busy, you don't need to guess.
• 29:39
  Turo Virta: You are not doing some random workouts. You are not doing extremes. It's just the plan that is created for your personal situation in your life and what you actually need.
• 29:53
  Turo Virta: So I want to leave you with this. So random workouts are the worst option, General, AI workouts are better. Ai goes plus. Coaching is the best option. Or if you have a coach who is doing, of course, I provide also, I still believe that if coaches who have been doing this for long, who knows what they are actually doing is is still the best option. But it's also point of how much it's costing. If I create a workout plan, I need at least an hour.
• 30:27
  Turo Virta: If I start from scratch, if I do it with the AI, I might need 1520 minutes to make just the adjustments. So it's huge time saves, and that's why the pricing point is different. So what you what you don't need.
• 30:47
  Turo Virta: You don't need perfection, you don't need more motivation. You just need a plan that adjusts when life happens. And that is what, what is the what I found out in the last challenge is like, if something wasn't working, you are changing it.
• 31:02
  Turo Virta: You are adjusting it. And that's where you need human connection, still where to make, who understands that? Oh, this is actually happening. This is my situation. Do you have somebody who have been in similar situation like you can't be in the same situation because there's not a single person who have been in the same situation, but in similar situation, what you would recommend to do, and that is what you need if you are interested to join. Learn more.
• 31:30
  Turo Virta: Check out the link in the show notes. I'm excited to getting started with this next challenge. Next one is going to be in spring, early summer, so it's I run these challenges a couple times per year, and now is the next one. I hope to see you inside of the challenge, and if you have any questions, DM me in my Instagram, or shoot me an email, Turo at fitmate Turo platform. Thank you so much for listening, and talk to you.