Research shows that personal training is losing its appeal – and AI apps could be to blame
On October 29, we reported that the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) had released its annual survey of the top fitness trends predicted for 2025. The research provides “valuable data for fitness professionals, entrepreneurs and exercise enthusiasts,” intended to “help inform critical business decisions and a professional development plan,” according to the ACSM report. These trends varied by region, but we will largely discuss U.S.-centric trends in this article.
While wearable technology (like the best fitness trackers) remained at the top spot, “mobile training apps,” also known as the best fitness apps, came in at number two and “data-driven training” at number three. The two often go hand in hand, with apps and wearables offering simple ways to record detailed information about your training, from heart rate to explosive power, and use these stats to train you more effectively.
Wearables, apps and (by extension) data-driven training have become frighteningly smarter. In-app AI chatbots can draw on your personal data captured through the app, often with a connected wearable, and recommend next steps for your workout. You can use virtual pacers to race against yourself. Within apps like PUSH and Garmin Connect, training plans can take into account the performance of the last few sessions and adjust themselves automatically.
One category that didn’t make the top 10 this year is “personal training,” which has fallen to number 15. While still prevalent in many countries and popular enough to work its way into the top 20, the sharp decline from the top 10 ‘warrants’ attention” according to the report, which also noted that “hiring certified exercise professionals only appears as a top 10 trend in Portugal and Australia”.
Cause and effect
When you look at the most popular topics, it is easy to see correlation and causation. According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, hiring a personal trainer (PT) can cost anywhere from $25 to $100 per session. This is presumably in addition to a gym membership or daily rate, which you’ll need to access the space.
When you can get a YouTube channel that shows you the moves for free, or an AI-powered fitness app that gives you feedback for $8.99 a month, it’s for many people facing a cost-of-living crisis hard to justify hiring a PT. then a great luxury, such as a massage or a spa day.
To say that you can get the full experience of in-person personal training through an app on your phone would be an insult to the hardworking personal trainers who are fantastic coaches, motivators and experts in their field. However, there’s no denying that personal training, once the bastion of the fitness industry, is losing popularity, and PTs will need to diversify their revenue streams to make it in 2024. This income can come from offering online classes, writing books for a better market. themselves as experts, create their own training app or social media community, or become part-time content creators.
There are probably very few PTs who signed up knowing they had to be effective writers, programmers, salespeople, or on-camera talent: there was a time when all you had to do was be really good at training people, but those days are long. away. The most successful PTs are now the most effective brand builders and content marketers, not necessarily the best coaches.
Now that data-driven apps and wearables can provide reasonable programming and even feedback via a chatbot, the fitness industry has become the latest in a long line of industries to be hit hard by automation and AI. I’m not sure what the answer is for all those talented PTs and coaches out there, but I don’t envy those who are trying to maintain an analog business in a world that, with the advent of AI, has become truly digital .