
64: We Asked 8 Experts: Is ChatGPT now better at programming than you are?
The Business of Fitness PodcastShow Notes
Download the PDF accompanying this article. Summary: In this episode I ask eight experts to rate the quality of ChatGPT generated training programs. I explore how AI-driven programming frees up hours for PTs by automating routines, preserving personal style, and allowing you to shift your focus to empathy and human connection. 5 things you'll learn in this episode How to use ChatGPT prompts to create programs for a wide range of fitness goals. Ways to systemise programming to make your work more time efficient. How you can balance AI collaboration with your personal coaching voice. Techniques to preserve your unique style and ensure the highest quality of programs for your clients. The importance of human connection and soft skills in an AI-driven programming future.
Download the PDF accompanying this article. TRANSCRIPTION: One of the biggest uses of time for a PT, gym owner or online coach is programming. The problem is, all the hours we spend programming doesn't actually get us anywhere. It doesn't move our business forward. I'm not saying it's not important – because it really is. I'm saying that this type of work would be classified as working 'in' your business. It's something you need to do as a bare minimum to keep your head above water. Like replying to emails or invoicing, it's a non negotiable to be able to serve your clients and members. And because it's a non negotiable, it's not something you can eliminate from your monthly task list. For a previous episode of The Business of Fitness Podcast, I tracked every minute of work time for a year. So many of the business owners I mentor spend WAY too much time on programming. One of my recommendations that came out of this was around what we should aim to do with the time where we're doing unbillable hours, working in the business. Programming fits in this category. In that episode of the podcast, I said: 'For this use of time, we want to build systems to automate the tasks in this category as much as possible. There is no direct financial return for the hours we spend working in the business, so we obviously want to turn the dial down here. The asterisk on this is that no one should be able to tell we're spending less time on admin. The whole point of systemisation is to be able to automate processes so they are still done as well as, or actually probably better than they would be if you were grinding through each individual step yourself.' So how do we do that for programming? I wondered, can we use an AI agent like ChatGPT to create programs that are even better than what we could do ourselves – without losing our unique programming style and philosophies, and the personal voice that only we can bring to programming? I've done an episode of The Business of Fitness Podcast previously where I interviewed ChatGPT, but now I want to focus on programming. I spoke with eight of Australia's leading health and fitness professionals – each an expert in their field, to get their opinion on the quality of AI generated exercise programs. Now before you disregard using AI to help write exercise programs, let me make one very important point around using AI for programming (or using AI for anything really). It's the concept of 'garbage in, garbage out'. This is a computer science phrase that basically means if you write poor quality code, you get a poor quality program. Think of it like an elite athlete fuelling their body with junk food. If you use poor quality fuel, you get poor quality performance. When we're talking about using ChatGPT for programming, the 'garbage in' refers to bad prompts. If you use specific, detailed, well constructed and well constrained prompts, you'll be amazed at the world class quality of the programs you can create. It's important to note – ChatGPT is not doing the programming for you. It's doing it with you. It's a collaboration between you and AI to produce a higher quality program for your clients. Your role changes from
More from The Business of Fitness Podcast
In this episode Dan explores why chasing more leads can worsen your life, and how fitness business owners can rethink success to build greater freedom, purpose and profit. You will learn: Why chasing more clients could be keeping you trapped in the gym owner rat race. What a disastrous rat bounty reveals about a mistake you might be making in your business. How to tell whether your numbers are improving while your life gets worse. What rocket science can teach you about questioning the way you run your business. How to work backwards from the life you want to the business you actually need. If you enjoy this, you'll also enjoy the following, they're some of my most popular articles and podcasts on topics similar to this one: How my business earns me 23 hours a week. read | listen The Ultimate Guide to Business KPIs. read | listen I tracked every minute of work time for a year. Here's what I learned. read | listen Your REAL Hourly Rate: The True Cost of Running a Fitness Business. read | listen A philosophy for a full and good life. read | listen
In this episode, Ben Luckens interviews Dan about why remarkable client experiences will become a major competitive advantage for fitness businesses in the age of AI. This episode covers some of the topics from the 2026 Perth Fitness Business Client Experience Workshop. Learn more about that here. Dan explains why businesses need to move beyond simply delivering a service and start creating experiences that make people feel something and give them stories to share. They discuss experience marketing, the value of doing things that do not scale, and how better member experiences can improve retention, referrals and revenue. Dan also breaks down his one-size-fits-all, one-size-fits-some and one-size-fits-one approach, and explains why the employee experience will become just as important as the client experience.
In this episode, Dan Williams explains how personal trainers can design a PT session that clients remember, value and talk about. (it's also a summarised 'sneak peak' of the upcoming 2026 Perth Fitness Business Client Experience Workshop) He walks through how to map every client touchpoint, identify the pits that damage trust, improve the forgettable parts of the session and create a small number of memorable peaks. Listeners will learn how to use intended feelings, intended stories, benchmarking and the Ten Star Thought Experiment to improve client retention, referrals and the overall personal training experience. Learn more: 2026 Perth Fitness Business Client Experience Workshop
I'm proud to use this episode to announce the 2026 Perth Fitness Business Client Experience Workshop: https://gobsmack.com.au/fitness/ The Perth Fitness Business Client Experience Workshop is a practical, 12 hour event to help fitness business owners design a more remarkable client experience. You'll work with myself (Dan Williams) and my team to design a jaw-dropping client experience strategy that helps your fitness business become the one clients remember, return to and recommend. We are capping this event at 15 attendees, tickets $1497 each. Afterpay is available. Learn more at: https://gobsmack.com.au/fitness/
Retaining staff is one of the biggest challenges in the fitness industry, yet Ben Luckens's four key team members have each stayed with him for more than seven years. In this episode, Dan asks Ben the leadership principles behind that loyalty, including self-leadership, vulnerability, difficult conversations, empathy and leading by example. He also shares how Stoic philosophy shaped his approach, why leaders are often their business's biggest bottleneck, and the practical actions business owners can take to build a stronger culture and become the kind of leader great people want to follow.