I asked ChatGPT and Siri AI to build me a workout plan and there was only
one winner

Date:
Sat, 01 Aug 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Description:
ChatGPT and Siri AI made AI-powered workout plans for me, and only one was worth keeping.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Ive been lifting weights at
home for a few years now, but recently Ive found myself stuck in a rut. If anything, my routine has become a humdrum habit, without a clear goal and sense of progression to keep me motivated. Ten exercises, three sets, eight reps, 30 minutes. Ive run through it so often that I could do it in my sleep.

Im a true tech lover, so of course I got artificial intelligence (AI) to help me out. Apple has just launched its revamped Siri AI and Ive been playing around with its early beta edition, so I was curious to know if its new
skills extended to solid fitness advice and if they did, how they held up against the ever-popular ChatGPT . To find out, I asked each chatbot to dream up a workout routine that could revitalize my fitness habits. After working through both plans and tapping a professional personal trainer for their insights, I was left with the impression that only one of the two workout plans was worth sticking with. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here: The setup (Image credit: Dean Drobot / Shutterstock) To start with, I put together a prompt that I then fed into both AIs. The goal was to briefly explain my physical state and outline the kind of workout I was after, noting any constraints such as time and location (I work out at home).

Heres the prompt I used: You may like I asked ChatGPT to build me a realistic weekly workout for a 54-year-old 'Its no longer enough for an app to tell you what to do. People want to know why': Fitness app Fitbod's founder on the reason behind the AI fitness boom watchOS 27 may have improved the Apple Watch's AI features, but a Siri AI health coach was needed to rival the
Google Fitbit Air

I am a 36-year-old man in good physical shape who exercises regularly. Create a three-day overall workout plan for me with the goals of hypertrophy and building muscle. The workout will be done in a small home office using dumbbells as the only equipment. It can include calisthenics as well as weighted exercises and should aim to cover different areas of the body.
Ensure it lasts no longer than 45 minutes. Explain how often each workout session should be repeated over the course of a week and when rest days
should take place, if required.

I didnt add any subsequent follow-up messages, as I wanted to know what each AI could come up with given the kind of information that a regular user might provide. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. The new challenger: Siri AI (Image credit: Future) At its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, Apple made a big song and dance of its new Siri AI virtual assistant , a new foundational model based on Googles Gemini LLM .

When given my workout prompt, Siri AI put together a plan that included a
push day focusing on my chest, shoulders and triceps; a pull day centered on my back, biceps and rear delts; then a final legs and core day. It offered a workout schedule and suggested that each session would take around 45
minutes, with three sets of 8-12 reps and a rest of 60-90 seconds between
each set.

Focus on controlled movements and progressive overload by gradually
increasing the weight of your dumbbells or the difficulty of your calisthenics, it advised. Each exercise was accompanied by a short
explanation of how to perform it, which was a welcome touch. What to read
next I gave Gemini 3.6 Flash and GPT-5.6 access to my entire digital life Google Health has taken over from Fitbit but I still don't trust AI I've been using Google Health's new AI Coach for a week here's 3 things I liked about the Fitbit Premium revamp (and 2 I really didn't)

Putting Siris action plan into practice, it was obvious that my old self-made workout plan wasn't pushing me hard enough, as the first days workout left me feeling like Id worked harder than I had for months. Off to a good start, I thought.

But Siris plan came up well short of 45 minutes, with most days efforts lasting a mere 25 minutes. And aside from the lack of warm up, there was also no word on how to complement the exercises with targeted nutritional intake. Thats a serious oversight in its workout regimen, especially for beginners.

To help me better understand the plans from both Siri AI and ChatGPT, I asked personal trainer and fitness coach Scott Laidler for his opinion. Speaking of Siris effort, Laidler said that it had a few things going for it.

Siris is simple which means there is little to misinterpret, said Laidler, adding that the equipment substitutions are sensible for the office environment.

While Siri recommends upping the weight as you get stronger, it doesnt say what to do once this plan hits diminishing returns, which is months away, not years, according to Laidler. While it sounds like an open-ended plan, its really only built for a defined window, Laidler warned, which could lead to frustration unless you knew to come back to the table and ask for a new plan several times per year.

Thats a problem inherent in the responses from both Siri and ChatGPT. The class leader: ChatGPT (Image credit: Future) While Siri AIs workout plan was concise, ChatGPT was much longer. It explained what the priorities of the workout were and gave some basic advice, such as aiming to finish with one or two reps in reserve as a guidance on how much weight to use. It then listed a weekly schedule before laying out a simple warm up to perform each session.

Each exercise was listed, with varying numbers of sets and reps, followed by
a note on which muscle groups were being targeted. Unlike Siri, there was no explanation of how to perform each exercise, which feels like an oversight with potential for injury. That was a clear win for Siri AI.

At the end, ChatGPT included a progression section explaining how to push yourself further, a guide on recovery and nutritional intake, then an explanation of why this split works. Taken together, it was a detailed
workout plan, if a rather verbose one.

According to Laidler, ChatGPTs plan was the better program by some margin. Siri applies a flat three sets of 8-12 to every exercise, with each muscle group trained once a week, Laidler noted. ChatGPT, on the other hand, hits most muscle groups twice across the week, varies the sets per exercise, includes a warm up, and gives real progression logic. On paper its the more sophisticated plan.

ChatGPT is closer to what the literature would see as optimal for the stated goal of gaining muscle, Laidler stated. Reps in reserve (RIR) offers a way
for the user to keep a reasonable distance from failure, which de-risks the plan especially when training alone.

OpenAIs LLM has a trick up its sleeve, too: it can analyze your form based on uploaded videos. I asked it to judge my Romanian deadlift form and it gave me an 8.5 out of ten, giving pointers on what I did well and what could be improved. I wouldnt take this advice over that of a human expert, but
compared to Siri AI which cant do any of this at all its another point to ChatGPT. The overall picture (Image credit: LStockStudio/Shutterstock)
Despite their individual strengths, Laidler warned that neither Siri AI nor ChatGPT had created an optimal workout plan. As he pointed out, It doesnt appear that the LLM has asked follow up questions that may have helped customize the plan a little more.

This highlights a problem with using AI for personal fitness . While a personal trainer would naturally ask these questions straight away, an AI chatbot wont necessarily propose them unless prompted. Without a more
detailed knowledge of your personal situation, you could end up with a
sub-par workout routine thats not well-suited to your circumstances.

So, if youre going to use AI to sketch out a fitness plan, make sure to add
as much detail in your prompt as possible. Ask it to pose follow-up questions to ensure it has as all the information it needs, and come back to it regularly. Dont just stick to the plan it gives you and repeat it ad
infinitum or youll end up like I did: languishing, with your progress
grinding to a frustrating halt.

Of course, as Laidler pointed out, the problem with doing this telling the LLM your injury history, what feels like a hard set, your workout
preferences, and more means that you need to already know what a well-built program looks like to comprehensively prompt for one. And if thats the case, do you even need an AI to help you in the first place?

If you do want to go ahead with an AI fitness coach, ChatGPT is a better bet than Siri AI for now, as it includes more varied sets and targets more muscle groups. Neither is perfect, but Apple has plenty of work to do if it wants to match ChatGPTs take on fitness advice. Follow TechRadar on Google News and
add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Todays best iPhone deals Contract Deals Sim Free gift Apple
iPhone 17 24 months Unlimited mins Unlimited texts 10GB data 19 upfront 34.99 /mth View at Mobiles.co.uk See all prices voucher gift Apple iPhone 17 Pro 48 months Unlimited mins 5GB data 30 upfront 56.24 /mth View at EE See all
prices voucher gift Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max 48 months Unlimited mins 5GB data 30 upfront 51.49 /mth View at EE See all prices voucher gift Apple iPhone 17e 36 months Unlimited mins 5GB data 30 upfront 42.22 /mth View at EE See all prices voucher gift Apple iPhone Air 48 months Unlimited mins 25GB data 30 upfront 43.49 /mth View at EE See all prices We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/health-fitness/i-asked-chatgpt-and-siri-ai-to-build- me-a-workout-plan-and-there-was-only-one-winner


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)