Strava has teamed up with running coach and bestselling author Matt Fitzgerald to publish an article on the benefits and features of using artificial intelligence in personalized endurance training. We’ve compiled the essentials for you.
Who is Matt Fitzgerald?
Matt Fitzgerald is running coach and bestselling author of 80/20 Running, Run Like a Pro, Racing Weight, The Endurance Diet, How Bad Do You Want It and more.
Our takeaways from Matt’s viewpoint.
- The AI revolution is here. The best AI coaches have been successful with data-driven personalized workout planning. But humans are still unrivaled when it comes to communicating and motivating amateurs.
- Amateurs who don’t want to spend money and time on a human can get great service from AI. Coaches, meanwhile, can focus on communicating and motivating their athletes.
- AI is transforming individual training for years to come. Especially when it comes to planning and designing workouts that utilize a lot of data.
- According to surveys, only 5 percent of adult runners have a coach. What’s exciting about artificial intelligence is its potential to give coaches more runners and runners more coaches.
- The best Human coaches are so not because they know more than others, but because they have better communication and motivation skills. Jeffrey Frost of the U.S. Sports Academy conducted a scientific study in 2009 to identify the qualities most closely linked to coaching effectiveness. “Knowledge of the sport” ranked fifth, while “communication with athletes” and “motivation of athletes.” were top-ranked qualities.
- The interaction between athlete and coach is key to unlocking athletes’ abilities and potential.
- According to Matt, the future he would like to see is one where coaches use AI to focus and enhance their ability to communicate better with clients.
- The combination of AI-driven workouts and human interaction will provide runners with an experience that is as good and effective as a full-blown interaction with a coach, but much more accessible.
Three tips from Matt before giving AI-coaching a try.
- Don’t be afraid of artificial intelligence. There is quite a bit of hysteria surrounding it, but making decisions about training athletes that are exactly like those made by an experienced human coach is exactly the kind of job that AI is great at.
- Be selective. Not all AI training apps that claim to be AI-powered are. Do your research before choosing one of them.
- Don’t overestimate the capabilities of AI. A well-designed workout app can put together a great workout for you, but remember the importance of communication and motivation. And this is where human trainers are still better than technology.
OMY! Sports, AI-coach with Human support.
OMY! Sports app combines important components:
- AI-based algorithms to plan, manage and give personalized support while training.
- Team of professional coaches to directly communicate with athletes, guide and motivate them via chat.
- Science-based training model for endurance amateurs of all fitness levels.
OMY! Sports Team