That intro paragraph was written by ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI)–powered tool, in response to the prompt: “Write a one-paragraph introduction to a magazine article on the topic of how personal trainers and health coaches can use ChatGPT to develop content and improve communication with their clients.”

Before landing on that intro, I had tried two other prompts that didn’t quite deliver the results I’d hoped for (i.e., “…the topic of how to expand your fitness business” and “…the topic of how to build or expand a personal training or health coaching business”). I tinkered with tone (use a friendlier tone; add a joke) and style (blog vs. magazine article) and eventually settled on what you see above.

To be honest, that’s a pretty solid opening paragraph, although the language is a little more passive than you would generally see in this publication. It may not be exactly what I’d write, but it certainly gives me something to work with that’s a bit less intimidating than the stark white screen that all writers face, whether they’re crafting an article for CERTIFIED or drafting an email to send to their clients that explains an increase in pricing or offers tips for staying active while on vacation.

After setting aside my fears of becoming obsolete (“Write a 2000-word magazine article on…”), I recognized the value and potential time saving that these tools represent for all kinds of professionals—health coaches and exercises professionals included. In this article, you’ll learn how you can use ChatGPT and similar resources to save yourself time and effort as you provide high-quality content and services to your clientele.

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT and other AI-driven tools have been such a hot topic of conversation that it’s astounding to consider they were only first introduced to the public in late 2022, when OpenAI launched ChatGPT to select users. Bing’s AI-powered search and Google’s Bard arrived soon thereafter, and more such resources are certain to emerge in the coming weeks and months. [Note that all the AI content in this article was created using ChatGPT.]

What makes these tools different from a traditional search engine is that they can be used in a more conversational way, where you can ask follow-up questions, challenge responses and fine-tune the tone and style of the writing. And, importantly, this is not all about content creation—you’ll learn more below about how some pros are already using AI in their businesses in some surprising ways.

So, what are its capabilities and limitations? OpenAI is very upfront about that, listing the following on the page where you initiate a conversation (with my notes added in parentheses):

Capabilities:

• Remembers what user said earlier in the conversation (As mentioned above, this is the biggest difference between these AI-driven tools and typical search engines, as you can have an ongoing conversation that allows you to home in on exactly what you’re looking for.)
• Allows user to provide follow-up corrections (This connects to the conversational aspect, as you can eliminate some suggestions or ask it to focus on particular elements of the content created.)
• Trained to decline inappropriate requests (Such requests might include things like medical diagnoses. For example, a prompt of “Diagnose pain on the left side of my lower back” was met with a response that began, “As an AI language model, I am not a medical provider and cannot provide a diagnosis,” then went on to provide a few ideas for topics to discuss with a healthcare provider.)

Limitations:

• May occasionally generate incorrect information (Users call this “hallucinating,” which can happen when the AI cannot find a suitable response or “misunderstands” the source material.)
• May occasionally produce harmful instructions or biased content (This possibility stems in part from its limited knowledge base—see the next bullet—as well as the fact that AI is interpreting content it “reads.” This is the primary reason you must use your expertise before using any AI-created content or ideas—more on this to come.)
• Limited knowledge of world and events after 2021 (This limitation is specific to ChatGPT. Bing, for example, searches the internet for sources and information, whereas ChatGPT is limited to the data available at the time of its creation.)

Ideas for How to Use AI Tools

I asked three ACE content creators how they use ChatGPT and other AI tools and how exercise professionals and health coaches can make the most of this resource.

“I view it as a personal assistant,” says Sabrena Jo, PhD, ACE Senior Director of Science and Research, whose content-related responsibilities include weekly “Science Saturday” posts on the ACE social media channels. The idea here is that you, not the AI, are the expert and the “boss.” Because of the potential for misinformation, you must be vigilant in your review of any content before you use it in a blog, on your website or in a social media post. “The best advice I can give,” says Dr. Jo, “is don’t go outside your area of expertise.”

For example, if you have never taught a Pilates class, don’t ask ChatGPT to draft a 500-word blog on Pilates in an effort to add more content to your website. If the resulting blog contains misinformation or, in a worst-case scenario, something that is unsafe or sets your readers up for injury, you are responsible for that content. Remember, it’s your assistant, not an expert you’re explicitly trusting. You’re asking it to perform tasks for you, but you must use your expertise to ensure the credibility of the content you provide to your clients or social media followers.

Another important step is to go to any cited sources and make sure they’re credible and up to date. Bing, for example, will provide sources to back up its content and supply you with those links. You can even provide a link to a website that you trust and ask a question based on that content. For example, you might provide a link to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans and ask, “Based on this content, what are 10 strategies to add more movement to my sedentary workday?”

If used as an assistant, “it can really give you back some hours in your day,” says Dr. Jo, especially if you’re responsible for creating content. “These tools can help alleviate the mental fatigue of thinking ‘Where do I even begin?’”

Lee Jordan, MS, NBC-HWC, ACE Master Coach and presenter, frequently writes ACE blogs and is a go-to resource when it comes to health coaching content. “I have used it as an active brainstorming partner to help with various projects,” he says. “Currently, its greatest value to ACE Pros is that it costs nothing to use and they can therefore lean into their curiosity and experiment with it in many ways. As the pursuit of wellness continues to grow within the digital realm, the importance and utility of AI, such as ChatGPT, will exponentially rise and grow. Therefore, ACE Pros benefit when they understand not only what is happening, but also how to harness it.” 

Araceli De Leon, MS, who is the ACE Business and Career Content Manager and oversees the ACE Pro Compass website and the ACE Pro Connect app, recommends you harness the power of AI by asking questions about your career, separate from any concerns about writing blogs or creating social media. For example, you might ask, “What are some creative ways to retain personal-training clients in a studio setting,” “What tools will I need to transition from teaching in-person group fitness classes to online classes?” or “What are some sales techniques I can use to turn potential clients to actual paying clients?”

De Leon suggests pros resist the temptation to ask AI to, “Put together a workout for my 60-year-old client who has right knee pain,” for example, as exercise programming is something that requires a high level of expertise and personalization. “Instead, think about the things that are a little bit more challenging for you and your business,” she says, “and leverage these tools in that way.”

By asking pointed questions and then following up to dig deeper, you may uncover creative ways to improve your business acumen and develop confidence in other elements of being a professional in the fitness industry.

De Leon often uses ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas not only for developing content, but also for other elements of her job. For example, she has asked ChatGPT to “Brainstorm ideas to increase participation in my app community” and to “Outline a step-by-step process to create a website for health and exercise professionals.”

Jordan and Jo sometimes use AI to play with the tone of content they are creating. For example, Jordan says that you can design your prompts to include instructions like, “Write this in the voice of Brené Brown” or “Write this with a humorous tone and use emojis.”

Jo, who admits that she tends to write in a somewhat dry, scientific style, will sometimes cut and paste some content she has written—a short social media post, for example—and ask the AI to, “Rewrite the following sentence in a friendlier and more humorous tone.”

The possibilities are truly limitless, so, as Jordan suggests, lean into your curiosity and explore how these resources can help improve not only your written content, but also other elements of your business.

Examples of AI in Action

Example #1. Most ACE Pros who have a social media presence are constantly developing content to put on their various channels. So, you might ask for “5 ideas for social media posts to inspire my personal training clients to get more active in the summer months.”

From here, you may decide to focus on bullet 1, but want it to be specific to the community where you live. I live in Asheville, NC, so I followed up by asking for the “Best places to exercise outdoors in the Asheville NC area.” ChatGPT responded with six options. (I’ve edited this list for brevity, as each option include a one- or two-sentence description.)

I then realized that not only might this be great social media content, but this may also be an opportunity to expand class offerings, so I asked, “As a group fitness instructor, can I legally charge clients to exercise in any of these locations?”

As you can see, the conversational aspect of ChatGPT allows you to go in countless directions, and the fact that it remembers previous elements of the conversation means you can return to ask follow-up questions or for clarification on earlier points. From that brief conversation, I now have five potential social media topics, a list of places I can recommend to my class participants to get some outdoor exercise and some guidance on how to legally teach outdoor classes in my community.

Example #2. You are trying to write a blog about how to add more vegetables to your diet but have been staring at the blank screen for a while and just don’t know where to begin. So, you ask ChatGPT to “Provide an outline with headings and subheadings for a blog on how to add more vegetables to your diet and include practical strategies.”

Now, you might not use all those suggestions, but this certainly gives you a quality starting point.

Example #3. August is National Black Business Month and you want to raise awareness in your community and use this as an opportunity to network with likeminded business owners, so you ask ChatGPT to “Provide two suggestions for social media posts about National Black Business Month.”

Then, you ask, “How can my health coaching business network with local Black-owned businesses to improve the health of my community?” (Side note: I mistyped “Black” as “Blank,” but the AI recognized my error from the context of the conversation and responded appropriately. Also, note that this was edited for brevity, as each of these suggestions included a paragraph of content.)

From there, you might ask for a list of Black-owned businesses in your area, then dig deeper to identify those that might be good collaborative partners. This is another example of how the conversations with AI can go in different directions and help you in multiple ways. Here, I’ve created social media posts that will serve as a form of community outreach, gathered some ideas for how to collaborate with other business owners and will soon have a list of potential networking partners.

In all of these examples, you can see how ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools can help not only with content creation, but also with countless other elements of being a health coach, exercise professional or business owner.

In Conclusion

One of the most challenging aspects of using ChatGPT and other AI tools is writing quality prompts. If your questions or requests are too vague, the AI has too much information from which to draw. Being specific and following up with questions or requests for clarification can be the key to uncovering quality content.

You can also revisit conversations that yielded good results and ask ChatGPT to repeat that process on a new topic. For example, if you’ve used AI to create a 10-item list of ways to add more vegetables to your diet as a social media companion to the blog in Example #2 and found that the posts drove a lot of engagement, you can return to that conversation and ask the AI to “Create a similar list for how to replace refined grains with whole grains.”

Don’t forget the importance of tone and style. A scientifically accurate blog won’t gain much traction if it’s boring or the title doesn’t grab readers’ attention. You can ask ChatGPT to be more lighthearted, more descriptive or even more like your favorite author (a prompt of “Write one sentence to describe hiking in the voice of J.R.R. Tolkien” yielded “With sturdy boots on their feet and staffs in hand, the wanderers set forth on a winding path through verdant forests and rugged mountains, their hearts stirred by the call of adventure and the thrill of discovery.”)

Speaking of the thrill of discovery, ChatGPT and these other AI-driven tools can be a fun and creative way to not only streamline some of your work processes, but also expand the work you do in exciting new directions. So, don’t be afraid to explore these resources—you might be surprised by how useful they can be, and by the directions your conversations take you.