Building New Gym Habits And Lasting Confidence

Igor Epshteyn is the CEO and President of Coherent Solutions.

Does your fitness app help users quiet self-doubt and build habits that turn fear into confidence?

During my fitness journey, I’ve experimented with various platforms and apps. Some offered comprehensive health management, while others focused on nutrition and habit tracking.

These tools taught me more than just how to make progress in fitness. As the leader of a technology company that’s built multiple fitness apps and AI-driven tools, I’ve seen firsthand what works and what doesn’t for users in the age of AI.

Innovations start when providers understand what users genuinely expect and design AI tools to exceed their expectations. Testing fitness routines, I was thinking like a provider, and the trend is clear: Modern apps and systems that use advanced AI are more successful than ever at motivating users, building lasting gym habits and instilling self-confidence.

Building Training Partners Instead Of Trackers

In the early 2010s, fitness apps started quantifying health metrics, serving as calorie and nutrition counters. Several years later, Planet Fitness launched its first mobile app, boosting its members’ motivation. Users booked training sessions and accessed basic workout tracking.

However, early tools lacked vital personalized insights and deeper guidance, unlike professional coaches or nutritionists. When the novelty wore off, user satisfaction declined due to limited personalization and motivational support.

When AI came, basic tracking began evolving toward personalized coaching experiences. Passive data collection matured into intelligent fitness guidance via wearables like Apple Watch and Fitbit. We worked with Planet Fitness as it implemented AI to transform its app through dynamic analyses, immediate feedback and personalized workout regimens.

The Peloton Guide is another example, as it employed machine learning to monitor movements, accurately count repetitions and offer real-time corrections. The level of personalization and gamification encouraged users to have independent yet engaging training.

Personalization That Keeps The Icon On The Home Screen

Users can often lose motivation when they’re treated like one-size-fits-all profiles. Take the 21-day habit myth. Research from the European Journal of Social Psychology shows habit formation can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days, depending on the person, the complexity of a habit and consistency.

Real progress comes from steady personal growth, not Instagram-worthy milestones or being compared to others. The RP Strength app uses algorithms to track rep velocity, fatigue levels and consistency. It then evaluates performance in real time. The app learns users’ body rhythms and adjusts the intensity of training and rest intervals accordingly. Users receive personalized workout plans. Each session safely pushes them just beyond comfort.

By offering AI-driven in-app personalization, providers can help users remove the guesswork and adapt with every rep and rest day.

Helping Beginners Start A Routine

Many beginners struggle to establish lasting fitness habits and stay consistent. AI-driven apps can help overcome this barrier with data-driven and structured routines. Fitbit and smart wearables alike alert users when it’s time to train, rest or adjust training intensity based on recovery data.

Offering gamified features and micro-goals can make workouts feel like video game level-ups. Users can compare current metrics to past performance and see progress, giving them a genuine sense of achievement and keeping them motivated and engaged.

Creating Safer Training For The Experienced

Experienced athletes push harder, which means a higher risk of injuries or burnout. Offering proper in-app guidance can prevent setbacks and give users a sense of safety.

To analyze movements and correct techniques in real time, the Asensei AI trainer uses motion capture, while the Zenia yoga app uses computer vision. Sparta Science takes it further, analyzing movement patterns to predict potential injuries among professional athletes.

Solving The Confidence Gap

A 2022 Mintel survey found that 78% of American respondents exercised to improve mental and emotional health. Ironically, their first fitness attempts often provoke anxiety and self-doubt.

Well-designed AI apps can help users solve this paradox. By offering structured workouts, tailored guidance and human-like feedback, beginners can feel more confident. They get the needed support to set realistic goals, make steady progress and receive instant reassurance.

Building Trust Through Data Security

Users trust fitness apps with their health and biometric data. That trust is fragile and often misplaced, so providers should be transparent about how they handle user data. Data breaches and unauthorized use (see the Strava location leak in 2018) make it clear that providers should prioritize ethics, transparency and strong security protocols to protect user data.

A January 2025 Surfshark survey (via TechRadar) found that 4 in 5 fitness apps still share user data with third parties. Leading platforms adopt privacy-by-design principles, enforcing stricter compliance and limiting data handover to what’s necessary. Whether these measures can be trusted long-term remains up for debate.

Recognizing AI’s Limitations

Users get garbage advice when providers rely on garbage data (like a wonky wearable). When users lean too heavily on apps, they might miss the body’s subtle signals, which a human coach would catch.

Premium subscription costs also lock out many users. If AI is to truly democratize fitness, providers must design with accessibility in mind.

The most effective approach still lies in balancing AI with human expertise. Emotions, empathy and personalized motivation remain out of reach for AI, at least for now.

The Future Is Built Around Users

Fitness apps do more than build strength, as they help users build confidence and take charge of their health. AI can support that when providers build apps focusing on adaptive guidance, clear ethics and real human insights. For tech leaders, the task is to build apps that feel like a gym buddy: understand, motivate and keep showing up even when users don’t feel like training.

Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?