Can workout apps replace trainers?

Since the first technological advances, such as cooking or the invention of the wheel, innovation has made it easier to store energy and reduce effort. Although this has been beneficial for thousands of years, it has become a serious problem today. Obesity and related diseases threaten to affect millions of people and lead to the collapse of healthcare systems. In the absence of changes to improve access to healthy diets and promote physical activity, technological solutions are being sought to solve the problems created by technology itself. The latest development is GLP-1 agonists, popular diet pills.

Exercise, which offers many benefits beyond weight loss, is a critical tool in the fight against this pandemic. However, a person’s tendency to conserve energy makes it difficult to adopt active habits. Personal trainers, although effective, are expensive, which has led to the development of alternatives such as mobile apps for motivation. A recent study published in JAMA, published by the American Medical Association, compared the effect of a mobile app alone with its combination with a human assistant. The results show that technology is not currently superior to human support.

The study, which analyzed the effectiveness of technology-based weight loss assistance without human intervention, involved 400 people divided into two groups: one using only the integrated app, a Wi-Fi scale and an activity band; and another who also had a personal trainer. After six months of follow-up, participants who used technology only lost an average of 2.8 kilograms, while those who used human support lost 4.8 kilograms.

“The average person still needs a human coach to achieve clinically meaningful weight loss goals because the technology is not mature enough,” says Bonnie Spring, first author of the study and professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago. While he acknowledges that technology is advancing rapidly, it has not yet reached the level needed to replace humans.

Technology must complement

Miquel Izquierdo, director of the Department of Health Sciences at the Public University of Navarra, believes that while machines are necessary for health workers to monitor and adjust treatment, they will not replace humans in the short term. He emphasizes the importance of personalization in medicine, suggesting that “technology should complement, not replace, human touch.”

For those who can’t afford a personal trainer, Izquierdo recommends finding exercise groups or partners to boost motivation. Borja del Pozo, a health researcher at the University of Cadiz, also emphasizes that the technology, although promising, cannot yet match the results obtained by humans. However, it identifies a subgroup of the population that could benefit from specific technological interventions that would provide significant public health savings.

Ultimately, Del Pozo reminds us that broad social policies such as reducing poverty and inequality are fundamental to tackling obesity. Improving living conditions and creating healthy environments are critical to confronting this growing health crisis. @mundiario