Let AI Coach You. Just Don't Let It Replace You.

Read time: 5 minutes

I didn't think it was possible to sweat out of EVERY single pore in your body, but I've been proven wrong with this heat recently.

I've lived in warmer countries for the past few years, but this summer feels particularly hot. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but christ almighty am I sweating like a pig lately 😂

I think it's a combination of the fact it's 30+ degrees every day and my inability to walk more than one speed.

I walk at a speed where it looks like I'm rushing home to go for a p*ss 😂

It seems like there is an AI answer for almost everything these days, so wouldn't it be great if AI could solve the issue of sweating like a pig during the summer?

Talking of things AI can and can't do, that's where we're going with this week's newsletter, so let's get stuck into it...

AI is everywhere right now, and no more so than in health and fitness.

You've for sure noticed it.

There are apps out there that can write your training plan in seconds.

Chatbots that answer your nutrition question about the protein in a kebab at 2 am.

The wearables that read your sleep, your strain, your recovery, and hand you a neat little verdict every morning.

None of this is a fad. This sh*t is here to stay!

How much so?

Well, the AI fitness and wellness market was worth around $10.7 billion in 2025, and it's projected to hit nearly $58 billion within a decade.

Most personal trainers already use AI in their work, and the ones who aren't are lying 😂

The technology is getting faster, smarter, and more personalised by the month.

I want to be clear about something up front. I think this is largely a good thing.

Used well, AI is the most powerful health tool we've ever had access to.

Like, c'mon, it's finding cancer in patients that was missed by doctors and diagnosing others years in advance.

Yeah, some might harp on about the environmental side of it, and I'm fully on board with all of that, but the benefits are clearly there to be seen.

Getting back to fitness, it can personalise, adapt, remind, and educate at a scale no human coach ever could.

Now, I'm not here to tell you to be afraid of it or to reject it; after all, I am building an AI health app, but there's a catch... and it's a pretty big one.

The quiet danger

The promise being sold with a lot of this technology is that AI will do it for you.

It'll think for you. Decide for you. Take the effort off your plate. Just hand your health over to the algorithm and let it drive that thing to the health bank.

But... that's the part I want you to be careful with.

You see, as great as AI is, and I love it, there is a big old flaw with it that I believe is really going to mess some folks up.

It's simple: the more you outsource your decisions to a machine, the less capable you become of making them yourself.

• You stop learning WHY you're doing something and start blindly following what you're told.
• You lose touch with your own body, your own judgement, your own sense of what works for you (this is closely linked to one of my recent newsletters on the impact that wearables can have on your health).
• You give away your autonomy, and your autonomy is the whole point.

I've said this before about tracking data, and it applies just as much here.

Use the tool, but DON'T let the tool use you.

AI should make you a more informed, more capable, more independent version of yourself, not a passenger in your own health.

So, by all means, let AI drive you around, but please god keep your hands on the steering wheel... at least for the time being until the robots take over 🫠

What AI genuinely can't do

Here's where the limits of the technology become obvious.

AI can write you the perfect training programme. It cannot walk into the gym and lift the weight for you.

AI can design you a flawless meal plan. It cannot shop for the food, stand at the stove, and cook it.

AI can remind you to go to bed earlier. It cannot put your phone down and close your eyes.

AI can tell you exactly what to do, but here's the important bit...

It can NOT make you want to do it.

The hard part of health has never been information.

Gez, we've had the information for decades, and today it's not only accessible in minutes, but seconds.

Eat well, move often, sleep enough, manage your stress, do the no pants dance in the bedroom, and lift weights.

None of this is a secret.

The hard part is doing it, and not only when you feel like it, but on a consistent basis and on the days you don't feel like it.

When you're tired, busy, stressed, and every excuse in the world is whispering at you to skip it.

No fancy AI algorithm can do that part for you.

That part is yours, and yours alone, and it always will be.

So if AI can't hand you motivation and discipline, where do they actually come from?

Most people want to feel a bit more motivated.

I'm super motivated, but even I could do with a top-up from time to time.

The research on motivation is detailed, and it's been clear for a long time.

Lasting motivation isn't something you're given from the outside, a notification buzzing at you, a badge, a streak.

Those work for a while, then fade.

Psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan spent decades showing that the motivation that actually sticks comes from within, and it's built on three things:

Autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

Autonomy: Feeling that your health is your choice, not something imposed on you.

Mastery: The quiet satisfaction of getting better at something over time.

Purpose: Knowing why it matters to you. Not a number on a screen, but a real reason. How you want to feel. How you want to live. The people you want to be strong and present for.

An app can nudge you, but it can't give you any of those three - at least not now.

You've got to build them yourself, and you do so by connecting your health to something that genuinely means something to YOU, not by letting some app boss you around.

Then there's discipline, and this is the one people misunderstand most.

Discipline isn't a personality trait you're either born with or not... It's built.

I wrote a while back about the part of your brain that physically strengthens every time you push through something hard, the same way a muscle grows under load; well, discipline works exactly like that.

Every time you do the thing you didn't feel like doing, you get a little better at doing it.

Motivation gets you started, but it's discipline that keeps you going once the motivation runs out.

As I say to clients and those who will listen to me all the time...

"Motivation will get you out of bed for a workout once, but it's discipline that will do it a thousand times"

And much to the pain of some, you build it through reps, not downloads.

No AI can build that for you, although my new app does a pretty good job of it, if I do say so myself.

You've got to get your hands dirty if you want to build long-term discipline, which means the effort isn't a bug to be optimised away... It's the whole damn point.

Which brings me perfectly onto why I built my app the way I did.

When I first started building it a year ago, using AI inside the app was so far away from my thinking, and it was down to a few reasons.

❌ Most people wouldn't trust an AI coach with their health.

❌ I didn't believe an AI fitness coach could be any good.

❌ I thought it would be far too expensive to build.

But the advancements over the past year alone have meant all three of these fears have been put to bed.

While not everyone has bought into the world of AI, more and more people are finding themselves becoming immersed in the world of Artificial Intelligence.

Whether it's building a recipe, creating a holiday itinerary, or using it to create images of you and your dog catching Pokemon, AI is slowly becoming a part of everyday life for countless people.

It also turns out that the cost of me using it in my app isn't as mind-blowing as I thought it would be, unless users go absolutely crazy with the AI features and rack me up a massive bill 🙈

And lastly, as a coach with high standards and someone who has always prided himself on delivering a truly personalised experience to every one of my clients, I was dead set against an AI coach delivering workouts and health and fitness advice.

But I have spent hours and hours and hours 'training up' my AI coach so that it has essentially become me in an app.

I've fed it 100s of workouts I've written, I've had it quiz me on countless topics so it got an extremely thorough and deep understanding of my principles as a coach and what I believe in, and it's read countless pieces of content and newsletters I've written so it actually knows how I talk.

My new platform MeridianWork is fully immersed in AI.

It uses the technology for everything it's genuinely brilliant at.

Personalising your plan, adapting as you progress, answering your questions, taking the guesswork out of what to do next, and it pairs that with real human coaching, because the science and the accountability both matter.

But I built it on one firm principle ⤵

It does not do the work for you.

It won't cook your meals.

It won't lift your weights.

It won't drag you to the gym on a grim Tuesday morning.

What it does is give you the best possible support system to do those things yourself, and then hand the effort, the ownership, and the growth back to you, where it belongs.

A tool that does everything for you doesn't make you stronger; it makes you dependent, and I'm not interested in building that.

I am, however, interested in building something that makes you more capable, more informed, and more in control of your own health, with the best technology on earth working in your corner.

AI is here, and it's staying.

It's up there as one of the most powerful tools we've ever had for our health, and you should use it.

But please remember that a tool is only ever as good as the person wielding it.

The algorithm can guide you, inform you, and support you brilliantly, but it sure as hell can't want it for you.

It can't do it for you.

And it can't build the discipline and ownership that ultimately decide whether you succeed with your health.

That part has always been yours and yours alone.

So use the technology, let it make you better, but stay in the driver's seat...

And NEVER hand over the wheel.

And of course, if you would like to know more about my new app and how it could be implemented in your business, or one you work in, then drop me a reply and I'll share all the details.

Right, I'm off.

Have a cracking week, and I'll catch you next time.

Mark ✌️

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Mark Gray

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P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are a few ways I can help you:
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1. ​My NEW sleep ebook is live — and yours free. If you’re tired of feeling tired, this guide breaks down how to fix your sleep and boost energy, focus, and recovery. Grab your copy by clicking here now.​
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2. ​The Paradigm Project: Want to get strong, lean, and energised — without burning out? If you’re an ambitious entrepreneur or professional who wants results without wasting time, find out more about my 1-1 coaching here.​
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3. ​My Ultimate Health Guide: Grab a FREE copy of my Ultimate Health Guide that gives you simple, proven strategies to take control of your health and performance today by clicking here now.

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Disclaimer: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Any guidance related to training, nutrition, supplementation, or lifestyle is general in nature and not a substitute for personalised medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your health routine.