Four questions every fitness operator should be asking as artificial intelligence reshapes discoverability, operations, coaching and leadership.
By Erin Phelan
Fitness Industry Council of Canada
AI helped write this article.
Not by AI.
With AI.
It helped gather research, organize ideas and challenge assumptions. It refined the copy, challenged my thinking and, occasionally, got it wrong. It didn’t write the article or decide what mattered.
That remained the job of the writer.
If your AI strategy begins and ends with ChatGPT, you’re only seeing one corner of one of the most significant technological shifts our industry has experienced.
Every generation has had its defining innovation. Remember when the sound of the fax machine sent a ripple through the office? What’s coming through? You had to wait to find out! Suddenly, invoices, contracts and purchase orders could arrive in minutes instead of days. It felt revolutionary.
Then came the internet, transforming how businesses reached customers…and each other. Smartphones put that connectivity in our pockets, forever changing how we consume information and communicate. Social media rewrote the rules of marketing.
Artificial intelligence is different.
Not simply because it’s bigger, but because it’s evolving while we’re learning to use it. New capabilities emerge almost weekly. Models improve. New tools appear. Existing platforms become smarter. At the same time, consumers are changing their behaviour just as quickly.
The operators who commit to learning alongside artificial intelligence—rather than waiting for the dust to settle—will build the greatest competitive advantage.
This is a fundamental shift in how people discover businesses, make purchasing decisions, consume information and expect services to be delivered. For fitness operators, artificial intelligence is no longer just a technology conversation: It’s a business conversation.
So where should operators begin?
By asking better questions.
Question 1: If a prospective member asked AI about your business today, would your club be part of the answer?
For years, fitness businesses have focused on search engine optimization (SEO), trying to rank higher on Google through keywords, backlinks and website optimization. While those fundamentals still matter, the way people search is changing.
Instead of typing “best gym near me,” consumers are increasingly asking detailed questions through AI-powered search platforms.
“Where can I find a gym that specializes in strength training after menopause?”
“What’s the best fitness facility for active aging?”
“I have arthritis in my knees. Should I work with a personal trainer or join a small-group strength program?”
Your website has quietly become one of your most valuable business assets again, and should answer those questions.
Ironically, many fitness businesses abandoned blogging because producing educational content took time and social media delivered quicker engagement. Generative search is reversing that equation. AI-powered search engines look for credible, authoritative sources that answer real questions. Trainer biographies, educational articles, success stories, frequently asked questions and evidence-based resources help establish the expertise that AI systems increasingly rely on when recommending businesses.
The implication is immense. Your website is no longer simply where prospective members learn about your business. It’s how artificial intelligence learns about your business.
The operators who consistently answer the questions their communities are asking won’t just improve their search rankings. They’ll improve their chances of becoming part of the answers AI delivers.
Beyond ChatGPT: The AI Landscape for Fitness Operators
One of the biggest misconceptions about artificial intelligence is that it’s a single tool. In reality, AI is becoming embedded across nearly every aspect of the fitness business.
Business Function | How AI Is Being Used | Examples |
Generative AI | Drafts blogs, emails, marketing copy, policies and educational content | ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini |
Generative Search | Answers consumer questions using trusted online sources | Google AI Mode, ChatGPT Search, Perplexity |
Business Intelligence | Analyzes performance, benchmarks KPIs and surfaces operational insights | FitnessKPI |
Marketing & CRM | Automates lead nurturing and member communications | LenzVU |
Club Operations | Supports member management, scheduling, retention and workflow automation | FLiiP, Mindbody, Zenoti, ABC Fitness |
Connected Coaching | Personalizes training using health data and AI-guided exercise recommendations | Matrix PACE, Peloton IQ |
The takeaway: You don’t need every AI platform. You need to understand where AI can create the greatest value for your members, your team and your business.
Question 2: What work are you asking your people to do that AI could do instead?
One of the biggest misconceptions about artificial intelligence is that it’s coming for our jobs. That’s the wrong conversation.
The biggest opportunity for fitness operators isn’t replacing people. It’s eliminating the repetitive work that prevents great people from doing what they do best.
Think about the average day inside a fitness business. Staff members answer the same membership questions dozens of times. Sales teams manually follow up with leads. Marketing managers write social posts, newsletters and promotional emails. Club managers spend hours pulling reports together before they can even begin analyzing them. Trainers document client progress, write programs and respond to routine questions that often have similar answers.
None of those tasks are the reason most people chose to work in the fitness industry. They came here to change lives. Monitoring a lead funnel doesn’t change anyone’s life. Increasingly, AI can help shoulder the administrative load.
Across the fitness technology landscape, artificial intelligence is becoming embedded in the software operators already use every day. Business intelligence platforms are helping managers identify trends before they become problems. Marketing and CRM platforms are improving lead nurturing and member communication. Club management systems are introducing predictive analytics that help identify members who may be at risk of cancelling before they actually do.
The goal isn’t to replace human decision-making. It’s to support it.
Consider the difference between collecting data and understanding it. Most clubs already have access to enormous amounts of information, from membership trends and attendance patterns to personal training utilization and retention rates.
The challenge has never been collecting data. It’s knowing what to do with it.
That’s where AI is beginning to make a measurable difference.
Platforms such as FitnessKPI are helping operators transform operational data into business intelligence, surfacing trends and opportunities that might otherwise go unnoticed. Marketing automation platforms like LenzVU are helping clubs respond to prospective members more quickly and consistently, while club management platforms such as FLiiP are introducing AI-powered capabilities that streamline everyday operations.
Full transparency: These companies have supported the FIC, and are among dozens – if not hundreds – of companies that are competing to support your infrastructure.
Each company solves a riddle, or supports a business challenge.
But that’s not the story: Together, they illustrate something much bigger. Artificial intelligence isn’t a product. It’s a key part of the operating system of the modern fitness business.
Perhaps the better question isn’t, “Should we use AI?”
It’s this: Where can AI give our people more time to do the work that only people can do?
Where AI Is Already Saving Time
The most valuable AI applications often happen behind the scenes. Rather than replacing staff, they help remove repetitive work and improve consistency across the business.
Marketing
- Draft blogs and newsletters
- Create social media captions
- Repurpose long-form content
- Develop campaign ideas
Sales
- Respond to inquiries faster
- Automate lead follow-up
- Personalize email sequences
- Schedule appointments
Operations
- Summarize reports
- Identify membership trends
- Predict churn risks
- Automate recurring administrative tasks
Coaching
- Build first-draft programming
- Document client progress
- Generate educational resources
- Personalize starting points for new clients
Leadership
- Analyze business performance
- Summarize meetings
- Draft policies and procedures
- Support strategic planning
Question 3: If AI builds the program, what becomes the role of the coach?
This is one of the biggest fears facing the fitness industry and perhaps one of the easiest to answer: If AI can write a training program in seconds, what happens to the trainer.
Imagine a 63-year-old woman walking through your doors for the first time.
She has arthritis in her left knee and a painful right hip after years of compensating. She’s pre-diabetic, and her physician has told her she may be able to avoid medication through lifestyle changes. Heart disease runs in her family. She hasn’t exercised consistently in years.
Oh – and she hates exercise.
Today, artificial intelligence can process all of that information in seconds. It can recommend evidence-informed exercises, create a progressive three-month program, map out a six-month plan and explain why each recommendation matters. As AI continues to evolve, those recommendations will become even more personalized, drawing on health data, movement assessments and individual goals.
That’s remarkable. But it isn’t coaching.
The workout is only one part of the equation. A great coach notices the hesitation before she steps onto the leg press. They recognize when fear – not fitness – is the biggest barrier to progress. They adjust technique before discomfort becomes pain, celebrate the first time she climbs a flight of stairs without holding the railing and know when encouragement is more valuable than progression.
Perhaps most importantly, they see her.
Artificial intelligence can identify patterns in data. Coaches identify potential in people.
We’re already seeing this evolution take shape across the industry. One example is Matrix’s PACE (Personalized Adaptive Coaching Experience), developed in partnership with seca. PACE combines medical-grade body composition analysis with AI-guided exercise recommendations to create more personalized training experiences, giving coaches richer insights while preserving the human relationship at the centre of every successful fitness journey.
This is where the conversation about AI often goes wrong. The question isn’t whether technology can write a workout. But technology can’t build confidence, earn trust, adapt to emotion or inspire someone to keep showing up on the days they don’t want to. I
And that’s precisely why great coaching is becoming more – not less – valuable.
AI can help build the plan. A great coach builds the belief.
The coach sees the 63-year-old who hates exercise, and they see the grandmother who wants to keep up with her grandchildren. They see the person who has spent years believing the gym wasn’t for someone like her.
Artificial intelligence sees data. Great coaches see people.
What AI Can Do…and What Great Coaches Still Do Better
AI Can… | Great Coaches Can… |
Analyze health data | Build trust and relationships |
Create a progressive training plan | Adapt in real time to fear, confidence and motivation |
Recommend exercises and progressions | Correct movement and coach technique |
Track progress and identify trends | Celebrate milestones and keep members accountable |
Personalize a starting point | Create an experience that makes members want to return |
The takeaway: The future isn’t AI or coaches. It’s AI plus coaches. Technology can make coaching more informed, more personalized and more scalable—but it can’t replace the empathy, judgment and human connection that change behaviour.
Question 4: If AI is changing every part of your business…who’s leading the change?
Artificial intelligence isn’t a marketing initiative. It isn’t an IT project. And it certainly isn’t something to delegate to the youngest person on your team because they’re “good at AI and have grown up with Chat GPT.
AI is fundamentally about leadership.
The operators who thrive won’t necessarily be those with the most AI. They’ll be the ones who approach it with curiosity, intention and clear expectations. That means investing in AI literacy, developing policies around privacy and data security, encouraging responsible experimentation and ensuring technology always supports – rather than replaces – the member experience.
Every major technological shift has rewarded businesses willing to learn, adapt and evolve.
Artificial intelligence will be no different.
The opportunity isn’t to become less human.
It’s to become more human by using technology to automate the ordinary so your people can focus on the extraordinary.
Members won’t remember which AI platform you chose.
They’ll remember how your club made them feel.
The AI-Ready Operator Checklist
Before the end of the year, ask yourself:
☐ Would my business appear in an AI-generated search result?
☐ Are we creating educational content that demonstrates our expertise?
☐ Where are staff spending time on repetitive work?
☐ Have we explored the AI capabilities already built into our software?
☐ Are our coaches using AI to become better coaches—not faster typists?
☐ Have we established guidelines for responsible AI use?
☐ Are we investing in AI literacy across our leadership team?
☐ Do we have an AI strategy—or are we simply experimenting
Fitness Industry Council of Canada (FIC) is the not-for profit trade association that represents the voice of fitness facility operators across Canada. Representing more than 6,000 facilities with more than six-million members nationwide, FIC pursues a legislative agenda in the hope of bettering the fitness industry for both consumers and operators. FIC aims to work with both industry and government to improve the health and physical activity levels of Canadians.
