For years, the thing I sold was the program: the weeks laid out, the exercises, the sets and reps, the nutrition targets.
The programs were good. Most people didn’t finish them.
A program is the easy part
Anyone can find a decent training plan now, and an AI will write one in seconds. Knowing what to do was rarely the problem. Doing it in week four, after a bad night of sleep and a work deadline, was.
The research on behaviour change agrees. People are far more likely to follow through when they’ve decided in advance exactly what they’ll do when a specific obstacle shows up: “If I get home after seven, I’ll do the 20-minute version, not skip it.” Psychologists call these implementation intentions. A large review of 94 studies found they had a medium-to-large effect on actually reaching goals (Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006).
A program doesn’t contain those plans. A conversation does.
What a check-in actually is
A good check-in is short and specific:
- What did you do since we last spoke?
- What got in the way?
- What’s the plan the next time that happens?
The last question is the one that matters. It turns a bad week into an if-then plan for the next one. Over a few months, those plans add up to something no program on its own gives you: a way of training that survives your real life.
Why this matters more with AI
I’m building an AI coach into my business, and it can produce a program faster than I can. That makes the program worth less, and the follow-through worth more.
The coaching I want to sell is what happens between sessions: someone noticing the slip, asking what got in the way, and helping you plan for it next time.
Source: Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119.
