How many of us have felt extra motivated after binge eating 6 cup cakes in one go and hence installed some best fitness apps, only to never once use it again. Am I the only one who is raising her hand? These apps do send notifications daily but the only workout those reminders make me do is to use my finger to swipe right, to remove the notification.

Well google is trying to change that. Definitely not with another app, as there is already a google fitness app with not so great reviews, but with a smartwatch this time which will use google’s wear OS.

Android watches have been around since 2014 from the makers like LG etc but none of them have been able to complete with apple watch. Now google is dipping its toes in this new venture. Google is trying to maintain it’s position as the mega tech company by introducing new things into the tech market. 

The feature that I think is most interesting from the leaked information is AI fitness coach that will try and help you live a healthy life, so you won’t get heart attack and die soon.

How it will work.

The basic idea of the fitness coach is that it will use the health and fitness data already provided by us to google account and it will suggest work out plans and exercises accordingly, instead of just monitoring vital stats like most smart watches. These suggestions are supposed to help in daily workouts and suggest alternatives if workout session is missed. All the daily activities will be tracked and the suggestions will be based on these records.

I know it’s easy to forget yourself among hectic routine that’s the reason google has designed for you to be notified. Fitness coach will send you notifications about your water intake, daily step count, exercise routine etc. And to avoid a huge traffic of notifications, few notifications will be sent together as one. For example instead of sending separate reminders about drinking water, taking steps, taking medicines etc it will bundle up these reminders and send as one.

What to expect.

Google coach will use the data to give helpful suggestions like walking to your favorite restaurant instead of taking cab, providing nutritional information about the food joint you are standing in. So that you can enjoy your normal life with a little bit of healthy in it. It is easy to get demotivated while using apps and the main idea of fitness coach is to prevent you from giving up. 

Code named as Project Wooden, will also keep nutritional records and suggest meals. If you cook at home it would suggest recipes and provide you shopping list. It may also use information from calendar and suggests how many meals need to be prepared according to your schedule. It may even make recommendations for healthy meals according to user’s eating habits.

My take on this.

I think it’s a good initiative seeing that it will be kind of like all in one. Just one watch will try its hardest to keep you healthy. It will be keeping track of your meals, exercise, steps, water intake, medicines, in short everything health related. Otherwise there are individual apps in the app store to track exercise, calorie count, step count etc that can be a hassle.

The thing I find most useful is that google coach will be sending notifications according to one’s routine. I’ve downloaded lots of best workout apps, but they notify you once. If you are busy or tired you can just ignore the reminder and carry on with your day. Slowly you lose all motivation.

Google coach will cater its users according to their needs. Even if you were busy or tired it will record you data and will suggest alternatives. Means one way or another you will end up squeezing some kind of workout in your busy schedule.

The main thing is you will have to make efforts on your part too. Obviously google can’t be expected to exercise for you.  It will be a little difficult in the beginning but later you will get used to of it.

The AI fitness coach will be first released on wear OS for tracking and suggestions. It may later be launched on the mobile phones but with some limitations. Google may even bring it to the Android TV, Google home and other such devices.

The release date and features are not yet confirmed. There might be changes in name, features and other specifications. However it can be concluded that google is serious when it comes to health issues. In future these type of technologies may even force us to maintain a healthy life style.