Can mobile virtual fitness apps replace human fitness trainer?

The increased need in promoting fitness activity and rapid growth of smart-phones has urged the development of mobile virtual fitness apps (MVFA). Yet, evaluation on these MVFA has been limited and, therefore, this study attempts to conduct preliminary evaluation on randomly sampled MVFA based on our proposed system workflow using theories of social support and persuasive technology, and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) guidelines for exercise professionals. Results indicated the sampled MVFA mainly covered the stages 2 and 3 of our proposed ACSM-based training workflow. In terms of social support and persuasiveness of MVFA, the average scores of these two aspects were relatively low, thus resulting in a generally low average quality of coverage scores. Therefore, MVFA cannot replace human fitness trainers, but serve as assistant to trainers and trainees. Explanations and implications to trainers, trainees and MVFA developers are presented.