Walking into a gym for the first time comes with a list of questions — Which machine should I use? How much weight should I lift? How many reps should I do? And am I even doing this right?
Boise State’s newest strength equipment aims to answer those questions before students have to.
Campus Recreation invested approximately $160,000 into 12 EGYM strength machines that use individual measurements, strength testing and fitness goals to personalize workouts. Boise State is one of 10 universities utilizing the equipment and participating in EGYM’s REV10 initiative.
“Our goal here is to remove barriers and to make the gym accessible to both a person who’s never lifted before and those who are more advanced,” Director of Campus Recreation Katie Burns told The Arbiter during an EGYM demonstration. “It allows anyone to be able to walk up to these machines and figure out how to lift weights efficiently.”
The Rec Center now has an additional five upper-body machines, five lower-body machines and two core machines. EGYM also launched a fitness app giving students access to personalized features after completing an onboarding process, though an account is not required to use the machines.
The onboarding process takes approximately five to 15 minutes, according to Burns. Users enter information about their fitness experience and goals before completing measurements and tests that evaluate areas including strength and flexibility.
From there, EGYM builds a profile around the user. Once someone logs into a machine, the equipment can adjust its positioning based on the person’s measurements, recommend resistance and guide the user through repetitions and range of motion.
Strength tests help establish how much resistance a user should start with. EGYM then stores those results and can adjust future workouts as the user progresses. EGYM’s Genius AI technology can also use fitness goals, experience and available workout time to determine exercises, sets and repetitions.
The system extends beyond completing repetitions — users can earn points, reach different statuses and compete on leaderboards that periodically reset. Workouts completed outside the EGYM machines can also contribute to a user’s profile through the app.
Jared Cox, Campus Recreation’s associate director of programs and communication, said the technology attracted the department partly because it could serve students who already exercise regularly while lowering the learning curve for others.
“But truly, I think it goes back to the ability of it breaking down barriers for people who are new and not sure how to get started,” Cox said.
At the same time, the equipment does not remove every responsibility from the person exercising.
Zac Cintron, Campus Recreation’s fitness coordinator, said EGYM can serve as a learning tool by guiding beginners through proper form, resistance, rest periods and set and repetition structures. Those features can help students build enough knowledge and confidence to eventually navigate other parts of a gym.
Cintron also said EGYM still lacks the human element of personal training. The technology cannot observe someone exercising in real time, recognize when adjustments are needed, ask follow up questions or apply professional judgement to an individual’s situation.
“There is a level of collaboration and discourse that doesn’t exist when consulting technology,” Cintron said. “So, in my professional opinion, EGYM provides an excellent autonomous starting point to make strength training more approachable, but I don’t see it replacing the relationship between client and coach that personal training provides.”
Cintron also cautioned students against allowing fitness technology to dictate their relationship with exercise. Wearables and fitness equipment can produce large amounts of performance data, but he said users can become too focused on optimizing individual scores or workouts instead of recognizing normal fluctuations in performance.
“Technology should be a tool that supports someone’s fitness journey, not something that makes them feel incapable of exercising without it,” Cintron said.
The machines can still teach some fundamentals. EGYM uses guided visualization called “The Curve” to show users how to move through an exercise. Cintron said it can improve movement awareness and consistency, but students still need to pay attention to technique and how their bodies feel.
He also emphasized that progress does not always mean adding weight. Beginners can improve through increased comfort, movement efficiency and consistency before numerical strength gains appear.
For Burns, guidance remains one of EGYM’s biggest benefits. Staff plan to remain near the machines during the beginning of the school year to help students get started.
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The idea of using AI to make strength training more approachable is really interesting. I liked that the article doesn’t present the technology as a complete replacement for personal trainers, but instead as a tool that can help beginners understand resistance, form, repetitions, and workout structure. The point about not becoming overly dependent on fitness data is also important. Technology can make exercise more accessible, but people still need to listen to their bodies and develop their own understanding of fitness.