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I ran my first marathon when I was 13 and later worked as a personal trainer to help pay my way through life as a college student in New York City. I’ve spent enough time exercising — and telling other people how to exercise — to recognize the difference between a thoughtfully designed workout and a random collection of moves.That’s why Ray caught me off guard. It's an AI personal training app that not only coaches with audio but watches your form as you do the exercises.I’ve been using the AI personal trainer for the past month, and it is one of the few fitness apps I’ve tried that genuinely feels like actual human coaching. Ray plans my workouts, talks me through each exercise, counts my reps and adjusts the session when I’m tired, sore or short on time.It's AI, so it isn’t perfect. Some of its advice starts to sound repetitive after a while, and no app can completely recreate the judgment or personal connection of a great human trainer. But the actual workouts are legitimate. More importantly, Ray responds to what is happening in my life instead of expecting me to follow the same rigid program every week.
(Image credit: Future)Ray offers four different voices. I chose one called Bold, which sounds confident without becoming overly aggressive or slipping into the motivational clichés common in fitness apps.The voice is very realistic; I actually prefer it to ChatGPT Voice or Gemini Live. It tells me what exercise is next, counts my reps, manages rest periods and keeps the workout moving without requiring me to pick up my phone between sets.That hands-free experience makes a bigger difference than I was expecting. With many workout apps, I spend half the session pausing a video, checking the next exercise or manually entering what I completed. Ray removes much of that friction. I can concentrate on my form and the weight in my hands rather than navigating an app.Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.It even works while I listen to music or a podcast. Ray lowers the other audio when it needs to give me an instruction, then lets me return to what I was listening to.The workouts work for me
