Drag queens, Alan Cumming’s queer festival, & AI coaches | Outlifting Lounge Ep. 2
Ep. 02

Drag queens, Alan Cumming’s queer festival, & AI coaches | Outlifting Lounge Ep. 2

Episode description

Welcome to Episode 2 of The Outlifting Lounge – the podcast where pride meets fitness and everything in between!

In this episode, we dive into:

🤖 The shocking rise of AI in fitness coaching – is it helping or harming? 💃 Life updates from Gran Canaria – volunteering, community, and drag culture at Terry’s Show Bar. 🏳️‍🌈 Alan Cumming’s exciting new LGBTQ festival in the Scottish Highlands - https://www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com/out-in-the-hills/

If you’re passionate about queer culture, fitness, and real talk, this episode is for you! 👉 Subscribe for weekly episodes on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Amazon Music. 👉 Follow us on Instagram: @outlift.ing 👉 Learn more: outlift.ing

Chapters: 00:00 - Intro & Episode 1 Feedback 02:08 - Our Week & Social Media Buzz 03:32 - Volunteering & Sexual Health in Gran Canaria 06:11 - Drag Culture & Terry’s Show Bar Stories 10:42 - Alan Cumming’s LGBTQ Festival Announcement 17:16 - Fitness Section: AI in Coaching Controversy 21:00 - Why Personal Coaching Matters 27:00 - Client Success Stories & Sustainable Fitness 29:57 - Free Coaching Call Offer 30:58 - Wrap-Up

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0:00

Hello and welcome to The Outlifting Lounge.

0:02

Thank you so much for subscribing.

0:03

And if you haven't done it yet, make sure you hit that subscribe button.

0:11

This is the podcast all about pride, fitness, and everything in between.

0:15

So welcome to episode two.

0:16

Wow.

0:17

Episode one.

0:18

I know absolutely blown away by all the feedback that we've

0:21

had and the positive comments.

0:23

People have been DMing us.

0:25

People have been dropping comments on reels and stuff

0:27

we've been posting on Instagram.

0:28

It's been brilliant.

0:29

It's been absolutely phenomenal.

0:32

I am bowled over by how many people have listened to the podcast, watched

0:36

the podcast on YouTube, watched snippets of the podcast on social media.

0:40

It has just been crazy.

0:42

I know.

0:42

Who would have thought that people would want to listen to us

0:44

droning on for 45 minutes.

0:46

Onwards and upwards onto episode two and beyond.

0:49

Absolutely.

0:50

Although I did get a bit of feedback from someone.

0:52

I'm going to take it as a compliment.

0:54

They said, we've got the perfect voices to fall asleep to.

0:56

I have been told that before. By me. Watch it!

1:04

So we used to teach Bodybalance, Les Mills Bodybalance, when we were in

1:08

Glasgow, for those who don't know what that is, it is a yoga fusion class.

1:14

It's like new yoga, a bit of Pilates and a bit of Tai Chi.

1:17

It's a phenomenal class.

1:18

Everything's choreographed to wonderful music by people who are

1:22

just brilliant at what they do in New Zealand.

1:24

They've been creating this class for decades.

1:26

And it is phenomenal.

1:27

I do miss teaching it.

1:28

Yeah.

1:29

At the end of that class, there is, you know, the relaxation track.

1:34

And I've been told by quite a few people before that I have put them to

1:38

sleep during that 10 minute track.

1:39

Yeah.

1:40

Same.

1:42

It's a special, special class.

1:43

We really miss teaching it.

1:44

Don't we?

1:45

We really miss it.

1:46

So maybe don't listen to this podcast while you're driving or

1:50

operating heavy machinery.

1:52

Yeah.

1:52

I joke, I joke.

1:53

Please listen to it.

1:54

Wherever.

1:54

Yeah.

1:54

Lots of people have actually told us that they've been listening to it in

1:57

the car when they're off to do whatever.

2:00

So looking forward to getting the feedback on episode two now as well.

2:03

So looking forward to keeping people company on their way to and from work

2:07

then with episode two.

2:08

Shall we kick off and talk a little bit about how our week has been?

2:12

Yes.

2:13

Well, my week has actually been taken up with replying to people on

2:18

social media, which I love because like I love talking to people and

2:21

finding out about them and their fitness journies

2:24

cause a lot of the time we end up talking about fitness, which is amazing.

2:27

Yeah.

2:27

The feedback that we've been getting has just been, I'm absolutely blown away by it.

2:31

It's been really nice connecting with people that already follow us,

2:35

connecting with new followers.

2:37

Um, yeah, that's pretty much been my week, that and the gym as always.

2:42

I've been doing a lot of the cutting and editing and things like that.

2:46

And putting the clips out on social media.

2:47

So I've been kept quite busy with that as well.

2:49

And obviously we've still got the business to run.

2:53

So for those who maybe didn't catch episode one, we run Outlifting,

2:57

which is a health, fitness, nutrition, business, online coaching

3:01

for gay, bi and trans guys.

3:03

So obviously this is a side project.

3:05

This is a, a pet project that we've launched in addition to that.

3:09

So a lot of work.

3:10

I think we've bitten off quite a lot. I was going to say

3:13

After we edited episode one, we did kind of look at each other.

3:18

and went, oh my God

3:18

have we bitten off more than we can chew?

3:21

But actually the process of doing the podcast and then watching the final

3:24

product after that is, it's been really, really good.

3:27

You know?

3:27

Yeah.

3:28

I've enjoyed it.

3:28

Glad we've done it.

3:29

I've enjoyed it and many more to come.

3:31

Yes.

3:32

Yeah.

3:32

So outside of that, I think I have managed to keep myself sane with

3:36

the volunteering work that I've been doing.

3:38

So every Friday I've been going out with Checkpoint Canarias, which is

3:43

the local sexual health organization here in Maspalomas in Gran Canaria.

3:49

The organization has set up a clinic where people can get free tests for

3:54

the majority of STIs, including HIV testing, totally for free, because

3:59

before the clinic was set up, it cost quite a lot of money, particularly

4:03

for tourists who are coming over and perhaps didn't have insurance. To go

4:07

and get tested was not easy and now it has become super easy.

4:10

So I go out around the bars in the Yumbo Center with some other volunteers

4:15

every Friday night and we collect money because that's how it keeps

4:19

running. We don't get any government funding.

4:21

Yeah.

4:21

So that's been a lot of fun.

4:23

And you love it, don't you?

4:24

Like you absolutely love it.

4:25

Like when you come back in and you tell me how the collections

4:29

went and people are so, so generous once they find out actually what it

4:33

is that you're collecting for, you know, it's amazing and that

4:36

new facility that they've got as well is just unbelievable.

4:40

It is phenomenal.

4:41

It's really good.

4:42

Before, the organization was renting out some space within

4:47

an existing clinic and it wasn't ideal.

4:49

They didn't have their own space, but now have this new clinic and they've

4:52

got a mobile clinic because there is an ambulance that can travel about.

4:55

Yeah.

4:56

Which means that at times like pride, the ambulance can be

5:00

stationed within the Yumbo Center, which is really busy and they

5:04

can do some ad hoc testing for people that are in there and it's great

5:10

because it stops the transmission of sexually transmitted infections

5:14

and it lets people know their status also.

5:17

So we've got to a position where around one in four of the tests

5:22

are coming back positive for STIs.

5:25

And I think that there's probably a number of factors for this.

5:28

Because people are on holiday

5:30

they're having some fun, but also I think with the advent of

5:34

PrEP, people are perhaps using fewer other preventative measures and it's

5:41

leading to increased spread of other STIs.

5:45

So yeah, it's a really vital service and I'm happy to play

5:48

my small part in doing that as well.

5:51

Yeah.

5:51

Yeah.

5:52

I love that you go out on a Friday and do that.

5:54

I know because you get the place to yourself so that you can watch

5:57

murder documentaries on Netflix.

6:01

Yeah, there is that, but you know, like when we first

6:04

moved over here, we did say that we wanted to integrate with the local

6:07

community and that's exactly what you're doing.

6:09

Doing that out on a Friday night.

6:11

You've made some friends from it as well, which is really, really nice.

6:14

And you're doing some good.

6:16

And it pushed me out of my comfort zone last Friday.

6:19

Yes.

6:19

Let's talk about that.

6:20

Oh my goodness.

6:21

So one of the bars that we go to to collect is a Spanish drag bar.

6:27

All of the songs that the drag queens perform are in Spanish.

6:30

Hang on, hang on.

6:31

It's not just a Spanish drag bar.

6:33

It is like an institution in the Yumbo and it's probably your favorite bar.

6:36

In the Yumbo. It is my favorite drag bar in the Yumbo.

6:39

I love it.

6:40

It's called Terry's Show Bar.

6:42

Terry's Show.

6:43

Terry's Show.

6:44

I love Terry's Show.

6:46

I don't know why I love it so much.

6:47

I just, I'm obsessed with it.

6:49

Do you know what I think it is?

6:50

It's kind of like, you know, like the stand in Glasgow.

6:53

It's such an intimate venue.

6:56

Like if you are sitting in the front row of the stand, you're

6:58

practically on the stage and it's kind of like that in Terry's as well.

7:01

It's a small wee locale.

7:03

It's nothing fancy.

7:06

Let's say, you know, it's, and it's just so intimate and you can look right

7:12

into the drag queens eyes and it looks like they're absolutely singing to you.

7:15

You might not have a clue what they're singing to you, but you know,

7:18

you feel like you're involved in the show.

7:19

It is very good.

7:20

And the drag queens that perform there are super high energy.

7:22

Yeah.

7:23

They've got such a following because they're so good at what they do.

7:25

They're so dedicated.

7:27

We have been into the Yumbo in the off season on nights when it's

7:30

maybe a bit cold on a week night and there's maybe only two or three people in the bar.

7:35

Well, let's talk about that in April, where it was absolutely pishing down.

7:40

There was water coming in and they had to move tables out of the way

7:42

because the roof was leaking.

7:44

It was you, me, Jaime and probably like two other people at the bar,

7:48

but they still gave it absolutely 100%.

7:52

Yeah.

7:53

So we, I think we made as much noise that night for them as a regular crowd

7:57

because we felt we had to overcompensate and give a lot of praise.

8:00

Also obviously there's Miss Claudia who is amazing and she is the makeup artist

8:05

for Supremme De Luxe who we were talking about last week.

8:08

Yes.

8:09

So she is basically, anybody who watches Drag Race U.S.

8:12

will know Raven who does RuPaul's makeup.

8:17

So Miss Claudia is the Raven of Spain.

8:20

Basically, she goes and does the makeup for Supremme De Luxe,

8:25

the host of Drag Race España.

8:27

And then on Sunday I was like, Oh my God, look at her makeup.

8:30

It was absolutely amazing.

8:31

And we always both go, I wonder who does that?

8:34

She's very, she is very talented.

8:36

Miss Claudia, her makeup skills are unreal.

8:40

She goes around.

8:41

I've noticed that she is going to be in Sitges soon doing like a makeup

8:44

masterclass.

8:45

So she just constantly travels around and does these master classes

8:51

because she's so good at what she does.

8:52

And she's doing the pre-pride party here for the parade on the Saturday,

8:56

which we're going to try and go to.

8:57

Yes.

8:58

Can't wait.

8:58

That's in the Hotel Ritual.

9:00

Yes.

9:01

We have gone off on a tangent here.

9:02

The reason that we were talking about Terry's was because we go collecting

9:06

there, all of the other bars that we go to are English speaking, but

9:09

that's the Spanish speaking bar.

9:11

And the volunteers that are out on a given Friday night don't speak

9:15

Spanish, then we can't go to that bar because we need to go and make an

9:20

announcement on the microphone before we collect.

9:23

So I have been learning the announcement for weeks and weeks and

9:26

weeks because I want, I love going to that bar and I don't want to miss

9:30

out just based on the fact that there's perhaps nobody that can speak Spanish.

9:36

So I've learned it.

9:37

And then last Friday I got up on stage and made the announcement in Spanish.

9:42

So I'm very proud of myself.

9:43

I got through it, got a round of applause and we got quite a generous

9:47

donation afterwards.

9:48

So a pat on the back for me.

9:49

I know.

9:50

Well done.

9:50

I'm proud of you as well.

9:51

Thank you.

9:52

I thought you were just about to burst into it there, because

9:54

you've been practicing it.

9:55

Hola a todos y gracias por... no.

9:58

It's nerve-wrecking enough standing in front of people to make an announcement like that

10:03

nevermind doing it in a language that isn't your native language.

10:05

So yeah, well done.

10:07

I'm proud of you as well.

10:08

Yeah.

10:08

I think learning a language is about pushing yourself out of your

10:11

comfort zone and I feel like that's what I've done.

10:13

So did it help that there were hot Spanish boys in the bar as well

10:16

and you wanted to show off?

10:17

Always.

10:18

Fair enough.

10:19

Yeah.

10:20

So here's hoping that there's nobody else to make the

10:23

announcement on many more Fridays.

10:25

Yes.

10:26

Although I don't think you would want to do it on pride Friday,

10:29

because it's going to be absolutely rammed and we are going to the

10:32

Tropicana Beach party as well, so you will have a few wee drinks in you.

10:35

A couple of sherrys.

10:36

A couple of sherrys.

10:37

Shall we crack on with the next segment?

10:39

Go for it.

10:42

So did you see

10:45

the big news from Alan Cumming this week?

10:47

Eh, our pal Alan Cumming.

10:50

He's not our pal.

10:52

We met him once.

10:53

We met him once and I've spoken to him on Instagram a few times.

10:55

He's officially a pal.

10:56

Okay.

10:57

So we met Alan Cumming on the way to Pitlochry one Christmas.

11:01

He was in a little vegan cafe with his husband and we were

11:05

sitting at the next table and, you tell the rest. And I was like,

11:10

oh look, there's Alan Cumming.

11:11

And then we strategically met him because I was like, I said to you,

11:19

you're going to pay the bill and I'll walk past the table because

11:22

we had the dogs with us.

11:23

I was like, I'll walk past the table with the dogs and they love dogs.

11:26

And it worked, we got to speak to him.

11:28

And he's actually a lovely, lovely, totally down to earth guy.

11:32

So this is not a flex or a brag or anything, but I have met quite a lot

11:36

of celebrities and politicians and things due to the nature of my previous work.

11:42

In my past life, I've met quite a few and Alan Cumming by far is the most

11:48

down to earth nicest celebrity that I've ever met.

11:51

Yeah.

11:52

He is just such a good guy.

11:54

He genuinely takes an interest when he's chatting with you.

11:58

He has never forgotten his roots.

12:01

He's never forgotten where he came from.

12:03

Yeah.

12:03

Great guy.

12:04

Yeah.

12:04

We were actually, so it was Christmas and we were on our way to the

12:06

Saorsa, so Derec and I are plant-based if anybody

12:09

doesn't know that, and Alan Cumming is plant-based slash vegan as well.

12:15

And we were telling them that we were going there cause there's a totally

12:17

vegan hotel and he was like, oh, I definitely need to go,

12:19

it sounds amazing.

12:20

And we were bragging to the owners once we got to the hotel where we're

12:24

like, oh, we just met Alan Cumming and he said he's going to come.

12:27

And she's like, oh my God, if he comes, that'd be amazing.

12:29

And then we ended up going for our anniversary, I think like later on in

12:34

that year, I think it was this year, well going

12:37

into the next year.

12:38

So then that next year we went for our anniversary and the night before we

12:44

went, Alan Cumming, our pal, messaged me on Instagram to say, oh, you'll

12:49

never guess where I am.

12:50

I was like, no way we're actually going to be there tomorrow.

12:52

But he was leaving the day that we were arriving.

12:55

So we missed him.

12:56

And then when we got to the hotel, the owner who we're kind of

12:59

friendly with was like, you've never guessed who was here.

13:02

We're like, yeah, we know he messaged us, our pal Alan Cumming.

13:06

She's like, Oh my God.

13:08

So that was pretty cool.

13:09

Yeah.

13:09

He's such a lovely guy.

13:11

And as if we didn't love him enough already, Alan is launching a festival

13:16

in Pitlochry, right in the Highlands of Scotland, and it's called Out

13:21

in the Hills. It's on from the 16th to the 18th of January, 2026.

13:27

And it is just going to be a fabulous festival of LGBTQ culture.

13:34

And there's some big names at it as well.

13:35

Yeah, it sounds amazing.

13:36

I'm raging that we're not actually going to be there

13:38

because it sounds brilliant.

13:40

And if anybody knows Pitlochry or doesn't know Pitlochry, it's

13:43

just this really small, picturesque little village in the middle of

13:48

the Perthshire Hills.

13:49

It's beautiful.

13:50

Oh, it's amazing.

13:51

And a lot of, a lot of really nice walks as well, like there's

13:55

that beautiful waterfall, nice places.

13:58

You can go out walking with the dogs and things like that.

14:00

It's a brilliant place.

14:01

It is gorgeous.

14:02

Alan's from Perthshire originally, so he does a lot of work in Pitlochry,

14:06

doesn't he?

14:07

Which you're going to go on and talk about?

14:09

Yeah.

14:09

So I think Alan has been the creative director of the local

14:14

theatre in Pitlochry for a while now.

14:16

He has decided that January is quite a quiet month anyway, and he's

14:21

going to bring a little bit of fabulousness and light and sparkle

14:25

to Pitlochry in January with this festival.

14:28

So he has got, Graham Norton's going to be there.

14:32

He's got Ian McKellen, who's going to be there.

14:35

Amazing.

14:36

And I think numerous other people as well in conversation events.

14:41

Our pal, Zander Murray.

14:42

Zander, yeah, Zander apparently is going to be there as well.

14:45

So for those who don't know, Zander is a footballer who came out of

14:50

the closet and has just shown immense bravery and leadership in that as well.

14:57

He's been a really good role model for young gay guys.

14:59

You know, we should actually, next time Zander's here, get him as a guest on the podcast.

15:04

Zander, get your holiday booked.

15:06

Come on over.

15:07

We'll get him tagged in this.

15:08

Yeah, yeah.

15:09

The last time I saw you on social media, you were looking a wee bit

15:12

peely wally, pal, and for those who don't understand Scottish

15:18

vernacular, that means a bit pale, very white, you need some sun.

15:22

Come over and get a tan and sit on our couch and be

15:25

part of our podcast for the day.

15:27

So as well as the in conversation events, there's going to be a queer

15:30

ceilidh, there's going to be standup comedy, and there's going to be DJ sets as well.

15:34

I am actually genuinely raging that we can't go.

15:37

I know.

15:38

How about you stay here and look after Haggis and I'll go?

15:41

Cause two of our pals are going to be there.

15:42

Our pal, Alan Cumming and our pal, Zander Murray.

15:47

How about I go, you stay here.

15:51

Cause you're looking a bit peely wally as well.

15:53

Wow.

15:54

You could stay here and top up your tan.

15:55

Trust me.

15:56

I am going to be out there every day on the lead up to Winter Pride next week.

16:00

Careful.

16:01

You're going to end up looking like Tan Mom.

16:04

I don't want that.

16:05

I could be somewhere in between.

16:07

I just saw a Golden Girls book there.

16:09

I was like, I'm going to be golden.

16:10

There we go.

16:11

That's the colour

16:11

I'm going to be. Bronzed and golden and beautiful.

16:16

You'll be the only person in Pitlochry

16:17

in January who's bronzed and beautiful and golden.

16:20

Maybe, maybe.

16:21

So yeah.

16:22

So I think it's really amazing that Alan's doing this. In his own words,

16:26

he said that queer people have always punched above their weight.

16:29

And it's so true at a time when queer people are being

16:34

oppressed when we're under fire.

16:37

This is positivity to the max.

16:40

This is showing the very best side of queer culture.

16:43

And it's bringing the local people from Pitlochry into the

16:46

theatre to experience that as well.

16:47

Yeah, I love it.

16:48

You know, like last week we spoke about Manchester Pride and obviously

16:52

that was quite a sad story, you know, and this is like super, super positive.

16:56

So it's nice that we're talking about something positive this week.

16:59

So yeah.

16:59

Good luck to Alan and everybody else with the launch of Out in the Hills.

17:04

That is, again, that's the 16th to the 18th of January, 2026 in

17:08

Pitlochry and we'll stick a link in the podcast description in

17:12

case anybody wants to find out more.

17:13

Yes.

17:16

We have reached the fitness section of the podcast and I think Alan,

17:20

you had found something on Reddit that you felt was interesting and

17:23

you wanted to read out.

17:24

Interesting is an interesting word for it.

17:26

Yes.

17:27

My blood's boiling about it a little bit to be honest, but

17:30

unfortunately it's the world that we live in just now.

17:33

So this is from r/beginnerfitness.

17:36

My fitness coach is using ChatGPT responses.

17:40

What would you do?

17:42

I know.

17:43

I know.

17:44

What?

17:44

I know.

17:46

So here we go.

17:47

I can already feel my blood pressure increasing.

17:50

I have an online fitness slash health coach who I check

17:53

in with every two weeks.

17:55

Red flag there straight away.

17:57

For a while now I've felt like her responses have been very

17:59

generic and vague and full of over the top emojis.

18:04

I started to wonder if she was using AI.

18:07

After my check in last week, her response started with the classic,

18:10

Absolutely here's a friendly and uplifting response you can send to her.

18:14

Classic AI.

18:16

And I recognized it from ChatGPT.

18:20

Clearly she'd forgotten to remove it when she copied and pasted it to me.

18:24

She deleted it soon after.

18:26

What should I do?

18:28

Has this become the norm in the fitness coaching world now?

18:32

Absolutely not.

18:33

I feel annoyed by these lazy responses, especially when I'm being

18:36

vulnerable and my check in responses and opening up about my difficulties

18:40

and challenges. Absolutely!

18:43

I know I can cancel my membership with her and get better service elsewhere,

18:47

but I do really like having the accountability of a coach and knowing I

18:50

have the deadline of bi-weekly check ins.

18:53

I pay around $200 a month for her coaching.

18:56

So there's also the financial aspect in that I feel I'm throwing money

19:00

away just to get robotic responses. For sure!

19:04

Curious to hear other people's responses and how I should handle

19:08

potentially canceling her services.

19:11

So lots of responses came through from different people. Hopefully

19:15

telling her to ditch that coach.

19:18

Get rid.

19:19

Rightly so.

19:20

They're just as flabbergasted as I am and as clearly you are.

19:27

Dump her.

19:28

Dump her.

19:30

The person that posted the original Reddit has then come back to say,

19:33

Thanks for everyone's responses.

19:35

You all helped convince me to cancel and I'll start searching

19:37

for a new coach this week.

19:39

Yes.

19:40

Just emailed her to let her know my intention to cancel and also

19:44

told her that her services have felt too generic, impersonal, and don't

19:47

match the price she is charging.

19:49

Absolutely.

19:50

I don't know why I always feel so guilty about canceling memberships,

19:53

LOL, but I also feel relieved that I finally said something and can

19:59

stop feeling that I'm getting scammed each week.

20:04

What the hell?

20:06

So first off, bi-weekly check ins.

20:10

Yep.

20:11

That's not good enough.

20:12

No.

20:13

So this is not going to be an advertisement for our services,

20:16

but just as a comparison, we do weekly check ins.

20:20

Our check ins are not based on forms because that is so impersonal.

20:25

For an online coach or trainer to only stay in contact by asking

20:31

their client to fill in a form every week and then they send a

20:34

response, that blows my mind that level of poor service is being supplied.

20:41

All of our check ins every week with our clients are video chats.

20:45

Yep.

20:46

So that we see them face to face.

20:48

We get to see really what's going on with them.

20:50

We get to ask them questions and it's only if there's certain

20:55

circumstances like holidays or whatever, or if somebody has to be in work

21:00

and they can't make their video chat that we would ask them to

21:03

fill in a form and it's very rare.

21:06

That's wild that that is their standard operating procedure.

21:10

Absolutely crazy.

21:11

Like I cannot believe that.

21:13

And like the reason, like when we, when I have a chat with potential new

21:17

clients, I say we have a 15 minute check in with you every Monday, because

21:21

only there on that check in, I can see actually how you are, what's

21:26

happening in your life, how your weekend went, what's coming up

21:28

with your week ahead, that's the only way I can get a real feel for it.

21:31

You could fill in a form and say everything's great, but actually it's

21:34

not and when you're having a face to face check in with somebody, you

21:37

can tell if someone isn't doing well, you know, being online coaches, we

21:43

really do believe in that personal service, it's personal training.

21:46

So you still get that personal service and that's how we deliver that

21:49

through our check-ins every Monday.

21:51

Yeah.

21:52

And I think that this coach that's being spoken about in the thread

21:56

gives other online coaches a bad name by association.

22:01

That is an incredibly lazy coach who's just phoning it in.

22:05

And I actually take personal offense because the service that we offer is

22:11

so much more personalized, so much better than that, and we're not the

22:16

only ones, there are other online coaches out there doing amazing things.

22:20

And I know that online coaching isn't for everybody.

22:23

Some people do need in-person, that's what works best for them.

22:27

But for other people, online coaching is a really good solution.

22:32

It fits well in their life and they get better results.

22:36

And it just, it's crazy that somebody like this can give such

22:43

poor service and get away with it.

22:46

I'm actually raging.

22:47

So let's talk about the AI element of this.

22:50

So first off, what I will say is people think that ChatGPT is intelligent.

22:57

ChatGPT and other large language models are essentially a really

23:02

advanced form of auto-completion.

23:05

So they will, they've got a bank of data, the end of training data,

23:09

and they go into that, but these systems can hallucinate really

23:14

badly and give false information.

23:17

It tends to be overly biased as well.

23:20

You know, it tends to give overly positive responses and you know,

23:25

that person might not need that in that moment.

23:28

Like I've had check-ins before where we don't even talk about fitness

23:32

because somebody just needs to vent about their partner or their work or

23:36

whatever it is that might be bothering them and then at the end of the

23:38

check-in they're like, Oh my God, I feel so much better after that.

23:40

Thank you.

23:41

And then through the week, through the chat function on the app that we

23:44

use, I'll chat to them then about the fitness stuff, you know, it's

23:47

about dealing with that person that's in front of you in that moment.

23:51

Absolutely, absolutely.

23:54

And AI cannot do that.

23:57

It really cannot do that.

23:59

It's wild that people are using AI at production scale for things like

24:03

this that are meant to be a personal service.

24:06

Quite a lot of people out there are worried about AI coming to take their

24:10

jobs in this big AI revolution.

24:12

Yeah.

24:13

But where we stand at the minute is that AI is showing who the lazy

24:20

people are because it's obvious who is using AI to do their work for them.

24:26

And it is not a good place to be.

24:29

There are certain uses for AI.

24:31

Absolutely.

24:33

I'll use it for certain things, where it can take a document and it can

24:40

summarize it, things like that.

24:41

There are really, really good uses for AI at the minute, but to be so

24:45

lazy that you're using it to generate feedback for your clients when that is

24:52

essentially your job, the main part of your job is to monitor how they're

24:57

doing, to keep them accountable, to hold them accountable, to give them

25:01

feedback, to guide them in the right direction and to coach them to be

25:05

kind to themselves as well and to call them out when they need to be

25:09

called out because we all need that sometimes.

25:12

And that's what this person said on here as well.

25:14

They really like that accountability part of the coaching that they were

25:18

receiving, but is there actually any accountability there?

25:22

All they're doing is copying and pasting from ChatGPT.

25:25

Yeah, they liked the accountability from the check-ins, but actually

25:28

they weren't getting the full check-in.

25:30

This coach was so lazy that she didn't even think to edit

25:34

the thing that she copied.

25:35

She literally copied, pasted, hit send.

25:38

I mean, it's so bad.

25:41

It's so bad.

25:42

It's so bad.

25:43

And like you said earlier on, it tars us all with the same brush.

25:46

It's just infuriating.

25:48

It really boils my blood.

25:50

We have put so much hard work into our business since we launched in January.

25:55

We've set out with a vision for ensuring that the personal touch is

25:59

still there because we coach guys from all over the world and we

26:04

maintain as personal a touch as we can.

26:06

We've got our own app.

26:08

We've got our own backend website that they can log into.

26:11

It's got recipes and it's got digital downloads, things like that.

26:14

Can I just say, not just recipes, but over 250 recipes.

26:18

And we're adding more every week.

26:20

But yeah, so we have put a lot of toil into the business and we do on

26:25

a constant basis because we love doing what we do, we're very

26:29

passionate about what we do and we are passionate about delivering a

26:33

really good service for people.

26:36

And yeah, it really annoys me when you hear about other people

26:40

doing supposedly the same thing in the same industry and we're miles apart.

26:45

But I suppose it's good in one sense because we know what we're

26:49

doing is good and we stand head and shoulders above people like that.

26:52

So exactly.

26:53

I think our results speak for themselves.

26:54

And you know, last week we spoke about Fraser.

26:57

This week I want to give a shout out to Aaron because he has

27:00

been absolutely smashing it as well.

27:03

He is doing home workouts.

27:05

He's not even in the gym and he's on a weight loss journey at the

27:09

minute and every week his weight has gone down consistently.

27:12

And it's amazing because he recognizes that it's the long game

27:16

that he's playing at the minute.

27:17

And every time he comes on his check in on a Monday, he's so happy

27:20

because he's like, I've lost another pound, I've lost another pound.

27:23

I'm like, amazing.

27:24

That's what we want.

27:25

Sustainable weight loss and he's not having to sacrifice anything.

27:30

And he'll say it himself.

27:31

He was not one for working out and it's actually part of his life now.

27:35

He absolutely loves it.

27:37

And it's part of his daily routine.

27:39

And he was ill a couple of weeks ago and he couldn't work out

27:42

for a couple of days and he said he missed working out and he never

27:45

thought he would ever, ever say that.

27:47

So he's had a massive, massive change to his life.

27:51

And that's it.

27:51

That is it in a nutshell.

27:53

Coaching people is not and should never be a tick box exercise.

27:57

It's about giving them the skill set that they need to make

28:01

sustainable, long lasting changes to their lives.

28:06

And it's brilliant because we see Aaron is one example, but we've

28:09

seen it time and time again, where people completely change who they

28:13

are and become almost unrecognisable.

28:16

This is going to sound really weird, but see when somebody leaves our

28:19

services, I'm actually quite happy about it because it means they've

28:23

got to a point where they've taken all the education that we've given

28:26

them, they've taken all the knowledge and they feel confident

28:29

enough to then go and do it on their own.

28:31

And I think that's just amazing.

28:33

Yeah.

28:34

It's like when parents send their kids out into the real world.

28:36

And yeah, there is a real sense of pride about that because we continue

28:41

to see how they get on after they leave, some people end up coming back

28:45

because they maybe need a bit of extra accountability. Or their goals have

28:49

changed maybe, so they need help with that.

28:50

Yeah.

28:51

Yeah.

28:51

But when people kind of leave the service because they feel like they've

28:55

achieved what they want to achieve and they can go about it by

28:58

themselves, that's a phenomenal feeling because we have that, that

29:01

is the marker for us having done our job really well.

29:04

Absolutely.

29:05

Yeah.

29:05

That's good.

29:06

So enough of us patting ourselves on the back.

29:11

If you're not going to blow your own horn, who is?

29:13

Not right now.

29:15

This is a PG podcast, Alan.

29:18

Don't be doing things like that.

29:19

I did actually mean to say to toot your own horn, but clearly my mind's elsewhere.

29:23

Yeah.

29:23

We are on quite a lot of platforms, but we're not on

29:26

the one that starts with only.

29:29

So don't go there.

29:30

We're like only tans.

29:31

Only tans.

29:32

Yes.

29:36

Yes.

29:39

We've tooted our own horns enough.

29:42

If people are interested in a quality online coaching service, specifically

29:47

for gay, bi and trans guys, we can definitely recommend our own.

29:51

We do not generate responses from ChatGPT.

29:54

We do not.

29:54

Like other coaches clearly do.

29:57

We give a personal service and we love what we do.

29:59

So if you ever want to get in touch, I think the best way is through DM

30:05

on our Instagram page. That's @outlift.ing

30:10

Gotta pay those bills.

30:12

Or they can visit our website as well, which is just outlift.ing

30:17

Yes.

30:18

They can find out more about us.

30:19

You can even book in for a free call with us, a free video call where we

30:24

can discuss our service, see if it's the right fit for you and if you're

30:29

the right fit for our service as well.

30:31

And it's no obligation.

30:32

It's totally free.

30:34

I really love those calls because I get to find out about people and their

30:37

lives.

30:38

It's a really casual call about where they've been, where they are,

30:42

what the goals are and how we can potentially help them get there.

30:45

Yeah.

30:46

It's good chatting with people because you really see that

30:49

desire to change their lives.

30:50

Yeah.

30:51

It's lovely.

30:52

So yeah, I think we have shamelessly plugged our business enough there.

30:57

Okay.

30:57

Let's wrap it up.

30:58

That is episode two in the bag.

31:00

Yes.

31:01

Can't believe it.

31:02

That's a big moment.

31:02

Can't wait until we're saying episode 22, but it's, yeah.

31:07

It's been good.

31:08

This has been a good episode.

31:09

And just as last week, we appreciate feedback, comments, suggestions,

31:14

anything they want, people can get in contact, as we say, through Instagram.

31:18

And yeah, we'd really love to hear back from people.

31:21

Yeah.

31:21

Give us some ideas on the content that you guys want to see as well.

31:25

Absolutely.

31:26

New episodes of The Outlifting Lounge are available every Sunday.

31:30

You can help us out and stay with the conversation by subscribing on

31:34

YouTube, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music.

31:40

But for now, over and Outlifting.