Gen Z in India is rapidly adopting AI-powered fitness tools, using smartwatches to track daily activity
Users aged 18–29 make up 75% of AI fitness subscriptions, showing shift to tech-led wellness
In 2025, boAt Crest users walked over one trillion steps, covering vast global and lunar distances
Young Indians are quickly adopting AI-powered fitness tools, the boAt Crest Data Trend 2025 report released on January 7 shows. It stated that Gen Z users account for 75% of all AI-powered fitness plan and coach subscriptions on boAt's smartwatch platform.
This points to a clear behavioural shift, with younger users increasingly opting for personalised, technology-led wellness guidance over manual tracking.
In 2025, boAt Crest users collectively clocked over one trillion steps. That distance is equivalent to walking nearly 750 million kilometres, travelling to the Moon and back close to 1,000 times, circling the Earth around 19,000 times, or crossing India from Kashmir to Kanyakumari more than two lakh times.
1 January 2026
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How Gen Z Exercise?
Activity data from the platform highlights Gen Z’s physical intensity. Users with an age of 18–29 contributed 48.3% of all calories burned nationwide, making them the most active cohort. In total, users logged more than 6.5 million activity sessions during the year, reflecting strong engagement across age groups.
Younger users were more active and pushed themselves harder, while older users stayed consistent with their daily steps. Kids and teens (0–17) averaged 4,438 steps a day, young adults (18–29) took about 5,794 steps daily, and seniors aged 60–69 walked around 5,524 steps. This shows that people of all ages are keeping active.
Meanwhile, walking remained the most popular exercise among users on the platform, making up 55% of all activities. Running came next with a 15% share, while treadmill workouts made up just 7% of overall activity.
Yoga and indoor cycling each made up 4%, and the remaining 15% included strength training, sports like cricket and badminton and other lifestyle-focused fitness.
The report also found that users were most active in the middle of the week. Wednesdays saw the highest number of steps and sleep sessions, rather than weekends. This “mid-week warrior” pattern shows that many are including workouts in their regular weekly routine instead of saving them for weekends.
Community step challenges were popular among users. The boAt Crest app offered goals of 20,000, 60,000, 100,000, and 150,000 steps. The 20,000-step challenge attracted the most participants, making up half of all entries. This shows that users prefer achievable targets over very high step goals.
AI Powered Wellness
Despite worries about a slowdown in India’s wearables market, the report shows that demand for AI-powered fitness tools remains strong. More than 75% of users engaging with these features were aged 18–29, highlighting Gen Z’s continued interest in personalised, tech-driven wellness.
Commenting on the report, Shyam Vedantam, Chief Product Officer at boAt, said AI is helping wearables do more than just track data. “The focus is on helping users build consistent habits instead of chasing extreme goals,” he said.
Vedantam added that boAt’s upcoming products will focus on adaptive fitness plans, smarter recovery tips, and context-based reminders. The aim, he said, is to make wellness easier to follow and keep long-term habits on track.
