British Gas SwimFit is great motivational tool for people who are looking to improve their swimming, no matter what level they are at. There are programmes that are tailored to suit people of all ages and abilities with a variety of swimming goals.
We signed up ourselves to see what all the fuss was about, and we were really rather impressed!
First you need to visit the SwimFit web page and select the ‘Get Started’ option where you will be asked to fill in the usual details i.e.. email, username, local pool etc.. and set a password for which you’ll go through a easy email activation process.
Once you are successfully signed up and logged in, it asks you to enter your height in centimetres and weight in kilogrammes.
Next you can choose your category – This is where it gets exciting! SwimFit has 7 different ‘Coach Zone’ categories for you to choose from, depending on what kind of swimmer you are, your goals and what you are willing to do to reach them. So pick which one best describes you out of the seven. Or you can opt for a ‘Challenge’ where you define your goals, pick distances and take a more self guided approach – But with all the benefits of being able to track your progress. Whether your aims are to improve technique, lose weight, improve your body condition and overall fitness or set yourself a challenge, there is something for you.
The categories for ‘Coach Zone’ are:
- Activate+
- Health
- GetFit
- Shape Up & Tone
- Get Toned
- Fitness
- Competitive
This is perfect, if like me – you need to regularly set yourself goals, be able to record and see clearly that you are making progress in order to keep yourself motivated. Once you have chosen you’ll have access to your dashboard and a host of other great tools and features.
The dashboard is where you keep track of your progress and record sessions. If you have chosen a ‘Coach Zone’ Category instead of a Challenge you’ll be able to view sessions before each swim, so you know what you have to do in the pool to complete the set session, as well leave notes about your swim and you can keep track of calories burned. Most categories have about 30 sessions in total to reach a goal; so you should feel by the last session that you have improved! You can complete sessions on your own or do them as a class with an instructor at your local SwimFit pool.
If you decide to set yourself a ‘Challenge’ – where you can visualise swimming the Thames from the chlorinated haven of your local swimming pool, you’ll simply set your own goals and log the details of your swim each time so that every session contributes to your overall distance goal – whether you manage it in stages or in one go is up to you! You can also be guided in this section to improve your open water swimming and set your own distance goals.
Within the SwimFit website you can benefit from the Ask an Expert service as well as regular Training Camp blogs to help you improve your swimming. There are also some excellent tips about combining your exercise with good nutrition and diet to help you achieve your goals.
Not sure whether to sign up yet? Try this Taster Session