Introducing HeadCoach™ Plans: A Smarter Way to Train
FORM has already transformed swim training with real-time feedback, detailed technique metrics, and personalized HeadCoach™ Workouts. Now, we're bringing everything together with the launch of HeadCoach™ Plans to help you achieve your long-term goals in the water.
HeadCoach™ Plans create personalized, multi-week training plans based on your current ability, areas for improvement, and training goals. Not only that, but HeadCoach™ will adapt your training plan based on your workout data to keep you on track to achieve your goals.
Whether you're training for a race, returning to the pool after time off, or simply trying to level up your swim fitness, HeadCoach™ has a personalized training plan for you!
Here, we’ll walk you through how to build your HeadCoach™ Plan, how FORM uses your swim history to personalize your training, and how your plan adapts as you improve.
How To Get Your HeadCoach™ Plan Started
There are a couple of ways that you can get your HeadCoach™ Plan started so that you can start making improvements in the water right away!
Updating Your Swimming Objective
When you start with FORM, we ask you to set your Swimming Objective so that we can personalize our recommendations to help you improve the most. Now, as soon as you set your Objective, you will be automatically prompted to generate a HeadCoach™ Plan so that you can start your path to achieving your objective right away!
You can also revisit and change your Swimming Objective at the top of the Home Screen at any time, where you will still be prompted to generate a HeadCoach™ Plan to help you accomplish your new goals.
Workouts Tab
At any time, you can create a HeadCoach™ Plan by going to the Workouts Tab at the bottom of the Home screen, then selecting FORM Plans at the top of the Workouts screen. Here, under Generate a HeadCoach™ Plan, you can select Get Started to start building a new training plan to help guide you to your goals in the water.
Building Your HeadCoach™ Plan
You can start building your personalized training plan by going to WORKOUTS > FORM PLANS and selecting Get Started.
There are only 3 things that you have to select to build your HeadCoach™ Plan:
1. Your Objective
When you start with FORM, we ask you what your Objective is as a swimmer. That same Objective will automatically be used to guide your HeadCoach™ Plan. But if your goals have changed, or if you want to focus on something new, you can easily update your Objective when creating your plan.
If you are preparing for a triathlon, open water or pool race, you can set your race day and HeadCoach™ will automatically break your training into 3 key training phases:
- The Base Phase, to build your foundation
- The Build Phase, to prepare you for the specific demands of your race
- The Taper Phase, to rest and sharpen your performance for race day
With HeadCoach™ guiding you, your personalized plan is easy to follow and helps you stay on track so you can arrive at your race confident and ready.
If you are more focused on generally improving your technique, speed, endurance, or overall swim fitness, HeadCoach™ will build a well-rounded training plan to keep you progressing in the water.
2. Plan Length
If you are looking for general improvement in the water, you can build a HeadCoach™ Plan that lasts anywhere from 4 to 12 weeks. This is perfect for staying focused and making consistent progress, whether you're training to improve your technique, your speed, or just looking to get more fit.
If you're preparing for a race, simply enter your race date and HeadCoach™ will build your plan backwards from then. With enough time, you’ll go through a full Base, Build, and Taper phase. If your race is just around the corner, your plan will focus on sharpening your fitness and technique so you’re ready to perform.
Not sure when your race is yet? No problem. HeadCoach™ will build a solid foundation now, so you’re ready to take on more specific training once your race date is set.
3. Swims Per Week
For every plan, you can choose how many workouts you want to swim each week that best fit your goals and schedule. If you are looking for general improvement, you can select anywhere from 1 to 7 workouts per week, and HeadCoach™ will structure each week to give you exactly what you need to keep improving.
For Race Plans, no matter how many sessions you choose, HeadCoach™ will tailor each week to meet your needs and help you prepare for your race. We recommend committing to at least 2 swims per week to ensure you’re building enough fitness to race safely and confidently. Beyond that, HeadCoach™ will guide you through every week of training so that you can be your best on race day.
Personalizing Your HeadCoach™ Plan
Now that you have chosen how you want your plan structured, HeadCoach™ analyzes your swimming history to identify where you can improve the most. HeadCoach™ Plans uses this data to create an entire training plan designed to help you make steady, meaningful improvement.
Here’s the data FORM uses to personalize your HeadCoach™ Plan:
Your swimming speed and training volume
- This helps us create workouts that match your ability level, but it also provides a baseline to safely progress your training as you move through the plan.
Your Recommended Focus
- Your Recommended Focus highlights what you need to work on based on how your speed, distance per stroke (DPS), stroke rate, and FORM Score change during your swimming. Your workouts are then designed to specifically address your Recommended Focus and target the improvements you need most.
Your Top Priority Skill
- HeadCoach™ Skills are automatically integrated into your workouts to help you refine the technique skill that will benefit you the most in the water.
Adapting Your Plan As You Go
HeadCoach™ continually tracks and evaluates your swimming as you progress through your plan. By keeping track of changes in your pace, your training volume and your technique, HeadCoach™ is able to adjust and update future workouts so that you are always given workouts that will best help you improve. Here are a few examples of how HeadCoach™ can adjust your workouts:
- Your technique and fitness will change throughout your plan, which might change what HeadCoach™ suggests should be your Recommended Focus. If your Recommended Focus changes, HeadCoach™ will substitute future workouts to address your newest Recommended Focus to help you improve your technique.
- If you have less time than you anticipated to finish your workouts, HeadCoach™ will recognize that and shorten your workouts to better fit the amount of time you are swimming.
- Conversely, if you are feeling good at the end of your workouts and decide to do a little more, HeadCoach™ will recognize that too and add more volume to your future workouts to better fit how you are swimming.
- If you improve your technique so much that HeadCoach™ recognizes that your Top Priority HeadCoach™ skill changes, then your plan will adjust so that you can continue to improve your technique as you progress through your plan.
With HeadCoach™ Plans, you’ll always know exactly what to swim and why it matters. Just build your plan, and HeadCoach™ will personalize every part of your training and set you on the way to your next breakthrough in the water!
