On our recent article about FORM’s swim workout library, one comment stuck out: “The least they need to do is take those 100s of workouts and compile some plans. I like the format but would love something that gives you a progression plan for a given goal, distance or race.”
Well, say no more.
Today, FORM launches Plans. They are a series of progressive workouts designed for a specific goal or outcome in mind and cover a variety of skills and abilities. At launch, there are over 20 Plans available, with 7 specific triathlon plans ranging from the sprint to full iron distance swimming. Plans range in length from 2 to 24 weeks, with most having 2 to 3 swims per week. Outside of the triathlon specific plans, there are fitness plans for swimmers looking to improve aerobic endurance, and then skill development plans focused on technique to get faster.
You gain access to Plans via the FORM swim app on your smartphone. As a reminder, the FORM app is the controller for your goggles. You go in and click Plans, and all of them are at your fingertips. Open one up to see the description of the workouts and see if that Plan passes your muster. Then click “Follow Plan” if that’s the one you want to do, and it will sync the forthcoming workouts to your goggles, just as described under our prior article on the workouts feature.
“With FORM Plans, for the first time, swimmers have access to smart technology that not only improves their technique and overall fitness while in the water, but also provides structure that keeps them coming back," said Dan Eisenhardt, FORM’s founder and CEO. “For the millions of swimmers that swim solo, they now have a tool that will make them stronger in the water without worrying about what to do, how hard to push, and whether they’re progressing towards their goal.”
Having had advance access to the Plans feature, I agree with Mr. Eisenhardt’s quote above. The workouts themselves, like those in the deeper workout library, are well structured. But now they follow in a logical progression to build skills and fitness for swimmers who simply will never have a coach on deck with them providing feedback. The detail provided each week on what is being achieved in each workout is also commendable.
Who is the target market for this? Well, it’s solo swimmers, and then it becomes a question of whether or not there is value if you already have a triathlon coach. The answer there is muddier. Even with the launch of Plans, you can’t, say, have workouts written from TrainingPeaks sent to your goggles. But if your triathlon coach isn’t the best at writing swim workouts or analyzing your swims, this might be a good way to work together on these. Heck, I could think of one of my own athletes who is addicted to data for whom, had he not found a masters group this year, this would have been a perfect way to keep him motivated in the pool.
It winds up turning on the value proposition for you. Plans are part of the membership package from FORM. Memberships are either $24 per month (six month commitment so you wind up paying for your goggles), or $228 annually ($19 per month). A recent thread in our Reader Forum asked why you would choose a membership. If you aren’t using a membership, and you purchased your goggles before today, they will still work for real-time metrics, but you will lose Plans and Workouts.
However, if you are yet to buy goggles and are on the fence, be aware: FORM has changed their membership model as of today. If you cancel your membership, your goggles will only work with a sample set of workouts. No real-time metrics, no open-water swimming. (A prior version of this article has been corrected). That being said, in my opinion, the majority of athletes for whom FORM would make a difference would benefit greatly from Plans and Workouts, and should probably maintain membership.
FORM will continually update their Plans library. For Slowtwitchers, in particular, there’s a forthcoming Plan that marks the return of a classic swimming challenge.
