In late 2021, we asked our members, “What’s Your Day One?” Dozens of members shared their 2022 fitness goals with us, and we chose four members to follow on their journeys from Day One to Goal Accomplished! Juan has completed his 12-week program – did he accomplish his goal to learn how to swim? Find out below.
In January, Juan began his 12-week journey to learn how to swim through our Day One program. In addition to weekly sessions in the pool with FFC Personal Trainer Joy Miles, Juan supplemented his training with nutrition counseling, massage and metabolic testing. Let’s take a look back at weeks 7 – 12 of Juan’s program.
Week 7
Just past the halfway point in his training, Juan had a breakthrough when he successfully made it the length of the pool kicking on his back without any assistance from his coach Joy. As Juan became more comfortable in the water, Joy began to introduce pieces of freestyle stroke into their training. Joy describes that Juan had an “Aha moment” during Week 7 of his training.
“He’s now realizing how much work it is in learning how to swim,” Joy said. “There’s a lot of things you need to consider when you’re in the water, versus when you’re on land.”
Breath, body orientation and knowing how to move your body in a constantly moving environment will remain high on their priority list as they continue their training sessions.
Related: Click Here To Learn More About Juan and His Goal
Week 8
In Week 8, Juan takes a resting metabolic rate (RMR) test with one of our registered dietitians to learn more about his body’s metabolic needs.
By taking an RMR test, Juan learns how many calories his body burns in a typical day – first without factoring in any movement or exercise. The test also shows estimates for how many calories a person can expect to burn in a 30 minute workout. This information is valuable because it can help guide a person’s caloric needs for the day.
Based on the results of his test, Juan learned that his metabolism is 33% faster than that of the average person. Because he is swimming regularly and has a goal of adding lean muscle mass, the results of the RMR test help determine how many calories he should eat during a day to accomplish his personal goals.
Week 9
Juan takes another type of test during Week 9: a VO2 Max test. A VO2 Max test tells you the volume of oxygen you consume per minute, which is helpful to know if you are working on your endurance.
“[Because Juan] is currently in a swimming program, this goes hand in hand to get a better understanding of where his conditioning is at,” FFC Fitness Director Christopher Berlanga said.
VO2 tests are traditionally done on a treadmill or a stationary bicycle where the participant wears a mask connected to a machine that analyzes the body’s consumption of oxygen during exercise. This test can be repeated every 90 days to see how your level of physical conditioning has improved from your workout sessions.
Both the RMR and VO2 max test are performed at our FFC locations. For more information, email metabolictesting@ffc.com.
Week 10
With two weeks left in his training program, we check in with Juan to see how he’s feeling about completing his goal.
“I’m pretty confident that I am getting everything that comes along with swimming, so I’m going to put everything together and see what happens,” Juan said. “As we are wind down on the program, I am making extremely good progress, I feel, and I can’t wait to show everyone.”
Week 11
It’s the big day! Can Juan swim the length of the pool with the skills he has learned over the course of the program? Watch the video above to find out!
Week 12
As Juan’s journey comes to a close, we ask Juan and Joy to reflect on the last 12 weeks and discuss how far Juan has come in his journey to learn to swim.
“I feel 100 times better than when I started [swimming],” Juan said. “When I first started I was like, ‘Oh my God, am I going to be able to do this? Am I gonna drown?'”
From Juan’s first week to Week 12, Joy said she saw a “vast improvement” in Juan’s skills and comfortability in the pool.
“There’s still a lot to be done with going into a full freestyle stroke, but he knows that it’s a process and everyone’s learning curve is different,” Joy said. “He’s much more comfortable in the water, much more confident in the water than when he first started, so I’m very happy about that.”
Juan said the biggest surprise of learning how to swim is how involved every part of the body is.
“Every piece of your body has to be working on something at some moment,” Juan said. “Where are your glutes? Where are your legs? How are you kicking? Where are your arms? What is your breathing like? You have to worry about everything.”
So what’s next for Juan?
“Now that I have a new skill, I will be using it, improving on it and will see where it takes me, and [Joy], I’ll be calling you next month,” Juan said.
Congratulations on completing the Day One program and learning how to swim, Juan! We are so proud of the progress you’ve made and the skills you have learned.
We will be highlighting three more FFC members as they tackle their own Day One goals this year. Keep an eye out for new episodes weekly at youtube.com/FitnessFormulaClubs.
Post written by FFC Contributor Natalie Casper.