UF students can find fitness classes, track instructors and share their opinions through a new fitness website and application.
The web-based service, peerFit, aims to increase access to group fitness information. UF graduate students Ed Buckley, Scott Peeples, Matt Redinger and Rex Tullius make up the team behind the free service.
It features campus facilities such as Living Well, Southwest Recreation Center and Student Recreation and Fitness Center.
Although peerFit has been available as a prototype since the summer, this week marks its debut at UF. The team will host a launch party at 101 Cantina Sunday at 6 p.m.
"We tried to build a system that made exercising fun and personalized," said Buckley, 24, who founded peerFit and is working toward a doctoral degree in health education and behavior.
The service allows users to search nearby facilities, learn about group fitness classes, follow instructors and share feedback. It is also available as an iPhone or Android app and links to Facebook and Twitter.
Sarah Taj, a 19-year-old criminology junior, said she would use peerFit to track her favorite instructors.
"I know some instructors use different techniques, and you never know which other classes they teach, so that could be helpful," said Taj, who takes group classes at Southwest Recreation Center.
Users can register with the service, but registration is not required to search the site. Registered users can receive reminders to sign up for certain classes.
Mike Avery, the program assistant in fitness at Living Well in Yon Hall, said peerFit is a great way to share group fitness information with students.
"Non-members can see what we offer," he said. "It's a good way for members to see what they are getting into."
The peerFit team tested a prototype formed in March 2011 created by a programming team. By the summer, 44 universities had tested it, and 15 of them used the live test version in the fall.
During the first eight months, the team paid for the research and design themselves. Since then, they have raised $150,000, Buckley said.
"Our goal is to get people into the right group fitness class for them, and that's what our system does," he said. "It's to help find a class that's right for you."
