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swimming...without going to the pool
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Hi all,

I work offshore so swim training for a month is very limited. I can run on the treadmill, cycle and lift weights (yes I lift and it helps).

Any advice on what I can do to limit my loss of swim specific fitness? e.g. swimming with chest on the big gym ball...

Any help would be brilliant :)
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Re: swimming...without going to the pool [thebuzzle] [ In reply to ]
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thebuzzle wrote:
Hi all,
I work offshore so swim training for a month is very limited. I can run on the treadmill, cycle and lift weights (yes I lift and it helps).
Any advice on what I can do to limit my loss of swim specific fitness? e.g. swimming with chest on the big gym ball... Any help would be brilliant :)

do you have room to set up a vasa or halo swim trainer??? they are around 10 ft long and you prob need about 4 ft width for your arms. If you have room, these are the most realistic dry-land swim training. cost is from $450 for the halo to $2000 for the top end vasa with power readout, etc.

if you don't have space to set one of these up and leave it set up, then get a set of Stretchcordz for $40-50. you just loop the end of the tubing around a doorknob or stair-rail, get your distance/tension set up properly, and then start pulling away focusing on high elbow for good form. the cordz are obv much cheaper but i think the swim trainer have the edge in that you can lie flat on their bench and be in more or less same position as when swimming, whereas w/ the cordz you have to bend over at the waist to simulate the pull. if you want some further guidance and pictures, get sheila taormina's book, swim speed secrets.

all of the above are used by top USA swimming programs for dry-land training, so they are def in the mainstream of elite swim training.


"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."
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Re: swimming...without going to the pool [ericmulk] [ In reply to ]
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Would you say the benefit of the stretch cord would be increased if you were to lie on a bench rather than bending over?
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Re: swimming...without going to the pool [thebuzzle] [ In reply to ]
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Do lots of core exercise and stay flexible, particularly on your rotational axis and your shoulders.

Strong abs, back and hips = better swimmer, all else equal.

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"Whether you believe you can or you can't, you are right."
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Re: swimming...without going to the pool [thebuzzle] [ In reply to ]
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I'm going to second the stretchcordz.
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Re: swimming...without going to the pool [GreenPlease] [ In reply to ]
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I lie on a bench with the stretchcordz and they also help with preventing straight-arming your stroke (down) because the bench is only 20" high so this promotes high elbow. I use them on days I cant get in the pool.
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Re: swimming...without going to the pool [thebuzzle] [ In reply to ]
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I've tried the stretchcords and after that, now extensively use a Vasa erg.

If it's only a month, just get the stretchcords - the Vasa is too large and expensive for such part-time use.

If you do go with stretchcords, get longer ones - the shorter ones change tension too rapidly over the distance of an arm pull, and feel nothing like the water. The huge problem with stretchcords that I encountered that killed it for me was that the cords have the least resistance in the front end of the stroke, which is absolutely the most crucial part that you have to learn to generate high force on. In contrast, the back end, which some swimmers even consider an almost disposable part of the stroke compared to the early pull phase, is the part that gets the most work on stretchcords.

I ended up breaking up the stroke into minipulls to hammer the front catch to mid-stroke, and then a separate set from mid to backstroke, but as you might imagine, that takes away a lot of the swimlike feeling as well. It honestly never translated to actual swim improvement for me, despite feeling quite hard (and I went hard enough that I was dripping sweat, and 40 mins at a time, so not slacking on it.) But I do use them and bring them with me to hotels and other short-term 1-3 week trips where pool access is sketchy - it's def better than nothing.

The Vasa is an actual, legit water replacement tool, at least in my experience. It feels exactly like swimming with paddles to me, and translates directly to the pool. After using it, I'm fully convinced that once you get basic swim form down, you can build all the swim fitness you need on this machine without even going the pool except a handful of times before race day.
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Re: swimming...without going to the pool [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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lightheir wrote:
The Vasa is an actual, legit water replacement tool, at least in my experience. It feels exactly like swimming with paddles to me, and translates directly to the pool. After using it, I'm fully convinced that once you get basic swim form down, you can build all the swim fitness you need on this machine without even going the pool except a handful of times before race day.

Completely true.

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Re: swimming...without going to the pool [rmt] [ In reply to ]
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rmt wrote:
Would you say the benefit of the stretch cord would be increased if you were to lie on a bench rather than bending over?

Perhaps but see lightheir's excellent discussion of his experience with both the cordz and the vasa. Lightheir (LH) is the resident ST expert on dry-land training's benefits for adult-onset swimmers (AOS). LH is an AOS himself who struggled mightily with his swimming but has made great strides in the last 2 yrs by using the vasa. He's almost convinced me to buy a vasa but i love the feeling of being in the water too much, and so i'd prob just end up way over-trained if i added the vasa to my swimming yardage.

If i were you, i'd buy the Halo trainer since it is so much cheaper. I'd set it up at my off-shore gym and just leave it there when gone back home, IF I thought nobody would mess with it and tear it up. I think the Halo will accomplish what needs to be done but you just won't have the power numbers feedback.


"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."
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Re: swimming...without going to the pool [ericmulk] [ In reply to ]
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The Halo actually looks overpriced to me for what it is. I'd just buy a bench of the right height and the cords separately, will cost half the price.

(The Vasa is no doubt expensive what it does as well, but for a long-term investment it's worth it compared to the other in-water pool options that cost $15k+ with installation.)

Seriously, if I were a young aspiring entrepreneur triathlete, I would 100% try and develop a simple and much less expensive Vasa knockoff with alternate technology ,something that's portable preferably. The mechanics of dryland swim are not complicated whatsoever - you just need a handle and means to deliver a fixed load to it along the length of the swim pull motion. You could emulate the Vasa completely by building a weights cable pulley system where you lift a fixed weight with each arm pull, but then there would be space issues to overcome. I'm sure even a middling engineer could come up with at least 20 plausible solutions to this simple problem, and within that price range.
Last edited by: lightheir: Apr 18, 15 8:21
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Re: swimming...without going to the pool [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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Whilst it's not the most complicated problem in the world, looking at the size of Vasa as an organisation if I was an aspiring entrepreneur I'd make something else and then buy a Vasa!

If you have access to a gym, I'd be tempted to drag a weights bench between 2 rowing machines and try that.

Iain

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Re: swimming...without going to the pool [Iain Gillam] [ In reply to ]
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I've sort of done it, actually.

We have this cable weight machine at our YMCA that has a fully mobile cable arm, meaning you can set the location of the cable pulley anywhere from 8 feet tall to all the way down on the ground. It's meant so you can do a huge variety of pulling motions on it. I actually dragged a weight bench over to it once, set the arm to where it should be for a swim pull, and set it on a light weight (like 25 lbs) and it was like I was using a Vasa. So it totally works - elite swimmers use the pull down cable weight machines all the time.
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