Tubs wrote:
Taking an easy week before a half marathon on Sunday which is still going ahead. Might be the last race I get to do for a while.
Today was a very good day to recieve my brand new Vasa Erg in the post. :-) Self isolating by working from home for 2 weeks is looking good!
I know you're a keen Vasa swimmer, any advice for the first few sessions to get going?
Tubs
Congrats - it's a great tool!
Take it EASY when you start. It's kinda like using paddles right away - that plus the added muscle motion of keeping your arms up in the air will fatigue and strain them quick, so it's easy to overdo it when you start. I'd guesstimate it took me 2 months before I could do 'actual' swim workouts on it that I felt were of decent intensity. Your 1st week will be a lot weaker than you will be just because there are some weird shoulder muscles that have to acclimate to the gravity.
I'd also recommend using your phone to self video yourself once you feel like you're doing actual workouts with it, just to make sure your vasa form looks good, and not too crazy.
And remember that it's still no magic bullet for swim improvement. If you're the typical AOS for whom swim improvement comes hard, requiring a lot of pool time and a lot of pool effort, it will require that much work at least on the Vasa. And there are definitely lots of technical swim factors that you cannot capture on a Vasa, so try not to avoid the pool too much unless you have been already a very proficient swimmer.
But definitely enjoy the stress relief from knowing that if it's impossible to get to the pool for 1,2, or even 4 weeks (happens with pool closures), the Vasa will keep you in form, and you could even improve if you're willing to suffer.