Now that a bunch of pools have opening up some (still a long way to go in most places), who's still using swim cords regularly?
I've been been pool swimming 1-2x/wk since last Dec, and using a Vasa erg another 1-2x/wk. I'm just in maintenance phase, not swim building, as I'm having a lot of fun running and cycling more given real pool access limitations.
Was using stretch cords as an additional supplement in my work office during breaks for 10-25 minutes at a time for Dec-Jan, then sort of fell off the curve, but got back into it this week. I'm going to try to use them in this brief session 1-2x/wk as I'm surprised that my arm/back muscles are kind of sore - not unexpectedly as I use the cords for strength moreso than endurance - typically 20-30 pulls until failure, then repeat many times. Not at all an aerobic workout, but a nice adjunct to my routine - I currently swim in the pool without toys mostly to target turnover and cardio, use my Vasa erg to target muscular endurance and overall arm endurance (I do occasional 60-75 min erg workouts since pool time is <45mins here), and the cords seem to work well for max power which I'm hopeful will translate some to max pull strength at some point.
I'll admit that I haven't noticed any significant speed gains by doing any of them above, but subjectively I feel like it's easier to pull harder as well as take less of a beatdown after pool swimming when I've got the cords (and vasa) going regularly.
I've been been pool swimming 1-2x/wk since last Dec, and using a Vasa erg another 1-2x/wk. I'm just in maintenance phase, not swim building, as I'm having a lot of fun running and cycling more given real pool access limitations.
Was using stretch cords as an additional supplement in my work office during breaks for 10-25 minutes at a time for Dec-Jan, then sort of fell off the curve, but got back into it this week. I'm going to try to use them in this brief session 1-2x/wk as I'm surprised that my arm/back muscles are kind of sore - not unexpectedly as I use the cords for strength moreso than endurance - typically 20-30 pulls until failure, then repeat many times. Not at all an aerobic workout, but a nice adjunct to my routine - I currently swim in the pool without toys mostly to target turnover and cardio, use my Vasa erg to target muscular endurance and overall arm endurance (I do occasional 60-75 min erg workouts since pool time is <45mins here), and the cords seem to work well for max power which I'm hopeful will translate some to max pull strength at some point.
I'll admit that I haven't noticed any significant speed gains by doing any of them above, but subjectively I feel like it's easier to pull harder as well as take less of a beatdown after pool swimming when I've got the cords (and vasa) going regularly.