Does it give splits etc? Can I see a link of what data is uploaded? I am interested, but its not free to upgrade, so want to make sure I spend wisely!

You have to put your Garmin in bike mode and attach the erg as an ANT+ power meter. If you wear a HR strap, you'll also get HR data. The only manual thing you have to do is edit the file in Garmin Connect (or TP/Strava) to change the activity type from bike to swim. Note: in Strava, this renders you unable to see power data, so it's not as useful a tool for this purpose.

Here's my session from last night: https://connect.garmin.com/...n/activity/768156719

Note that I really need to work on my L/R power imbalance. Some of it is mobility related, but some I can address with single-arm work. This is partly what makes the Vasa such a great training tool - I'm really glad I upgraded to the ANT+ computer.

Ian

You can also use Trainer road. I use my iPad with an ANT+ stick and then can do preprogrammed interval workouts.

That's pretty cool! I don't have the ant+ erg, so I'll have to spectate from the sides while you guys play with it. For now though, am quite happy with my non-ant+ Vasa.

My wife and kid were out the past week on a trip so I took a rare evening pool workout at my local YMCA.

OMG what a fiasco. I'm not even exaggerating here - there were 7 people in the 'fast' lane (of 3 total swimmable lanes), of which two were competitive swim girls around age 12 who were as fast as I was on freestyle but only did 50s or 100s with long rest stops in between while a coach (?parent) talked to them between sets. They were fine - it was the other 5 clueless folks in the lane that killed everyone - one guy swimming at 2:00/100 at didn't yield a single time to anyone, and a bunch of other folks jumping in and out of the lane. I just did 25s hard with LOTS of rest, and even that was barely functional. This was at 7PM, so I guess that's 'prime time' at this pool.

But good for me - since I have a mild hamstring strain right now from running too fast a few days ago, I was on the Vasa for a full 90 minutes earlier in the day, so I got my swim arm beatdown already. I seriously would probably quit triathlon if I didn't have an at-home device that worked for swimming, since the pools here are so crowded during summer months.

Thanks for sharing the workout info. That level of data is what I am looking for. It may be enough for me to make the jump. Also I noticed that your workout shows Dimond at the bottom. I'm about to be part of that crew.

Oh, right - I saw your name on some Dimond Club FB posts.

Crap - I just forgot the first rule of Dimond Club...

Ian

first rule of Dimond Club...

I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on an Erg model but it's a little pricey, does anyone out there have any VASA coupon codes?

Thanks

I got a Vasa about two weeks ago with the ANT+ head unit - I'm liking it so far, but the ANT+ signal drops to both my Garmin and TrainerRoad. It doesn't reconnect like any of my other ANT+ does when the device drops the connection once in a while. I have to turn off and turn back on the head unit before the signal is picked back up. Happens anywhere from 4 minutes to 30 minutes into a workout. So far I've only gotten a single response from Vasa, which told me to eliminate interference from other ANT+/wireless devices and keep my Garmin within 5 feet of the unit. I've placed the Garmin right next to it and it didn't make a difference. Anyone experienced this?

FYI there is a really good way to make use of pool time when you have a scenario like that. Taking from running, you just do fartlek. Go as hard for as long as you can before you come up to someone....rather than trying to pass, you just turnaround on the spot and head back the other way in open water. If your fartlek interval was long enough if you start doing drills. If the person in front is too slow you kick on one side with one arm extended. You just randomly go hard and easy when you can and get a good workout in. Just don't be fixated on any set or any specific interval. It's basically like being in a criterium going at VO2max and then cruising and you don't know when and how long you will have to go hard. Its still an awesome workout. 40 minutes of that no stopping and I am cooked but happy AND most importantly, I did not create trouble for the other people in the lane....just worked with the flow of the lane.

Yes, when the are only 3 people in the lane, that's fair game. I do that a lot (if I can't just outright blow by the person in the lane when there's time.)

4+, though, and it's a no-go. You'll run head on into an oncoming person!

I'm actually pretty creative with swim workouts because at the times I swim there is always at least 3, if not 4 people of quite varying speed sharing the lane. When it gets really bad, it's time for looonngg rest 25s, all-out!

I've been a Vasa ERG owner for about 16 months now and will say that I find the ANT+ power function useless. I use the machine on a regular basis (almost daily) and have found zero benefit in trying to track the power from the workouts with Trainer Road and a Garmin device.

I'm not knocking it but think it's not really necessary until someone (preferably the peeps at Vasa) develops a sufficient program to use it with. My opinion is that the technology doesn't match up with the functionality.

Also, if someone has figured out a reliable and useful way to use the power data please share with us.

Love that this thread is still alive!

I had one for a few months. I borrowed it from my swim coach.

I loved it, I would buy one in a heart beat if I had the money. When I can, I will get my own. Or I will build one. I built a "HALO" swim bench on about $15 but had to chuck it last time I moved! Loved it

After an initial adaptation period I was able to do short to medium length workouts like I would in the pool. It was awesome, and certainly harder then any stimulus I can get in the pool to train pull. I also did long and strong continuous sessions, when open water wasn't an option here in Ottawa.

I did modify my coaches vasa by attaching a custom "HALO" template, which I simply measured myself and cut out of cardboard - cost about 15 cents instead of $150 and took me an hour of work, including my own video analysis to try and determine the width/shape of the template. to fit my pool stroke (correcting for lack of body role). From there I cut it a bit too big, and through trial and error trimmed it the way I like. I was a decent swimmer before, adult onset and now about 6 years of swimming - 19 flat 1500m or better open water, but wanted to make sure I was training the right stroke path and not wasting my time on the Vasa. It did help a lot when back in the water.

I could easily use the vasa to prepare for races and probably swim the same as if I trained only in the pool - at more volume. When I get my own, maybe I will do separate 3 month blocks and test this out.

In swimming only I like to swim 4-5 times per week and volume can get high. Vasa was a great way to cut this volume, maintain or even increase frequency, and swim better or at least equal to pool training only.

The ultimate approach for me would be a long pool session each week (for me 6-8km), with most of the rest on the Vasa (3-5 sessions/week 20-50 minutes), then before a race I would replace a lot of this Vasa training with pool swimming for feel, swimming every day (if even only for 15 minutes) for 2 weeks before the race. Ideally open water, especially if it's a race I am travelling to.

I also liked using it for bricks. I train mainly "Lionel sanders style" - in the pain cave all fall, spring and winter on the trainer and about half treadmill.. All of my biking is on the trainer, so bricks and big training days are incredibly convenient with the Vasa.

Lastly, I am endorsing by Vasa. For said reason and being a broke ass aspiring full time pro triathlete, I am already missing the Vasa since it saved me time (I currently work full time) and really helped. Therefore I am going to build my own, I have the plans drawn up and will be building it exclusively with materials from Home Depot, with the exception of the pulley mechanism. I am watching the local classifieds fitness section for anyone selling a cable pulley machine (with adjustable weights) which would mount to the wall and can be positioned the same (or even better) than the Vasa. The cable machine weights will also have a lot more options, making it even better than the Vasa IMO. It won't be smooth because it will lack a fly wheel, for that reason I will keep my eyes out for a broken rowing erg for sale which I will modify to fit my bench :). A third option is long tubing. All three would be great for variety and more specific workouts.

The build materials will cost about $40, I figure it will be 2 hours of work, and I'm not sure what the cable pulleys will cost. Same for rowing erg (ideally broken/cheap with a working flywheel) They are rare. But I will blog about it when done! I might make a travel friendly version, but for weight reasons it would have to use resistance cords not pulleys.

I built one almost for free with most of the parts coming from a Nordic Track Ski trainer that I picked up free from craigslist. The key part from the ski trainer is the pieces that allow you to rotate the axle from both pulls. If you were closer I'd give you the whole thing for free. I just wanted the output from the Vasa and something that was a bit more turn-key.

Why would you not use it in a similar way to how you use a power meter on a bike? Not for racing obviously, but for building up and increasing both endurance and strength? I can already see improvements just from the workouts I've had to manually log.

I just got the ANT+ computer upgrade, so I'll start tracking my power output from week to week. I only focus on strength/speed/form training(no long sessions) on the Vasa, so it'll be nice to see the improvement. My workouts are really short, like 15 minutes of intervals.

Sounds cool! Still have it? Can you send a picture?

Cheers!

Please post a pic if you can. I think a few folks would like to see what you have built.
Thanks..

I still have it yes - does this link work: https://drive.google.com/...UU4/view?usp=sharing ?

It is basically the old NordicTrack ski trainer (wooden model) where I moved the internals onto a wooden frame - I put some sides on the rollers that already have the functionality that drives the axle for each pull independently so that I could attach both the elastic cord for retracting the hand pulleys and the non-elastic cord that attaches to the hand-pulls. It basically is all the hard parts to get right of the swim trainer without spending a lot of $$. I have a Vasa now so I haven't spent a lot of time refining this, but it should be possible to put together a non-power meter driven swim trainer for less than a couple hundred $ with mostly off the shelf parts.

"I use the machine on a regular basis (almost daily) and have found zero benefit in trying to track the power from the workouts with Trainer Road and a Garmin device. "
?!

then this makes the point of having a power meter on a bike useless too then by the same reasons.

I have used one for 2yrs now and to get my swim time on the VASA sub 60mins for 3600m and sub 30mins for 1800m came from some consistent training. But having power just like using the PM on a bike focuses the training zone much much better than relying on HR zones. I can only say that training by power is why we now have PM 's on bikes.

Interesting side note today pool swim TSS score of 67 for 1800m, but then for the VASA with HR only around 24TSS.

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age is just a number after your name

Yes that works! That's totally awesome. Exactly what I need.

And I can second you there on having a vasa - since the power based measurement is great. I didn't even mention that above, but it was awesome.

So the DIY project is great for me now while broke, but eventually a vasa would be great!

Thanks for the pic!

Keep your eyes out for something like this:

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/dak/spo/5339429217.html


This has the internals to build with and it is $10. The bearings inside the rollers are special and only engage when going in one direction.

First of all, I'm not commenting about a bike power meter. I'm commenting on a Vasa power meter and my intent was to state that I'm unaware of a useful "program" (other than pen and paper) to track progress.

I've tried using Trainer Road with the Vasa but without having a baseline swim FTP it is difficult to know how to use the power meter and data to the greatest advantage.

Also,if you you upload the data to Training Peaks it will then skew your bike numbers as it doesn't differentiate between a swim and bike workout (or if so I don't know how to do this).

Don't get me wrong....the machine is AWESOME and I love it but I wish someone would develop a program to make it MORE useful.

Again, if anyone has ideas or thoughts to share on how to make the most of the power data I'd love to hear about it.
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I'm totally PRO Vasa....I'd just like to know how to use it better!

Why haven't you done an FTP test with it? Or a critical power test at the least?

How does one execute such test? I haven't seen anything on how to do this unless you mean doing it just like a 20' test on a bike. Is that what you mean or how do you do personally conduct the test?