This contraption is very interesting. I’m wondering if this may be a “Computrainer for swimming” so-to-speak. If so, there could be tremendous potential here.
Have any of you guys ever tried one? Own one? Opinions?
Yes I had one but I sold it perhaps the buyer will chime in. I think he has been happy with it. It really is an awesome tool, but it’s really hard. I couldn’t last longer than 10 mins when I first started. You will have to build up. It’s really smooth and has a lot of useful info. Anyway I sold it b/c I really don’t have time for it.
There is a lot of good info on the erg in a thread recently where someone asked about buying a vasa trainer.
Thanks guys.
I don’t get how you would incorporate body roll, which means I’d expect your pull to be “shaped” at least somewhat different than in water.
Tom,
I have had mine for about two years and love it. Most of my swim training is completed on the Erg with the exception of 1-2 times per month at the pool. Then twice per week at the pool the month before a race for fine tuning in the water.
As for comparing it to a CompuTrainer…close, as there is valuable information available: Pace per 100m, Total distance, Time, Average Wattage, Strokes per minute, Wattage per arm, Stroke length
As for the times being way off. Look at your average time per 100 meters. The significant difference can be a sign that you are pulling harder with one arm vs. the other. If there was a way to measure “live” time in the water, you would likely see the same thing. Think back to open-water swimming. Picking your head up out of the water, someone bumping into you… this can all affect your pace per 100m.
Granted you are not going to get the same body roll as you would in the water. However you can press your hip into the bench to get the rotation. You can increase the axial rotation by placing a rolled-up towel or long airex pad on the bench and then lay on top of that to increase the rotation.
I have found that the pace per 100m on the Ergometer is equal to my open water times with a wetsuit and no push-off from the pool walls.
-Joe
I have found that the pace per 100m on the Ergometer is equal to my open water times with a wetsuit and no push-off from the pool walls.
-Joe
Really? That is very interesting! I am perplexed though… it is not what I have experienced at all. How open is your door? You mean you erg faster than you can swim in open water without a wetsuit? How is your form? Are you a good swimmer? What you said seems backwards from my experiences.
NYSLIM,
For me the dampener door will range from 1 through 3 out of 7 possible settings depending on the workout focus. From what I have observed, stroke rate drops as well as form for settings higher than 4 for those who are not functionally strong enough.
My Vasa Ergometer times are about equal to my open-water swim times while wearing a wetsuit, not faster. In comparison my pool times for a set distance are a bit faster, than the same distance in the open-water (without a wetsuit), because of being able to push off of the pool’s wall for each lap.
My technique is good, but I am sure could be better. 
I was…a slow swimmer, typically back of pack for IM distance and middle of the pack for Olympic. Now after two years of training with the Erg, I am a mid-pack swimmer for IM distance and mid to front pack for Olympic and Sprint.
Having never learned how to swim, I took an Intro to swimming class, during the last semester of my undergrad. I have been involved with the sport for eleven years now. The first three years I swam with a Masters program. Since then I have been essentially self coached.
What you have mentioned is not that uncommon from what I have seen people “try” to do when they first get onto the Ergometer. Their neck and lower back are in hyper extension, because they are not use to lying in the prone position on the bench. There arms are wide during the catch. And during the recovery portion of the stroke their arms are way over their head, all while trying to kick. I believe the difficulty that first timers have with the Erg is that they try to replicate the strokes per minute and body rotation they are familiar with during an actual swim.
If one looks at the Quick-time video demos at the Vasa website or has an opportunity to work with someone who is experienced in using the Ergometer. You can see how fluid (no pun intended) the swim stroke can be on the Erg.
I own one, don’t use it as much as I want to or as much as I should.
The first thing to know is that some russians showed that ergometer swimming transfers to poll speed. Damn if I know how to get my hands on the paper though, so that’s third hand info.
There are a few folks who don’t have the strength to execute a proper catch with internal shoulder rotation whom I think a few sessions on the erg would do wonders for. I am not one of those people and since it is in my tiny basement no one comes to use it at my place. I use it because with a 2 year old and a 4 week old I can’t get to the pool very often.
So I would recommend it to people who have no other option at all. If you just can’t make it to a pool then try one out.
After a week or so of ergo swimming when I got to the pool my stroke feels powerful but my rpe for a given speed is way up and my speeds in general. It feels like my shoulders are stronger but I am relying on them more. This feeling goes away within 20 to 30 minutes of being in the water.
I have seen that they now have a space saver model that the platform doesn’t move back and forth. My platform never moves, it is always down as far as it will go except for a bit on the fly.
I don’t get how you would incorporate body roll, which means I’d expect your pull to be “shaped” at least somewhat different than in water.
Mostly you don’t incorporate body roll. You can think of it as a pulling workout, better than not swimming at all.
But they recommend laying on a rolled towel underneath you. What I do is that when I do it my feet are on a bookshelf. So like swimming when I reach with my left hand, I push down with my right foot and I roll a bit onto my left side and vice versa. So I’m at least working sort of the same motion.
I think your pull is definitely shaped by the machine, if your pull is craptacular then that may be a good thing. If you have a finely honed stroke then you may find it detrimental.
I am one for whom the erg speed is a fair bit slower than I swim in open water for an “equivalent effort.”
I have found that the pace per 100m on the Ergometer is equal to my open water times with a wetsuit and no push-off from the pool walls.
-Joe
Really? That is very interesting! I am perplexed though… it is not what I have experienced at all. How open is your door? You mean you erg faster than you can swim in open water without a wetsuit? How is your form? Are you a good swimmer? What you said seems backwards from my experiences.
in response to "It’s very difficult to stay in a rhythm and the times are definitley out of wack. (1:10 per hundred one pull then 2:30 for the next) "
As the inventor of the Vasa Ergometer, I’m sorry to learn it is not your favorite training tool. But I wonder if that is in part due to an apparent problem with the electronics.
We took considerable pains to make sure every Vasa Ergometer produces reliable and repeatable and comparable readouts from the performance monitor. Every Erg is double checked by our quality department before shipping to ensure it is performing properly.
Therefore, it sounds like something is not right with the Vasa Ergometer at your school. It’s difficult to diagnose the problem from your comments, but my guess is something got knocked or damaged in shipping and the electronics are not working as they should.
Please have your coach or school contact us at Vasa so we can correct the problem immediately for those athletes who do like it and who will gain the benefits the Vasa Ergometer was designed to provide.
For others who want to learn more on how some triathletes have been successfully training on the Vasa Ergometer and reducing swim training time while swimming faster in races, I suggest you look at the athletes forum on Coach Al Lyman’s website on this link:
http://www.pursuit-fitness.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=8
I’ve posted about this a lot and there are some good old threads about the Vasa.
The more I think about it, it is the #1 piece of traithlon equiptment I own. Better than a computrainer. This is because the vasa saves me a ton of time - commuting and actually swimming, and my swim times are better. On almost no swimming, but frequent 10-30 minute vasa workouts, I improved from a 27-minute Olympic distance swim to a 25-minute Olympic distance swim. I used to swim about 3 or 4 hours a week at the pool. Now I usually spend a total of an hour and a half on the vasa instead. I had a nice swim at Phuket on the vasa and did a workout where I did 2x600 on an easy setting to simulate the ocean part of the swim, followed by 600 on a hard setting to simulate the lagoon.
It is great because it opens up hours of time during the week that I used to not have.
Its not necessarily an enjoyable workout, but I pop my headphones on for 10-30 minutes and get a very effective workout in. Today I did a series of mini-tris in my basement while watching the NCAA tournament - 10-minute vasa / 10-minute computrainer / 10 minute treadmill - repeat.
Thanks for the reply!