What’s the best swim bench to use for dryland training & swim at home simulation these days? Having a tough time getting to the pool due to schedule conflicts. In high school, we used a Doc Counsilman bench, but they don’t seem to be around any more. Do people even use these for training? Any ideas and advice would be appreciated.
I have and use the Vasa Trainer. Good for all around workouts as well.
how many swimmers actually use a swim bench?
Is that a trick question?
i mean swimmers at an elite level.
I would have no Idea. I’m just a humble MOPer, whose coach said that it might be a good purchase. I have agreed with his recommendation.
I purchased a Vasa Swim Trainer around 11 years ago. I mainly use it for strength training of the muscles used in swimming. You can buy the pulley attachment and swim on it for longer durations. I mainly use it over the winter months. It’s VERY IMPORTANT that you use proper technique (elbows up) when using it. It’s much harder that way, but that’s the only way you’ll get results from it. From my experience, when I use it religiously, my 1500m swim time comes down by 2 or 3 min (28min to 25min). It’s a little costly, but worth it if your in to swimming.
behave – i’d recommend some rubber cords w/ hand paddles instead of a swim bench. much cheaper and portable, just as good of a workout. when i swam for univ of georgia (many olympians, a world rec holder, several american record holders) we all used cords and not a swim bench,
bill
Behave,
You can make your own bench for about $20.00. It should have a slight incline so that you do not pull yourself off the front. Use latex tubing with handles to create resistance. I attach my cables (tubing) to a large hook in the wall. I can move the bench back to create more resistance.
I have made several of these for my teams and use one my basement.
When you use latex tubing you can do high reps with moderate or heavy resistance. I also use a metronome to keep a very steady pace.
DougStern
oooohh aren’t you the badass who swam for UGA…oohhh all bow down before billy…he swam for da dawgs.