Hello,
Came across a swimming team that were using a “tempo trainer” under the swim caps. Its a small programmable timer that issues a beep at desired time intervals for regulating the strokes rate.
Has anyone used one of these and to what extent it has enhanced your swimming performance ?
Thanks,
This works well for me. Used last season to increase my stroke rate and found it did the trick.
I use tempo to train to, although I use fixed tempo music. I do not try to swim fast or slow, I simply swim at a different tempo and the speed alters due to this fact. I can set clear targets, and see clear adaptations over time. I think it is worthwhile for training.
I’ve used the tempo trainer for my HS team for several years to increase the tempo for my sprinters. A strong freestyle can get down to around .62 per arm. Not as much value for a distance swim like a tri when you are going more for efficiency in distance per stroke.
i use one and am fairly new to them. I had a lesson with paul newsome from swim smooth.com. I had the tempo set to 62 spm and that got me to 19mins flat for 1km (yes im a slow swimmer, bop). I changed it to 60 as i felt i was cutting my stroke short a little bit, and on my first swim hit 18:20. So are they worth it? I think so. Great for speedwork too if you want to increase your cadence.
Well here is a thread for you
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=4325544;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread
Fast open water is having a higher stroke rate and less glide. Top open water swimmers have a higher stroke rate. One helps with conditions plus many others.
I don’t have a lot of sprint experience but for me, setting that tempo and hitting no matter what is pretty helpful.
For me, it works best in open water. The turns can be troublesome for me because I get out of whack on turns, though I know some people who actually use that as well, knowing they should break out after three beats and so on.
Worked well for me.
There is another area that people seem to miss out on when discussing a tempo trainer. All the talk seems to be on stroke rate. But I also found a huge benefit in stroke equality. My left arm is the weaker stroke side, I tended to have a nice strong pull on my right but my left was short and quick, almost as if I was trying to get it out of the way to get back on my strong side again. The Tempo Trainer helps me to slow down the left side, making sure I get a much cleaner and more efficient catch, pull and finish.
My response was directed to respond to the first thread. Because it is difficult to maintain a high stroke rate over a longer distance our program has found the tempo trainer more valuable towards distances up to around 200 yards. Our distance swimmers don’t retain as much value toward the longer events as they can’t be used in competition (pacing).
I fully agree they can benefit anyone with a slower turnover. The key is finding the balance between DPS and stroke rate for each individual. Most can’t maintain .62 over a longer distance. They are a great tool (we have 30 of them) but we see the benefit in the sprinters or less experienced swimmers that haven’t developed their turnover skills.
love using my finis tempo trainer, the second version (yellow). the battery is replaceable unlike the first one.
I’ve used one before although I have a pretty good feel for stroke rate so I generally go without it. The Finis Tempo Trainer is the best one I’ve seen. Check it out on my signature line…
Agree completely. For someone (like me) that came into triathlon with essentially zero swimming background - i.e. parents gave your swim lessons so you don’t die, not because they wanted you to swim efficiently the tempo trainer or equivalent is a great help.
Besides helping increase/maintain/develop stroke rate and help self-identify some imbalances I’ve also used it in a lot of races - open water swims and/or tris. Mostly because I set it at a cadence I know I can maintain for a race, but in case I get ahead of myself or have a hard time finiding my rythmn it also helps me calm down and focus on doing what I know my body is capable of.
Try it out - I don’t think you’ll regret it. And they float in case it falls out of your cap.
i have thought about using it in a race, but figured it wasnt really in the spirit of things?
Mi yellow Finis is to be ordered, after pressing “Post Reply”.
My 100’s meters are steady somewhere in the 1:50 to 2:10 minutes neigborhood in race days. Honing my technique has been a long process but has paid every effort. As a triathlete my aim is not certainly to be mega-fast on 50/100/200 meters. My goal is to take advantage of available techniques and tools to make my tri experience (mostly 70.3s and a few olimpics) more rewarding for me and more challenging for my tri friends here in local events.
My interest in the metronome came as I said initially from watching a team using it. But in previous weeks my 310xt was sent to Garmin for their refurbished exchange program. In the meantime purchased the 910xt that has more precision in open water mapping and meters counting. Thats how I came to encounter one graph in the Garmin web site called “SWOLF” which is a metric for efficiency. Nice, I did not had that metric before. But the SWOLF is “after the fact” - will certainly pay attention to my new SWOLFs after swimming on timer.
Another interesting thing said is I too shall discover which is my weaker or less skillful arm/side in my stroke cycle. I am by no means a lazy swimmer, I try my best, but this little device will be something external to me that I will have to obey in my laps instead of my own personal perception taking over.
I guess for longer distances shall also be very helpful to me, because my training includes 3x800meters, 4x600, etc.
Regards and a great 2013 !!!
Be careful of the SWOLF score and over-gliding. Based upon what I’ve seen from swim smooth, gerry rodriguez’s talks on open water swimming, and my own swim coaches, SWOLF is not really a great measure of open water swimming. Kind of useful in the pool under certain frames of reference but ultiimately, open water demands a higher cadence with power. If you look at some of the you tube videos of olympic open water swimming, etc and measure their cadence, it’s actually really high - but their power is such that the efficiency is there too. Then again, if you watch olympic lane swimming, some very fast swimmers have super high cadence which might imply a worse SWOLF score.
Just my opinion… i don’t care about SWOLF that much.
Yes I will, open water versus pool are two different environments, even lakes sometimes that are to be calm waters differ to pool. But I am sure I can make small adjustments here and there that will add up to a better swim with available advice and gadgets.
Also as you say, there are so many good swim technique and training videos in youtube - and other sites. I think that swimming although somewhat individual (bone weight and body mass affecting floatability, upper body strength, body and limbs length, etc.) the basic tools in this era of computers and technology luckily are here for us. And at ever more affordable prices.
Finis Tempo Trainer is a great tool for any triathlete. DPS is less important when you are swimming open water as there are so many other variables than pool swimming, thus stroke rate becomes very important.
I also use my tempo trainer for pacing on long sets. I do 4x1000 at a 1:25 per 100 yard pace so I set the TT to beep every 1:25 and then I wear my watch and set the timer to beep after 14 minutes so I know when I’m done if I lose count of laps. Having the TT for pacing has helped a lot and it makes the long intervals a little more fun since I’m always chasing the beeps and I know if I’m pace or not. It’s good feedback because you know if you go out too fast or slow and you know instantly if you start fading.
love using my finis tempo trainer, the second version (yellow). the battery is replaceable unlike the first one.
Major design flaw for the first one. I have $30+ “dead” Tempo Trainer. Fail!
Smart use, set both devices and just concentrate in the set at hand, both shall do their signaling at unison at end of set. Do you need to use it under a cap or you can hear it clear and loud hanging it from the goggles straps ? I would use it in the rear part of my goggles straps as my biceps and shoulder sometimes touch my head sides.