Does the Vasa Ergometer provide (roughly) the same type of workout benefit for the swim that a fluid trainer does for the bike?
A well respected USAT coach, said “the Vasa Swim Ergometer is to swimming what the Computrainer has done for cycling. If the swim is your weak link, you need to check out the erg.”
You can read the full article here: http://tinyurl.com/ownssm
A well respected USAT coach, said “the Vasa Swim Ergometer is to swimming what the Computrainer has done for cycling. If the swim is your weak link, you need to check out the erg.”
Does this mean that we’re going to see a bunch of pretty strong swimmers who can’t hold a line and who swerve all over the place, crashing into other people and generally causing mayhem in the water?
Probably, but I think we already have that.
As a VASA Erg owner I am not sure I entirely agree with the computrainer comment but for weak/late in life swimmers, it is great. If I have no bike handling skills but ride my trainer like a madman, I am still going to be fast on the bike. On the other hand, I can use the erg forever but if I get to the lake and my feet are dragging on the bottom, I have no idea how to breathe or sight, I am not going anywhere very fast.
With the egr (besides the obvious convienence factor) I like that I can work on form and strength without having to worry about pesky little things like drowning. It feels enough like real swimming that you can do real swim sets on it (unlike stretch cords or Vasa trainer). But unfortunately you still need to get the water at some point. I don’t have a pool anywhere near me, hence the erg. So I use it during the week and then hit the Lake on the weekends (for as long as the weather holds out in CT).
One other thing is I didn’t realize was just how weak I was until I starting using it. It came with a free swimervals and the people were throwing down like 3-4x the watts that I was…but I am getting closer.
Mark
Probably, but I think we already have that.
We currently have a bunch of really weak swimmers who veer all over the place and crash into everyone. If they get stronger it might hurt when they punch you in the back of the head!
have you noticed faster swim splits or faster swimming intervals in training?
Before buying an Erg I talked with enough folks who PRed their first time back in the pool after a long stretch of Vasa only training. I’m beginning to think these folks had some good swim form and so the aerobic fitness and strength transferred well to the water. For me, not so much.
What did I gain? Well, I can swim as fast as before without ever going to the pool. Since I sucked before this is only an improvent in time saved training, which for me was only half of what I wanted. I wanted to be a faster swimmer as well and that has not happened yet.
If you are already a good swimmer (in terms of form) then the Erg can be a great benefit to you if you have a hard time making it to the pool. It will still benefit you if are not such a great swimmer, but you still have to acquire the proper “in the water” swim form to go with your aerobic strength.
Chad
The vasa lets you do swim-bike bricks in your basement and lets you create interesting workouts to make indoor training fun.
I have had my vasa for 3 1/2 years now. I swim faster in races if I am swimming often on the vasa supplemented by 5000 or so yards per week swimming in water. I swim the same as when I was in a pool a lot if I swim exclusively on the vasa. The benefit is I have a lot more free time to have a life, and I have more time to train running and biking, which leads to much faster times for me. The other big benefit is a good vasa workout takes me 20-minutes, but a good pool workout takes me 45-minutes to an hour (plus the commute time, changing, trying to find an open lane, time when the 500 swim teams that practice at the local Y are not practicing), etc.
It came with a free swimervals and the people were throwing down like 3-4x the watts that I was…but I am getting closer.
Mark
Yeah, but look at the crappy form that most of them are using - I think only one of the four athletes in the video have any idea of what a high elbow is. I can generate a lot higher wattage on the Erg if I use straight arm pulling on the Erg - unfortunately this does not translate to faster speeds in the water. When I use the Erg I concentrate on maintaining a high elbow, and long strokes - I also vary between low resistance/high turnover sessions to help me get used to swimming with a higher turnover, and high resistance (damper setting of 5-7)/low turnover sessions to help develop swim specific strength. Anyways, the Erg is a great training tool and will improve your swim - just be sure to still hit the pool regularly.