On March 12th, 2013, we held a Vasa photo shoot in Burlington, Vermont to capture some of our new products in action -- which you'll be able to see on our Web site very soon!

In the meantime, here's a behind-the-scenes look at the photo shoot.

Harvard swimmer Caroline Weaver, U.S. open water swimmer Alex Meyer, and Level 4 ASCA and multisport coach Eric Neilsen joined us as models to expertly demonstrate Vasa equipment.

Stay tuned for the updated Vasa product line, coming very soon!

Check out the full Behind-the-Scenes album on Facebook! >>

1. Single arm & half pulls
2. Using the Halo template (optional accessory)
3. Test sets4. Interval training
5. Improve stroke rate
6. Cross training - incorporating butterfly
7. Swim-to-bike bricks
8. Power sets
9. Using power as your variable
10. Ergometer swim to real swim

>>WATCH THE VIDEO

Training for any sport or fitness goal requires a time commitment.

It can be a difficult balancing act just to get all of the physical training requirements and sleep, while still having a functional work and personal life in the weeks and months leading up to a race.

A nutrition and hydration strategy must be implemented for training sessions to optimize performance and post exercise nutrition needs to be monitored to help speed up recovery time & maintain a healthy body. Of course, the dedicated athlete should also be engaged in a year round core, strength and flexibility program.

Now, factor this all into a busy life of work, family, school, etc. and those 24 hours we are given each day quickly disappear. Given the limited amount of time one has to train some days, what can an athlete do to maximize that time?

One of the most effective ways for the time crunched athlete to improve performance and decrease potential injuries is to implement a post-exercise mobility and flexibility program.

Here is a scenario as coaches we see far too often after a workout... READ MORE >>

WATCH THE VIDEO:

]]> Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:26:18 +0000 admin By Tom Bamford, Age Group Triathlete and Vasa Trainer owner for 22 years

I purchased my Vasa Trainer in 1990, supplemented my training with the unit and then took a 20-year hiatus from triathlon competition.

Last year I didn’t find much time to return to the pool, but used the Vasa Trainer on a regular basis in 15-minute sessions. I was amazed to come out of the water in the top 10 in each of my races with a total of 10 pool workouts under my belt for the year.

I’m recommending the Trainer to a few of the PRO women I’m competing against.

The Vasa is a secret weapon, after the wetsuit.

Wetsuits provide efficiency through buoyancy (body positioning only competitive swimmers achieve), and the Vasa Trainer provides the swim-specific strength and stroke technique for speed. It’s also a good drill to keep your elbows high and head down, as you should in the water.

In my workouts, I use a 1991 Vasa Trainer with upgraded Webbing Straps and Paddles.

My key workout: 6 x 35 reps with 2 minutes rest in between to alleviate the burn. Something you can do almost every day.

I don’t do swim-bike bricks because I’m only on the Vasa Trainer for 15-20 minutes, and I don’t feel there’s a major blood pooling effect to manage.

You can swim three one-hour pool workouts plus fees and logistics (and burn out), or do three Vasa sessions for 15 minutes each and get the same effect. I started swimming in the pool once a week a month out from my first triathlon. I often wore my wetsuit to mimic body position and swam 1,500m or 2,000m time trials to get comfortable with the feel of the water and pace. I clock a sub 22-minute 1,500 without any trouble this way.

Real swimmers may disagree with this approach, but I’m a triathlete, father of three young kids and strive to be age-group competitive.

I think the age grouper could knock off three plus minutes using this tool. He should use his extra training time and put it into cycling or running, etc.

Where else are you going to get a three+ minute savings? Let’s look at the relative cost and time savings:

Aero wheels: $1,500+ for 2 minutes over 40km
Premier frame and drivetrain: $2,000 extra for 1 minute over 40km
Then you upgrade them every five years anyway. I’ve used the Vasa for 22 years.

How much running does an age grouper have to do to take off 2-3 minutes? If they are already running in the 43-50 minute range, an extra three minutes requires a massive training effort.

Swim technique? Most age groupers are coming out in 24-29 minutes. I can tell you that most triathlon participants these days hate the pool and are "swim weak." They are fit but have poor technique and strength.

If you are an Ironman triathlete, multiply everything by 2.5 or more. I read an article on SlowTwitch.com about three years ago recommending that age groupers swim more to improve their Ironman finish times. So many are weak swimmers that extra pool time can drop 10-20 minutes from their race. This is hard to achieve in the marathon or bike. The pool time will generate better technique and strength.

That’s exactly what the Vasa Trainer will do for you.

Questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Please leave a message below or send an e-mail to our Customer Service team at info@vasatrainer.com.

Visit the Training Resources for Triathletes page for more information on using the Vasa Trainer in your triathlon training.

We've heard countless stories from coaches and swimmers who've relied on the Vasa Ergometer for quality training while recovering from an injury that keeps them out of the pool. Their reports are often similar: Not only are the swimmers as fit as they were leading up to the injury, they're often stronger after some weeks using the Erg.

The following interview, conducted in 2009 with Kenyon College's assistant swimming coach, contains one of those stories.

***

VASA: How does Kenyon College use the Vasa Ergometer?

KENYON: This season, we used the Ergs as part of a dry-land circuit for our endurance-based swimmers three times a week. Within the “Erg stop” on the circuit, the swimmers would record their distance traveled each session with the idea of bettering that performance the next time. This was a great way to add some directly applicable strength to those swimmers. Another very effective (and extremely important) use was with two other groups. First, we had some people who really wanted to work on feeling a “catch” out in the front quadrant of their stroke, and those swimmers would hop on the Ergs before or after practice to work on that feel.

However, perhaps the most important group to use the Ergs was injured swimmers. Whether it was an ear infection, a broken foot, or bad knees, the Ergs were a great way for them to mimic swimming without putting their injuries at risk. We would have them “re-create” sets from workouts we were doing in the pool, or put together something that would help them maintain strength in their time out of the water.

VASA: Last season, we learned that one of your promising young freshmen injured his foot early on.  Would you tell us about that incident?

KENYON:  Zack had a great first semester, and dropped quite a bit of time at our December shave and taper meet. We were very excited about Zack’s potential for a great NCAA meet, then on just the second day of our Florida training trip, he severely injured his foot while playing catch on the beach. He had jumped up to catch the football, and awkwardly came down on his foot. Placed in a walking boot with instructions for no pushing off on the foot for several weeks, we all feared Zack would miss the rest of the season.

VASA: How did Zack manage to make a full recovery and come back to WIN the 50 Free – setting an NCAA record?

KENYON: While still in Florida, we set up a couple of stretch cords in the shallow end of the pool connected to an aqua-jogging belt that Zack wore along with a pull buoy. This allowed Zack to do some swimming workouts without pushing off or standing on his bad foot.

In addition, we had a well-known strength and conditioning trainer, Vern Gambetta, come by a number of times while we were in Florida. He helped us devise further methods of alternate training for Zack. A primary element of this training was using Vern’s Vasa Trainer. This allowed us to set up a number of different workouts that were able to address many of the losses Zack may have otherwise endured to his strength training. While we were able to do many weight training exercises, Zack was certainly limited in some planes by his injury, and his use with the Vasa Trainer very much helped in this area. We really had to keep good care of his foot, as the doctor warned that the joint was quite possibly unstable, and if so, further damage could be done. Obviously, we didn’t have to worry about this while using the Vasa Trainer.

Once we returned to Kenyon, we returned to the same alternate training for Zack with the Vasa Ergometer in place of the Vasa Trainer. This allowed Zack more freedom with the resistance in the training, and some workouts he would spend most of his time on the Erg, with a bit of swimming.

Eventually, we were able to move Zack back into a lane with other swimmers though he wasn’t able to push off with his bad foot. He swam in our last couple of dual meets from a (one-legged) push, and was able to do flip turns about a week out of our conference championship meet. He had a great meet at conference and we were looking forward to see what he could do at Nationals. He ended up surprising us all with a new school record in the 50 (19.86), and actually became the first freshman to win the 50 free at NCAA’s! Zack also swam on three NCAA record-setting relays, and took third in the 100 free. I have to give a lot of credit to Zack, as his desire to perform was second-to-none after being told he might not be able to finish his freshman season.

***

Do you have a story of your own you'd like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Contact us anytime.

For more coaching solutions, visit our Training Resources for Swim Coaches page.

Time for a morning pool swim! Set the alarm, pack the kids’ lunches, make the coffee, eat breakfast, drink the coffee, pack up my pool bag and swim suit, scrape ice off the car windshield, get in the car, drive to the pool, fumble for pool pass, stash my gear, change into swim suit, pull out my goggles and cap, walk to the pool, dip a toe in the cold, jump in, share a lane, swim and turn, swim and turn. Mixed-stroke warm-up, main set with drills and intervals, record times, count strokes (lose count), cool down. Out of the pool, wait for a shower, dry off, get dressed, out into the cold, into the car, and drive home. 2600y. Time elapsed: 1:45.

Time to train on the Erg! Walk upstairs, change into shorts, turn on the radio, grab a towel. Mixed stroke warm-up, drills, program in intervals, work toward specific power, pace, or stroke rate, cool down. Mop up sweat from floor. 1800m. Time elapsed: 0:33.

With just 24 hours in my day, two kids, one husband, a dog, two cats, a job, and three sports, there is no extra time. The Vasa Ergometer has allowed me to expand my swim training in an extremely efficient and effective way…and it’s a lot of fun!

Check out Cortney's specific savings outlined on the Vasa Ergometer Cost Calculator

Vasa provides a cost calculator that enables one to determine the dollar value of time and gas savings by training on Vasa equipment. Mine worked out to $2250 savings a year at 3 swims per week. You can’t put a price on the sanity savings though. That is priceless! It’s much easier to find 30 or 40 minutes to fit in an Ergometer workout than to carve out an hour and a half or more to get to the pool. There’s no mom guilt of being gone (and the kids enjoy the Erg too) and I no longer worry about dangerous winter road conditions.

With the Vasa Ergometer added to my bike trainer and treadmill I’m all set for at-home brick workouts too. Triathletes don’t shy away from investing in some serious bike hardware; they should consider the time and cost tradeoffs of investing in a Vasa Ergometer for dryland swim training to improve their swim stroke, freestyle power and endurance…and race speeds!

Cortney Martin is an avid triathlete and a Guest Contributor for Vasa. Read more about Cortney and follow her 2013 race calendar on her blog, Cort the Sport.

"Five minutes on the Vasa is like 20 minutes in the pool." -Geordie McConnell, Head Coach, Ottawa Triathlon Club

Whether you're already a Vasa Trainer owner or considering becoming one, you'll benefit from this customer-created video.

Ottawa Triathlon Club's Head Coach, Geordie McConnell, recorded an introduction to the Vasa Trainer for his club members so they could quickly become accustomed to using the machine properly and to their benefit. This video is an excellent resource for athletes and coaches alike, whether new to the Vasa Trainer or just wanting a quick refresher.

Three key points covered in Geordie's video:

1. How to get on and off the Vasa Trainer safely;
2. Early Vertical Forearm instruction;
3. Proper freestyle stroke instruction

WATCH THE VIDEO:

]]> Wed, 02 Jan 2013 12:07:20 +0000 admin Introduction

This dry-land swim circuit, which utilizes the Vasa Ergometer and the Vasa Trainer, is based on a DVD that Rob Sleamaker had sent to me last year. That DVD was a circuit created by the late Fran Crippen, open water World Champion.** I have created a dry-land swim circuit that has a lot of variations. This circuit can be used as a supplement to in-water swim training, or in place of a swim workout.

WATCH THE VIDEO:

Circuit components:

1. Vasa Ergometer intervals: These can range from medium to longer steady sets of broken 50m or 100m segments with 5 to 10 seconds rest between each interval.

2. Prone reverse freestyle: This is best done on a ham glute bench with the feet anchored and the tubing anchored near the feet. This reverse freestyle motion is for training the recovery aspect of the swim stroke while stabilizing the posterior chain hamstrings, glutes and low back extensors.

3. Vasa Trainer 2-arm pulls: Double arm swim pulls with a 3 to 4 second eccentric lowering to build swim pull strength and fatigue resistance. Intensity levels and number of pulls can be varied.

4. Ab wheel rollouts: These difficult anterior core exercises are the perfect complement to swimming on the Ergometer. The ability to stabilize the hips and core while arms are extended out develops very specific swimming power.

Possible circuit:

Warm-up: 100 to 200m easy swimming on the Vasa Ergometer

3 to 4 circuits of:

1. Vasa Ergometer intervals: 3x 100m holding best average watts at damper door setting 2. Rest interval: 15 seconds.

2. Prone reverse freestyle: 15 stoke cycles as a catch-up stroke, always keeping one arm extended out in front.

3. Vasa Trainer 2-arm pulls: 20 pulls / 3 second eccentric phase.

4. Ab wheel rollouts: 10 reps maintaining a neutral spine.

There are many variations that can be used to fine-tune this circuit to meet your needs.

- If you do not have access to a Vasa Trainer, pull-ups or inverted rows on a TRX can be substituted.

- Ab wheel rollouts can be substituted with stability ball, slide board or TRX rollouts.

- Watch the video above for more suggestions.

This circuit is challenging when you first begin, but as strength, power and endurance improve, you will be able to handle more circuits. You can create any number of versions using this concept. Invite a few fellow athletes, and you have an effective small group training session.

Happy training!

Coach Tim

**The DVD Coach Tim is referring to is Open Water Swim Technique by Fran Crippen, and can be purchased directly through Vasa. 100% of the profits from the sale of this DVD will be donated to the Fran Crippen Elevation Foundation. For more information, please visit http://www.francrippen.org.

Professional triathlete and 2016 Olympic hopeful, Capt. Nicholas Sterghos, is featured in a U.S. Army article about his ongoing training. Capt. Sterghos discusses the road to Rio, including his use of the Vasa Ergometer to stay in top swimming shape while deployed in Kuwait.

Check out his training advice here.