Build On Four Pillars
Consistently practicing high-quality dryland training is a proven way to gain confidence for open-water and triathlon freestyle swimming and surfing. It will prepare you to swim (or paddle a surfboard) stronger, better, and faster. Preparedness increases confidence for challenging open-water and triathlon swimming, especially on race day. Proper dryland swim-specific conditioning will improve technique efficiency, sustained power, and endurance. Plus, it’s a lot more fun to be fit and ready!
The Four Pillars of Athletic Performance
PurplePatch Coach Matt Dixon has written about the four keys to better performance. Here, we apply them to dryland swim training to improve propulsion, efficiency, durability, and injury prevention.
1) Consistency
2) Specificity
3) Progression
4) Patience
As a sports physiologist, coach, and lifelong athlete, I have found those performance guidelines fundamental for sports success. These four pillars are essential for improving open-water swimming. Through the years, thousands of athletes and coaches have reported that regular training with a Vasa SwimErg or a Vasa Trainer Pro allowed them to apply the four pillars when preparing for training sessions in open water, pool, and competitions.
Let’s review each fundamental guideline as it relates to swimming training:
Consistency –
If your circumstances prevent you from swimming as often as you might like, then maintaining consistent swim training is a problem to be solved. A prominent coach reported that having a SwimErg at home saves him at least two to three weekly trips to the pool. He saves time and money without the hassles of crowded lanes and chlorinated water. The solution he found works is to “swim” on the SwimErg at home instead. Other athletes simply need a swim-at-home solution due to inaccessible pools or foul weather conditions preventing open-water swims.
Specificity –
You can’t get much more specific on land for the Freestyle swimming stroke than proper pulling on the Vasa SwimErg and Vasa Trainer Pro. Every training session on a Vasa creates “built-in strength and power”. Plus, watching your stroke path on land while monitoring your power output is a real advantage.
Progression –
“If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it” is a famous quote often attributed to Peter Drucker. It means that without quantifiable data to track progress, it’s impossible to identify areas for improvement and make effective changes.
It’s difficult to improve that which we cannot measure. Fortunately, the SwimErg PM3 Power Meter displays and transmits high-quality, repeatable swim-specific training metrics, including power, stroke rate, distance, and pace per 100 meters. When athletes can sustain an efficient stroke technique, sustained power will improve over set distances. Also, the power meter displays right-arm and left-arm power numbers, making it easier to observe the power balance between sides.
Another thought on progression – many coaches rely on the Vasa SwimErg as an excellent diagnostic tool for teaching athletes how to swim stronger & better. They use it to diagnose an athlete’s limiters and make corrections. Since the athlete’s stroke path is visible, they can see the catch and pull, identify problems when the athlete fatigues, and notice if the swimmer accelerates “the paddle blade” from the catch to finish. It’s also useful for revealing an athlete’s weak core stability, bodyline, and other fatigue factors so that they can guide the athlete to take corrective actions.
Built into the SwimErg training system are useful biofeedback cues. For example, the sound of the fan wheel changes when the athlete accelerates the pull, which is a good indicator of applying propulsion at the correct time. Another cue is if the athlete’s legs sway side to side on the bench, it’s likely they are not connecting their core torso stabilizers with the pulling phase of the stroke or their core stabilizers are weak and need to be strengthened with targeted exercises.
Patience –
As is often said, “Patience is a virtue.” Be selective about your swim training and how you think about it whenever possible… and be patient. In the words of a great mentor, “Plan the play, Play the plan.” Trust that the results will come with persistence and diligent practice, and your confidence in open-water freestyle swimming will steadily grow.
Watch our videos on how to improve your open-water swimming.
About the author:
Rob Sleamaker is a sports physiologist, coach, author, and the founder of Vasa, Inc. He is the inventor of the Vasa Trainer and Vasa SwimErg, both used widely throughout the world to train athletes to become stronger, better, faster. Rob co-authored SERIOUS Training for Endurance Athletes, which became a classic book among endurance athletes and coaches. Most recently, he co-authored Triathlon Freestyle Simplified with Ironman-certified coach Conrad Goeringer.
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A successful triathlon training plan includes a variety of workouts to improve your performance in each discipline of the race. By incorporating swim, bike, run, strength, core, flexibility, mobility, nutrition, hydration, rest, recovery, mental training, and race simulation workouts into your training plan, you will be better prepared to tackle the challenges of the triathlon and achieve your goals on race day. If you’re looking for high-quality training products to enhance your triathlon training plan, consider Vasa. With our commitment to quality and performance, Vasa products are designed to help you get stronger, better, and faster in sports, fitness, and injury rehab. Remember, training with Vasa’s quality products consistently will save you time, build your swimming skills, and empower you to reach your full potential in triathlon and beyond.
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