Are you a swimmer or triathlete that’s extremely busy? Do you find it difficult to get to a pool for your swim training? Consistent, quality swim training is an important aspect to fitness and the key to successful workouts. One of the most frequently asked questions we get is whether swimmers and triathletes can effectively use Vasa equipment as a substitute for pool workouts. The short answer is, Yes! Many swimmers and coaches use the freestyle exercise to duplicate timed sets or long aerobic workouts. Using the Vasa Swim Erg at home is a great alternative, if you can’t find the time to get to the pool.
Want to know how you can get a total body swim at home workout? In the video below, Triathlon and Strength & Conditioning Coaches Tim Crowley & Al Lyman demonstrate how a total body conditioning workout integrates the use of the Vasa Swim Erg (swim bench) with key functional conditioning exercises that will build essential resistance to fatigue. Developing swim-specific and functional muscular endurance allows you to maintain efficient swim technique longer while connecting the core for greater Freestyle power.
The Total Body Swim At Home Workout includes core, general conditioning, and swim-specific training. It’s ideal for swimmers, triathletes, surfers, and CrossFit athletes looking to improve their swimming and stamina.
Here is the workout used in this video:
1. Progressive warm up – Freestyle swimming on Vasa Swim Erg
2. Main Workout
– Vasa Swim Erg – 200m Freestyle set
– Push ups on Swiss ball (a tremendous core stability and upper body exercise)
– Vasa Swim Erg – 200m Freestyle set (maintain your target watts and hold proper technique)
– Jacknife on Swiss ball
– Vasa Swim Erg – 200m Freestyle set (maintain your target watts and hold proper technique)
– Swiss ball rollout
This workout will improve resistance to fatigue and will result in faster, more efficient freestyle swimming and maintenance of effective freestyle technique and high elbow catch throughout the swim. The variations are limitless. Add your favorite functional exercises to strengthen your known weaknesses. You can use the Swim Erg like a Vasa Trainer to do body weight strength exercises with light dumbbells, stretch cords or resistance bands, Bosu Ball, Medicine balls, or Physio balls. You can also choose some or all of these Core Stabilizer exercises to do along with your Vasa Swim Erg sets.
We hope this total body swim at home workout will accelerate improvements in your swim technique, speed, sustained power and stamina. To see our other training videos, please visit our Vasa YouTube channel. If you are looking for specific training workouts our Training Resources can be a valuable resource to give you the training materials you need for both the Vasa Trainer and Vasa Ergometer—all in one place! Lastly, many of our blogs feature “swim-specific” workouts for you to practice at home, in the pool or in open water. If you’d like to view these workouts, please visit our blog.
Swim Training is courtesy of VASA, a SwimSwam partner.