Swim Question: Tempo Trainer

Yeah, I've written a TON about using a tempo trainer. In fact, it's the ONLY toy that I use in the pool.

The tempo trainer can do so much more than "push" you, but here's why it's better than a pace clock alone.

Your speed (what we are all ultimately chasing). is the product of your tempo and your stroke length. (plus a pushoff).

When you use only a pace clock in your trianing, you have one data point taht is the product of two others. If you want to get faster, you can "try harder" to "swim faster", and you'll be successful to a point, but I know for certain that everyone here has experienced trying to swim fast...and just getting more tired.

With the tempo trainer as an addition, you can empirically measure what's changing. try a set where you swim 50s. start at an easy tempo of 1.2 for example, or something a little slower than your normal tempo. Swim 50s (or 25s) by decreasing just .02 seconds at a time and Count your strokes. Standardize your pushoff by keeping it to 3 beeps of the tempo trainer.

Descend yoru set of 50s by .02 seconds/stroke and then take a look at the resultant stroke counts and times...see how much faster you get vs. how many strokes you add. At what point does the addition of a stroke stop resulting in an increase in time? What is your tempo trainer setting at that pace? Here is a point in your swimming that you've discovered is either technique or fitness limited or a combination of both. You know by testing and gathering measurable data exactly what combination of tempo and stroke count you stop gaining speed without giving up too much.

Say for example you increase your speed an average of 1 second for each stroke you add. Then as the tempo increases you add 2 strokes to gain 1 second, then with the next incrase you add 3 strokes and you get 1 second faster. "Conventional" wisdom wouldn't be able to differentiate this point where tempo vs. stroke length starts degrading, but with the tempo trainer you can.

The tempo trainer can do so much more as well. This past weekend Terry came to Pittsburgh and we held an "easy speed" clinic with 12 triathletes from PA, OH, NY and WV. We did 1 drill (Single finger swimming) during warmup and the rest of the session was a series of 3 tempo trainer sets. Every single person, but using the tempo trainer, took strokes off their 50s while getting faster...one triathlete went from his "easy effort" 200 of 2:12 to 1:40...by simply using the tempo trainer to find these sweet spots in his swimming where he can focus on improvement of both pacing and technique. his was the most dramatic example, but EVERYONE got faster by simply improving their efficiency at given tempos because they were suddenly made aware of waht their body was doing and what the result was.

I could go on and on and on and I have in other posts. There are so many great ways to use the tempo trainer, not just using it to "push yourself", although that works too.