The new TYR Hurricane Freak of Nature. 100% 40 cell Yamamoto rubber.

“An incredibly innovative and forward looking design. No other wetsuit in the world has that.” – Chrissie Wellington

To read more please click here.

Limits will fall.

Swimming technique, if you do 1 thing wrong you will set the whole balance out. Swimming is a little different to the other disciplines.  To get faster you need to train faster but to go faster you need to nail the technique, to nail the technique you need to do drills and you need to do the drills slowly. Okay so it’s not much different. But not many athletes realise that.

I very often see people swimming as fast as they can, displacing water in all directions other than backwards. If your technique is poor then going faster can only be sustained for a short period. Efficiency is a key ingredient to swimming success.

If you think that swimming 1.5 – 2km per session 2-3 times per week is good enough to get you through the swim of an Olympic distance triathlon, then you would be right. But to improve you would quite literally need to double your efforts.

Another thing I see all too often are coaches who put good sets together for their squads, but provide little to no technique specific coaching. If you are already in a squad make sure that you ask your coach give you some technique correction. I cannot emphasize enough, the importance of developing good swimming habits.

If you’re not in a squad, find a coach. If your budget is tight, I would then suggest going for 4 lessons every alternate month for 4 months. Thereafter a once a month check-up would suffice. This is the bare minimum if swimming is not your strong point.

Make sure you understand how to do the drills correctly. Drills make for a great pre-speed set warm-up or as a good recovery session after a big race.

Below are several links which should help you gain a better understanding of why technique is so important, what makes a difference and how to go about it.

http://onceinspired.co.za/trainingracing/swimming-kick/

http://onceinspired.co.za/trainingracing/swimming-kick-secret-tip-legs-video-series/

http://onceinspired.co.za/trainingracing/using-a-pull-buoy-while-swimming/

http://onceinspired.co.za/trainingracing/swim-less-swim-faster/

http://onceinspired.co.za/trainingracing/swimming-technique-7-tips/

http://onceinspired.co.za/trainingracing/swimming-technique-understanding-it-all/

If you have any question regarding swimming I will be glad to assist. Keep an out for my open water swimming piece coming soon. Follow me on Twitter @NicMuhl or find me on Facebook – Nic Muhl & Once Inspired.

Happy Swimming

Nic

Kicking is quite a debatable issue and sometimes a sore point amongst coaches and swimmers alike. Some swimmers simply cannot kick and trying to get a swimmer to kick as a coach is not often as easy as one may think. There are a number of reasons why some swimmers have a strong kick and why others simply don’t move when doing kicking drills.

In triathlon there is quite a debate regarding how necessary the kick really is. Many believe that using a kick simply as a means of balance and having a short fast arm stroke is the answer. Whilst this is true in some cases, this is not applicable to every athlete.

The amount of thrust generated by swimmers depends mostly on the range of motion of the foot. The greater the plantar flexion the greater thrust produced by the kick. Thrust or propulsion is generated when the legs are drawn back together as opposed to when they are separated. From the point of separation the foot at the surface is drawn down whilst the deeper foot is drawn up. Emphasis should be placed on the down kick.

Foot range of motion can be increased through stretching. For plantar flexion, stretch the foot and toes down and back, increasing the angle between top of the foot and front of the leg.

Now that we have spoken of the importance of the feet during kicking let’s talk about the knee.

Knee bend once again depends entirely on the individual. Ideally the less knee bend the better, however runners and cyclists traditionally have very poor plantar flexion and some knee bend is required in order to achieve the correct foot angel relative to the water.

I am willing to bet that many of you that have a poor kick have tried to kick with a straight leg and it made absolutely no difference. When you bend your knees you may even tend to move slightly faster but not nearly fast enough. The reason why the bend in the knee helps is because it corrects the angle of the foot relative to the water. By bending the knee the foot is more perpendicular to water thus creating more resistance and generating thrust. Ideally you want to kick with a straight leg which means that you require greater plantar flexion and stronger hip flexors. Here are some exercises and drills to get you moving.

Vertical Kicking

Go to the deep end of the pool. It should be deep enough to allow you to kick vertically without touching the bottom. Point your toes and keep your chin above the water. You should feel your quads and hips. You can use fins but ensure that you warm up properly first and do some plantar flexion stretches beforehand.

Push offs

Go underwater and push off the bottom in a streamline position. Try and keep you body out the water for as long as possible by kicking vertically. Do not use fins for this.

Use Fins
Fins help with ankle flexibility. However make sure that you aren’t using something too long. Something around the length of Zoomers are ideal. Just please don’t use your fins for the entire session. Dedicate some sets to using fins. A nice way to incorporate using fins and better your all round performance is to introduce butterfly drills to your warm up set using fins.

Sit on Your Feet
Sitting on your feet (kneeling) can greatly improve your ankle flexibility. The “Child’s Pose” is perfect.

Just Stretch
In a seated position point one leg out infront of you. Extend your feet and push your toes toward the ground. Hold for 20 seconds.

Use a smaller kick board

By using a smaller kick board you are forced to stabilize more. When is comes to the turn try doing a tumble turn whilst keeping both hands on the board. This isn’t easy, but practice makes perfect.

Kick on your back

Kicking on your back simply helps work some other muscles aiding stability.

So as you can see the kick is quite a serious issue. Kick differs from person to person but if you can master the kick there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t use it.

Many triathletes think that it’s better if they don’t kick while they swim in order to save their legs for the bike and run. But surely if kicking makes you a more efficient swimmer then it would be better? Well if you didn’t believe it here are some videos as to why you should kick, courtesy of The Race Club

Propulsion

Lift

Stabilizing Force

Inertia

Pull buoys are useful tools in helping you improve your swimming. Every swimmer should use one. It’s just that simple. Please see below a nice piece on using pull buoys taken from http://www.goswim.tv/.

You take a piece of foam, hold it between your thighs, and go swim. Could it get any simpler? Well, yes. Here are some pull-buoy dos and don’ts that will help you EXCEL on your next pull set. And for triathletes: Learn how to use your pull buoy to simulate wetsuit swimming in the pool.

Why Do It:
Some swimmers and coaches have banned pull buoys from their tool kit, arguing that they give you a false sense of balance, that they inhibit core rotation, and that they’re more like a binky than a pool tool. But when used correctly and in moderation, pull buoys have many benefits.

Pull Buoy Dos:
1. Use a pull buoy that’s the right size and buoyancy for you. Young swimmers will find it difficult to manage a large pull buoy, and really young swimmers — under age 10 — probably shouldn’t use them at all. Young swimmers and lighter swimmers will do best with a small pull buoy, like one shown at the right. If you are a larger swimmer, or if your legs are dense and heavy, you might find it helpful to use TWO pull buoys for extra buoyancy.

2. Use a pull buoy that feels comfortable to you. They come in all shapes and sizes. If you have a two-piece buoy, experiment with the cord adjustment until it works for you.

3. Wear the pull buoy as high as possible. The lower it is, the harder it is to hold.

4. Keep your front end LOW in the water. The idea is to minimize resistance. So…look DOWN and just slightly forward… and press in on your sternum. This is a key focal point for triathletes. When you wear a wetsuit, the extra buoyancy tends to make your head and torso ride higher in the water. Also, when you’re swimming in open water, there’s a tendency to look forward rather than down. The result is that you often swim “uphill” in a wetsuit triathlon. Wearing a pull buoy simulates this “uphill” position…and gives you an opportunity to learn how to correct it. So the idea is to look down and press in on your chest when you wear a pull buoy. Learn what this feels like in the pool, so you can get the same feeling when you’re wearing a wetsuit.

5. Point your toes! This reduces drag and let’s you rotate a bit more freely. It also lets you get maximum power from your pull. If you feel like you are the slowest person in the pool during a pull set, try pointing your toes and see what happens. It can make a HUGE difference.

6. Engage your abs.  AKA suck in your gut…pull in your stomach. This gives you a longer, straighter bodyline, and can help you swim a bit faster with less effort.

7. Breathe less often than normal. Using a pull buoy takes a huge burden off your leg muscles — some of the largest muscles in the body. This gives you an aerobic cushion and you should DO something with it, rather than swim as if you were on an oxygen tank. Use the extra air as an opportunity to extend your breathing pattern by one or two strokes. You might be surprised at how good this makes your stroke feel, and how easy it is to do. It might feel so good that you decide to try it all the time! (Just one of the benefits of using a pull buoy.)

8. Focus on your pull. This seems obvious, but lots of swimmers simply zone out when they put on a pull buoy. The point of a pool tool is that it helps you focus on a particular aspect of your stroke. So when you’re pulling, pick one part of the pull — hand entry, catch, elbow, release point, etc. — and pay attention to it.

9. Focus on your pushoffs, streamlines, and breakouts. The pull buoy gives you a boost for doing all these things a little better, stronger, and longer. Go with it.

Pull Buoy Don’ts:
1. Try not to kick.  It gives you an unfair advantage over other swimmers in your lane who are not kicking, and who are trying to focus on the pull. It’s OK for your feet to shift a little for balance, but don’t make whitewater.

2. Don’t always do flip turns.  Wearing a pull buoy can help you improve your open turns for breast and fly (and free). The pull buoy forces you to keep your legs together and to tuck efficiently. It also increases your awareness of your foot/toe position during the tuck. Try to keep the toes pointed (and even overlap your feet) during the tuck.

Spoilt by TYR 5 days ago I will now be racing in the TYR Hurricane Category 5 wetsuit. This wetsuit is absolutely amazing. The technology is fantastic and so is the fit.

The tapered neck is a winner. Nice and low, and unlike other suits with low necks, this one actually seals, and very well.

The panel layout is simply genius. Adding bouncy in all the right places and flexibility where you need it most. Sure, part of the plan is to add bouncy but unlike a lot out there, TYR has taken this one step further and has paid attention to body position. By placing certain panels in certain places, and by using a combination of various thicknesses TYR really have developed the perfect wetsuit. TYR have called this clever bit of technology the 360° Core Stabilization System and it goes a little something like this:

“Five core stabilization panels precisely target the muscle groups to elevate the swimmer ensuring optimal body position and preservation of core strength over the long-term of the swimming race.”

Most wetsuits on the market certainly help with bouncy but how about shape?

Another thing that stood out for me was the Form Fitting Wrist Cuffs – “Multi-stretch cuffs at the wrist allows powerful strokes while keeping water from entering the suit.”

Also, the Free R.O.M Zones work very well too. These are panels specifically placed eliminating constriction and allowing the swimmer to achieve a long reach while placing no strain on the shoulder.

And the final stand out:

Quick Release Ankle Cuffs – “Tapered legs allow the ankle of the suit to reverse and open for a quick and effortless removal during T1”

I guarantee you that none of the above is any form of marketing, smoke or mirrors. It’s genuine and it seriously makes a significant difference.

I actually needn’t say anything more. The TYR Hurricane Category 5 is phenomenal. It will make you swim faster. What more do you want?

Yes, I too am very excited to go get wet! The TYR Hurricane Category 3 is quite simply a phenom of a wetsuit.

Oh how I love to get new things… even if it’s just to try out the latest and greatest. I have been blessed to swim in 2 Xterra wetsuits, the Vector Pro and the Vendetta. These are the flagship suits from Xterra and I really enjoyed them both.

Unfortunately the Venetta was one size too big which meant, for me, that it was a little loose in the small of my back allowing water to wash around as I moved. So therefore I will just talk about the features of this suit rather than my personal swimming experience in it.

The Vendetta is Xterra’s most technologically advanced wetsuit—  it is the most flexible and buoyant wetsuit ever made.

FLEXIBLE
• 5mm front and 3mm back of neoprene
• Fully coated with the slickest possible Nano-Super Composite Skin
• Maintaining an industry leading 0.02 drag coefficient

BUOYANT
• Front panel, from neck to ankles, has X-Air Buoyancy Cells, tiny air pockets embedded throughout the neoprene
• X-Air paneling keeps your body high in the water, thereby reducing drag and increasing speed

CUTTING-EDGE DESIGN
• Anatomically correct arms— each arm and shoulder is made up of 6 individually cut panels of 1.5 mm thick neoprene
• Panels follow the natural curve of the swim stroke, allowing faster and smoother swimming with less effort
• Seam-seal technology uses a triple layer of glue and double-blind stitching to ensure waterproof and long-lasting seams

Now onto the Xterra Vector Pro, which I loved. It has won more Ironman races than any other wetsuit. Just incase you needed to know.

FLEXIBLE
• 5mm front and 3mm back of neoprene
• Fully coated with the slickest Super Composite Skin coating
• Maintaining a 0.03 drag coefficient

BUOYANT
• Maximum legal thickness for increased buoyancy

CUTTING-EDGE DESIGN
• Anatomically correct arms— each arm and shoulder is made up of 6 individually cut panels of 1.5 mm thick neoprene
• Panels follow the natural curve of the swim stroke, allowing faster and smoother swimming with less effort
• Seam-seal technology uses a triple layer of glue and double-blind stitching to ensure waterproof and long-lasting seams

The Xterra Vector Pro gave me a shape that I have never experienced in any suit. My hips stayed nice and high and there is loads of buoyancy in the chest. The panel layout is fantastic. The flotation vs. flexibility characteristics of this suit is, dare I say, perfect.

Another thing I love is the neck. If you have a problem with necks sealing and chafing the Xterra neck mechanism great. Although I wouldn’t call the neck piece perfectly comfortable it definitely works very well. It seals fantastically and for me, not chafing was a blessing. Just be careful when you attached the zip-puller Velcro to the neck piece. If you place it too high, it will leave you with what might look like a hickie from one of the Twilight characters.

The only downer I found was that the zip didn’t seal perfectly, but that might have been a little easier to notice because of the water that was seeping in was 12 degrees Celsius. I’d give the Xterra Vector Pro 9 out 10.

If you want to get your hands on one of these beautiful crafted suits you can contact me via the contact page.

Happy swimming

Thank you to Dean Kruyer and the guys from Xterra Wetsuits