Customer Reviews

Workouts in a Binder: Swim Workouts for Triathletes

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Swim Workouts in a Binder for Triathletes is my new "Most Valuable Tool" for training this season. Bernhardt begins the book by making a concise case for sound, purposeful training. No more meaningless laps or jumping in the pool and developing "a plan" on the spot. You can use the workouts, enough to keep you interested for a long time, on their own as you wish. Alternatively, you can truly maximize this nugget by developing your own plan for the season. She provides a 12 week program, assuming 3-4 swims per week, to save you planning time and/or to give you a general structure. The plan is adaptable and flexible and I see no difficulty in adjusting it to my own training needs. In order to accomodate new and seasoned athletes, and those training for shorter courses and iron distance, each workout has two distance options. Your first workout will be a test so you have a reference tool (time) that keeps you training at your own pace instead of some speedier (or slower) swimmer a lane over. Bernhardt makes purposeful training so understandable that you'll wonder why you even bothered "just getting in for a swim" in the past. I have the Triathletes Training Bible (Friel) and Training Plans for Multisport Athletes (Bernhardt), and this book is a great addition. While the other two books have helped me understand what I want to do in order to train well, Swim Workouts in a Binder has saved me hours of time in my season planning and given me a renewed excitement for pool training.

The book is the perfect size to sit at the edge of the pool for mid-workout reference, and the sturdy spiral binding keeps your page in place. It will get absolutely soaking, and that's okay.

Anything negative? No negatives, only an understanding of what it is not meant to contain. For instance, the only drills she brings into the workouts are finger drags, one-arm swimming, and catch up. It is clear that any other drill could (and should) be added or switched in according to personal needs. For a guide to swimming technique you have to look elsewhere. Expect just what the title of the book indicates. It's perfect.

The workouts and the book overall are good, and for the self-coached athlete, much better than trying to think up a workout every day. There are two main sets for each workout, one longer than the other, but they could use more differentiation - one may be 2600 meters and the other 2300 meters. It should be more like 2600 and 1900. Or slip a third option in the middle. Of course, if you are reasonably experienced, it's not had to extrapolate whatever distance you plan to do for the day.

But....the flaw...once you get it wet, it's nearly impossible to get it dry again!

The pages are waterproof, but they stick together and even a little splash seems to get every page wet. Unless you stand it up and open as many pages as you can, rotating this every couple hours for several days, you just can't get it dry before it starts to mildew and stink. I evn tried putting it in the dryer (on that removable non-rotating shelf) but unless you get those pages open, it won't dry.

Two solutions I've found- (1) take off the spiral binding, hole punch the pages (not easy, since the pages are plastic), but it into a binder, and just take a single page for the day's workout to the pool, or (2) keep the whole thing in a big ziploc bag, turning to the page you want first, then zipping it in for the pool. This work pretty well, and keeps you from owning "Stinky Workouts in a Binder".

I've been fitness swimming for several decades which usually means go to pool, swim a mile. I recently started working through the workouts in this book with some triathlon friends. Still manage to get my mile but every day takes a different focus, my swimming has improved and I enjoy it more. Each page is something fresh and different. While the pages are waterproof, you do need to spend a few minutes and wipe EVERY page dry when you get home, not a big deal. Or stick the book in a ziplock bag and avoid the wet pages problem in the first place.

While it doesn't matter if you swim in metres or yards, the book is written for a short course 25 metre/yard pool. If you're like me and have the luxury of a 50m pool, you'll find that some of the drills don't convert nicely to the long course.

I was on the swim team as a little kid. I mean little. Never learned how to do a flip-turn. At 32 I decided to try swimming as a way to stay fit. After a few months in the pool, I was losing weight, but getting bored. I bought this book just for variety in my workouts. A mere three months later, other swimmers are stopping me and asking if I competed in college, how many triathalons I have competed in (zero!), and I even had someone's coach tell me I had great form. I attribute my development into a speedy, flip-turning, bilateral breather 100% to this book. The workouts based on form and muscle endurance are my favorites and have helped me the most. The workouts are long - I just set a timer for one hour and do what I can....lately, I have started finishing the sets before my timer goes off. The book is freestyle only, and I look forward to trying the book with all four strokes. I recommend the book to anyone who asks me how they can become a better swimmer!

This book appears to be similar to the Waterproof Coach: The Waterproof Workout Book for Fitness Swimmers and Triathletes published several years ago. The Waterproof Coach has more versatility because it's interior workout pages can be rearranged to create thousands of combinations of workouts.

A friend of mine had this book at the pool doing their workout, and bought it for me as a gift. Prior to getting the book, I was trying to come up with my own workout. This book provides me with much bettered structured workouts, and I am working out harder and better than ever before.

The two levels are good, as some days I do the shorter workouts, and time permitting I can attempt the longer ones. And of course, I can always add/subtract from those.

I am not having problems yet with the book getting wet. The pages seem to stay dry for me, but I put a towel on the deck, and then stand the book up on a towel.

I highly recommend this book if you are trying to workout on your own.

I bought this book after I mistakenly bought the newer, updated version that had workouts more geared for swimmers (different strokes, really high volume, etc). I am very pleased with the book, it offers direction and a plan for those who previously just jump in, swim 1500 and leave. The book has different types of workouts (endurance, speed, strength, etc)and has 2 versions per workout (one usually 500M less than the other). Each workout is 2000M-3500M, so it can be done in a reasonable amount of time. Waterproof pages are key as well

I've had the book for 6-8 months now and it has proved to be very useful. It provides you with many,many,many choices for your workout needs in the pool.

The distances are probably a bit daunting for beginners or for the self-titled "not-so-good-at-swimming' individual. Average swim distances run from 2200-2800 mts for the workouts. This isn't too bad if you have some fairly decent swimming experience.

While this workout booklet is a strong product on it's own it is geared towards the triathlon peeps. This has been a very useful tool that is used in conjunction with the Training Plans for Multisport Athletes: Your Essential Guide to Triathlon, Duathlon, XTERRA, Ironman, and Endurance Racing book.

One of the main complaints seen in the comments is that the book doesn't dry...this true but it's not that big of a deal (in my opinion at least). Besides it's great having this plastic wonder by your lane while some folks leave once used soggy swim workout papers by the pool side.

One last thing to consider is that if you don't own swim paddles, a kick board or a pull buoy, you may want to think of purchasing these items as they are part of some of the workouts.

Overall an excellent guide for those seeking routines in the pool that are challenging and can help you towards improved performance.

What a great product. I use it every time I go to the pool. It takes the guesswork out of training and mixes things up. It's like having a silent trainer.

I have been using this book now for 2 months and I have enjoyed the variations in the works that I get each time I go to the pool, it can not replace the value of a coach, but as a training tool it can't be beat.

As far as the one reviewer who said the pages never dry, I have not had this problem at all. I take it from the pool, throw it in my bag, and it seems to be dry again ready for use two days later.