Bench marks

Swimming Technique, Jul-Sep 2001 by Stott, Michael J, Whitten, Phillip

Swim benches are not only helpful in developing specific strength in swimmers, but they are also invaluable in addressing the critical areas of endurance, technique, power, speed, injury prevention and rehabilitation.

Time was when mega-yardage sets were dogma and deemed the preferred means to swimming improvement. Today, though establishing an aerobic distance base remains essential, advances in physiology and kinetic research, combined with better training techniques, offer healthier, more holistic and practical applications for swimmers and their coaches.

Integral to dryland training at the elite, college and university levels is the swim bench, which along with other on-deck devices is "all about simulating swimming," says David Marsh, head men's and women's swimming coach at Auburn. "Benches are one of the many ways to transition early season weight room strength to the pool."

The benches of choice are the Vermont-based Vasa Trainer and the Biokinetic Swim Bench, developed by Evan Flavell in Albany, Calif. Vasa lists more than 230 colleges and university customers on its web site (www.vasatrainer.com) and many college teams have equipment from both firms available to their swimmers.

"I think benches enhance our program," says Jack Bauerle, whose NCAA champion University of Georgia women's team does between 45 and 75 minutes of dryland per day, including 10 to 15 minutes every other day on the bench. "They have had a role in our success, and the work we do on them mirrors the types of training we are doing in the pool."

Two Different Effects

Coaches believe that the benches produce two very different effects. On Flavell's Biokinetic Swim Bench, swimmers move their arms in patterns identical to the various swimming strokes. It is an "exercise modality that can duplicare the swimming motion with speed," he says, with the result that acceleration capability is built into his product. That function reflects Flavell's early association with Doc Counsilman, who espoused exercising at speed.

Data-hungry coaches are particularly fond of the dynamic force and strength analysis possible with the Biokinetic Swim Bench. A simple hookup allows coaches to get computer readouts that calculate and graph power output for every pull. Jim Richardson, women's coach at the University of Michigan, has seven Biokinetic Swim Benches and seven Vasa Trainers, and likes to utilize the former for training and as a sophisticated testing device.

When he uses the machine's variable resistance capability for rate-specific work, he'll connect the Biokinetic Swim Bench to a computer to learn how much force a swimmer is exerting in a certain block of time. With sprinters, he is looking for peak information, or maximum force exertion in the shortest period, and often tests his sprinters at 8-10-12-second bouts at, or faster than, race pace. Cal Berkeley's Nort Thornton likes the machine's ability to find a swimmer's power peak (it varies by individual), then sets speed settings that permit optimum training loads.

The Vasa Trainer operates on a sled that rolls on a track and comes equipped with all sorts of cords, straps, pulleys and a slew of accessories. It's proponents like the variable resistance and different angles of attack and settings that make prone and supine use possible.

Thornton bought his first Vasa machine for the training effect, but finds he's gotten a bonus in the area of technique instruction. Not only does the swimmer get to anchor his hands and move the body past the hands as he would in the water, but he is also able to correct dropped elbows, "which is probably the greatest error made by swimmers all over the world." Marsh concurs with Thornton about the elbows, and likes the Vasa Trainer applications that allow butterflyers to set a high elbow and breaststrokers to work on deep kicks.

The Vasa Trainer also has a pulley cable system that allows the user to swim in place doing freestyle. It reduces the load significantly compared to using the webbing straps, which serve as an anchor to move the body past the hands. The pulley system allows for complete range of motion of the arms in freestyle and enables coach and swimmer to analyze arm strokes and correct flaws.

Says Bauerle, "It's a great teacher for backstroke because it gives the swimmer a good feel for the upsweep and finish. And for all strokes, it teaches the athlete to finish all the way through, giving a direct correlation for distance per stroke in the water."

The best swim bench candidates are those who have "good strength-to-mass ratios," says Richardson, whose familiarity with the devices dates back to 1983 and his days at Iowa. "You need to be able to handle your body weight adequately," and for that reason, he doesn't recommend benches for age groupers. "Young swimmers need body control movement. They need to do activities to handle their own weight. Once the foundation work is done, there is a place for swim benches," he says. "Unnecessary," concurs Marsh, until swimmers get to the national level.