Are VASA trainers worth it?
Here's my scenario: I'm booster board president for a high school team. Our coach acquired six VASA trainers that need to be refurbished, approx $2,000 total.
We practice off site from the high school, so dry-lands are done at the pool. There is no fitness room or equipment like that at the pool, so the kids do body weight exercises and maybe some bands.
I'm looking for input from people who've used VASA trainers and can weigh in on their benefit.
Thanks!!
PS It'd probably be nice if my Masters group could use them, but we don't have a fundraising account to help contribute with the cost.
Hi Kathleen,
I owned a VASA Trainer (one of the early models) for the better part of 20 years and used it extensively for about 5 years. I liked it and felt that I gained upper body strength from using it. I also had my college swimmers use it during our dryland sessions.
Three observations I can offer:
a) Yes, there are different exercises that VASA shows can be done with the Trainer (leg explosiveness), but I found they did not work terribly well, so my focus was entirely on upper body pulling (free, ***, and back).
b) The demos have testimonials about using the trainer for 30 minutes. I could rarely use them continuously for more than 40-50 repeats (about 2 minutes) before my arms/lats were exhausted. Not a bad thing - just want you to know my experience.
c) It is really easy for people using the Trainers to do the pull completely wrong by pulling with their elbows leading the way. So, after a couple of season with the college kids, I quit using them. I did not want to reinforce a dropped elbow pull.
If the kids will do the correct pulling mechanics, these will be great. Otherwise, I would not spend the money.
Paul Windrath
Hi Kathleen,
I owned a VASA Trainer (one of the early models) for the better part of 20 years and used it extensively for about 5 years. I liked it and felt that I gained upper body strength from using it. I also had my college swimmers use it during our dryland sessions.
Three observations I can offer:
a) Yes, there are different exercises that VASA shows can be done with the Trainer (leg explosiveness), but I found they did not work terribly well, so my focus was entirely on upper body pulling (free, ***, and back).
b) The demos have testimonials about using the trainer for 30 minutes. I could rarely use them continuously for more than 40-50 repeats (about 2 minutes) before my arms/lats were exhausted. Not a bad thing - just want you to know my experience.
c) It is really easy for people using the Trainers to do the pull completely wrong by pulling with their elbows leading the way. So, after a couple of season with the college kids, I quit using them. I did not want to reinforce a dropped elbow pull.
If the kids will do the correct pulling mechanics, these will be great. Otherwise, I would not spend the money.
Paul Windrath
