Chances are that you or one of your friends has made a resolution for the new year, and chances are that that resolutions either involves health (nutrition, weight loss, six pack abs) and/or swimming. Honestly, it is great that you have made that resolution. It shows that you recognize something is missing or lacking in […]

Read More →

We posted a glossary of terms a while back but it needs an update, so we dug up our old post and have modified it to include some more terms to help you decipher swim workouts: Zone 2: I stole this term from cycling and running, both of which define it as about 65-70% of […]

Read More →

The holiday shopping season is upon us and you might be creating a list (and checking it twice) of gear to get that special swimmer in your life (including yourself). Since triathletes and swimmers are so hard to shop for, Tri Swim Coach put together their list of the 9 best gifts on the market. […]

Read More →

In the winter, when my races are many months away, and the colder weather and darker mornings are changing up my circadian rhythms, I like to experiment with my training to keep things fresh and interesting. One of my latest crazes is doing swim-bike bricks. In these workouts, I will swim a main set then […]

Read More →

John Snow was right: winter is coming. And with it, shorter days, colder temps, and less weekly training volume. Usually, this would mean a loss of fitness. This winter though, I challenge you to actually emerge from the off season lighter, stronger and potentially faster without having to the do summer, in-season volume. The key […]

Read More →

Once, when I tried to do butterfly, the lifeguard came up to me when I was resting on the wall and asked it I was alright. Many swimmers especially those of us who did not grow up swimming stay far away from the butterfly stroke; people feel like it is super cool for those who […]

Read More →

Many athletes get into triathlon after watching the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. For many triathletes, after watching this epic race, they want to bump up their race distance and do a full triathlon. Both these reactions are completely justified; Kona is one of the most amazing spectacles of human perseverance, determination, and fitness. […]

Read More →

One very effective way for you to reinvigorate your swim is to get new gear and there is no better time to do so than in the offseason. For swimmers, this might mean getting a new swim suit. I have found that swim suits usually last one season before they begin to look thread bear, […]

Read More →

One very common ailment that many open water swimmers and triathletes face is chaffing. In fact, I would argue that it is at pandemic proportions. No matter the wetsuit, no matter how much glide you lather on, it seems that by the end of the swim your neck is red and irritated if not raw […]

Read More →

September and October mark the end of the northern hemisphere’s racing season. By this time, many triathletes are both physically and mentally ready to throw in the towel and begin their offseason especially those who have been racing since the end of March and April. These final races can still be personal bests though with […]

Read More →

I cringe whenever I see DPS on workouts and hate it when coaches write it up on the master’s swim whiteboard and expect everyone to know exactly how to do it. DPS is such a good drill and focus that it is a shame to see it become so corrupted. When swimmers see DPS, they […]

Read More →

Last year, I had the pleasure of testing out Xterra’s new Lava pants–a capri wetsuit that went from the hips to about two inches below the knee. These were designed to help your body position and give you a “wetsuit” feel and edge in the pool or in open water swims where the water temps […]

Read More →

It is hard to stay motivated year round. There will be days, usually around this time of year, when you do not want to train and no matter how much coffee, Red Bull, or Surge you consume, you cannot get going nor do you want to. You hop in the pool and before you take […]

Read More →

You hear it from almost every single coach: workouts need to have a purpose. At TSC, we agree. Getting into the pool without a set purpose or intention is wasting time. Each workout should have some focus that addresses a need or skill with which you can structure your sets and type of sets around. […]

Read More →

One of the cool attachments you can get with the Vasa Swim Erg is the “forearm cuffs.” Instead of using the power paddles, you attach these forearm sleeves to the cables, forcing you to pull not with your hands but with your whole forearms, like you are supposed to in the water. When pulling in […]

Read More →

A rarely used but very effective drill is the water polo sprint drill. In this drill, which is also known as the Tarzan drill, the swimmer swims like she/he normally would but with her/his head completely out of the water. Check out the video here: https://vimeo.com/61633658 to get a visual. The benefits of doing the […]

Read More →

Getting old does not have to suck. In fact, quite the opposite. Many athletes fear the passing of time and see it as a negative: My joints will begin to hurt… My metabolism will slow down… My times will get slower… My sex drive will be even lower… I will not be able to train […]

Read More →

If you have been keeping a pulse on the tri industry, you will know that WTC (a.k.a Ironman) has broken into the coaching certification field and is now offering “Ironman University,” a 4-week, 100% digital, long course specific coaching certification program. Since coaching is what TSC does, I wanted to throw my two watts into […]

Read More →

Triathlon Post Race Recovery Last week I talked about what you shouldn’t do after a race, so this week I wanted to focus on what you should do. Focusing and emphasizing these key points are essential to helping with recovery both mentally and physically and priming you for an even better race down the road. […]

Read More →

We talk a good deal about what to do and what not to do before a race, but the after is never really discussed, which is unfortunate because the post race window and phase is critical to setting up your next week of training and getting you back to your normal routine. Here are five […]

Read More →

Two weekends ago I raced the Lifetime Tempe Tri Marquee. You can read my full race report on my personal website here, but I wanted to focus on the swim for this post so that you do not make the same big mistake that I did. My swim was far from good. Having made so […]

Read More →

Many triathletes who do not come from a swimming background (which is most likely 90% of the triathlon population) dread hearing the race director announcing that the swim will not be wetsuit legal. Like a school kid praying for a snow day, triathletes pray for a wetsuit legal race resorting to mystical beliefs like wearing […]

Read More →

At TSC, we are not die hard believers in bilateral breathing (breathing to both sides). If you are able to breath to one side WHILE maintaining good form, then more power to you. However, very few of you can do this. The problem with only breathing to one side is that your form can become […]

Read More →

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of going to the LA Velodrome at the StubHub center to do aero testing. Over the course of two days, I learned how to ride on a velodrome (do not slow down on the curves! Keep pedaling) and more about aerodynamics than two years of physics. Unlike other camps, […]

Read More →

Do you sometimes you just feel “off” in your workouts? You might feel sloppy or as if your stroke has lost its snap. With this, of course, comes a decrease in speed and motivation and an increase in frustration and even anger! There are many possibilities for the cause of these feelings, including fatigue, stress, […]

Read More →

How Many Times A Week Should I Swim For a Triathlon? If you have followed the blog for the past 3 weeks, I have told how you can indeed achieve speed and cut down your times by just swimming three days a week. For some of us, this is a reality. With “open lane” time […]

Read More →

For the past two weeks, I have been writing about how you can improve your swim times with only three swims a week. While not ideal and more is often better, many folks do not have the time to swim more than that. To achieve gains on such a sparse training program you need to […]

Read More →

Self coached triathlete pitfalls Are you self-coached and designing your own training programs? There definitely is a certain enjoyment of being able to plan out a huge 16 or 24 week build-up to a big race. It also gives you the flexibility to do what you enjoy and make changes depending on how you feel […]

Read More →

Winter Triathlon Training With American Thanksgiving on Thursday and the build up to Christmas immediately after the last of the turkey has been eaten, the holiday season is upon us. This time of year is packed with office parties, traveling to see family and friends, shopping, and enough sugary treats and temptations to give an […]

Read More →

Swimming Training Plans Many of you are already planning your training and racing scheduling for next year. Laying out a schedule might seem simple enough but it is incredibly hard. Obviously hiring an experienced coach who can modify training from week to week in your lead up to your “A race” is the ideal but […]

Read More →

Sinking Legs in Swimming One of the biggest causes of drag and swimming inefficiency is sinking legs. This syndrome is pretty easy to spot. A swimmer’s lower body seems to bend at the waist so that their toes seem to scrape the bottom of the pool. If the ideal swim position is 180 degrees (a […]

Read More →

The moment you finish a workout you should be preparing for your next one. If you do not properly recover from your previous workout, then the quality of the next one will suffer and for time-strapped athletes every minute of your workout should count. So how can you recover to the fullest? Read on…. Obviously […]

Read More →

Garmin Swim Review Let’s be honest: no one wants to be that guy who shows up to a group ride on a tri bike, a track workout with a camel back, or a multi-sport watch to masters. Besides being really dorky looking, it can disrupt the flow of the lane when one person is going […]

Read More →

On Thursday, I did not want to run. I was exhausted from a long day at work, I had already done a hard spin that morning, and all I wanted to do was to have dinner maybe a glass of wine and read in bed. But it was an important workout and one that I […]

Read More →

A question we get several times a year and that I have seen appear on our Facebook page many times, is what are swimskins, do they make you faster, and are they worth spending money on? All three of these are good questions and worth addressing, because non wetsuit legal swims seem to be on […]

Read More →

The week leading up to a big race can be stressful even more stressful than the race itself. At this point in your training there is not much you can do physically to improve your times, but there is a lot you can do to hurt your times. Here are the top three things you […]

Read More →

The internet is a giant mess of raw information, complex scientific studies, outlandish claims, anecdotal evidence, personal blogs, and businesses that claim “to know” the answer–the one thing that your training and life is missing and can turn you from an out-of-shape athlete into the next up-and-coming age grouper. Through some very clever marketing and […]

Read More →

One of the most underrated part of triathlon and masters swimming is kicking. But, at the same time, mastering the kick has the potential to completely rework your swim and take you from below average to actually fighting for position in the water. Yes, I know, what you are going to say: “But I need […]

Read More →

You have crossed the finish line and you finally hear the words that you have been dreaming of for months if not years. “You are an Ironman™”…..But what now? Finishing an Ironman™ regardless of your time is quite an accomplishment. You most likely have spent a good chunk of a year dedicated to your training […]

Read More →