- Loud morning, trainiacs.
Today, we're testing this out.
It's a tempo trainer.
I've had this in my bag for two years
and haven't tried it.
We'll bring that stroke right up,
be a little bit faster today.
Damn it, no orange kickboards.
(techno music)
Here we go, trainiacs, it's a tasty 3100.
Let's talk about this little doohickey.
Alright, so this is the Finis Tempo Trainer.
I've literally had it in my bag for two years
and haven't ever used it.
What it is is it's essentially a metronome.
Turn it on by holding the bottom right button
for a little while.
And what you do the first time that you use this
is you start mode three,
and you switch through the modes
by holding the top button down for a couple of seconds.
What we wanna use is mode three for this purpose,
because mode three is your strokes per minute.
It's how many strokes, left and right,
you take every single minute.
Most age groupers are in and around 60.
Most pros are around 90.
So, we start at 60 and go up and down 60,
swimming 100 yard or 100 yard lengths,
listening to this tempo.
(beeping)
Now, that's 60.
Go up and down around there
until you can swim 100 comfortably
and you're like, "Okay, yeah, that feels totally normal."
That is your stroke rate.
But what we wanna do is probably increase it
closer to that pros' 90,
so what you do is you find your ideal stroke rate
and in my case, today, it was 70.
Sorry, ideal is not the right word.
Your steady, your comfortable stroke rate.
This is 70, what I started with. (beeping)
And what you do to increase it is you increase it
by about four to five percent every three weeks.
So, I increased it to 72. (beeping)
And then with a snorkel, a pull buoy,
and then a band around my ankles,
so that the only effort that I had to put in
was my stroke rate
and making sure that I was matching the metronome,
I swam at a 72, that slightly higher stroke rate.
And what you'll find is at the start of 100,
it'll feel okay.
In your first few 100s, it'll also feel okay.
But towards the end of 100
and towards the end of a bunch of 100s,
it'll start feeling really taxing,
but because you're working to try to keep up
to that stroke rate,
it's going to start getting ingrained in your muscle memory.
Do that for three weeks
and then increase it another four to five percent.
Gradually, it will bring your stroke right up.
Thank you to Gerry Rodrigues and the Tower26 podcast
for that one.
And you turn it off
by holding down both bottom buttons, pro tip.
Now to go do the manliest of all the manly exercises.
- So manly.
- I could get used to this.
I get it, just stepping away, watching some Casey Neistat
is way easier than swim, bike, running.
(techno music)
Oh, and I rode to the pool this morning
and I didn't even have to spend 20 minutes getting dressed.
Folks, this is the first sign
of getting outside on our bikes for some outdoor rides.
All of a sudden, I'm gonna be a lot less grumpy.
(techno music)
Old construction material and dog poop,
best bike security you can have.
Alright, now I gotta put my head down
and work just a little bit.
I have got a very big, not gonna announce it,
tease for you just after this fancy little work time lapse.
Come on, Grace.
Hard-knock life.
Just a little personal space would be nice, just a tad.
Just a tad, okay, just a tad.
Lie down, lie down.
Ooh, thank you.
(techno music)
Are any of you all like coders or really into spreadsheets?
You know that point where you're working on a project
and you're like, "Hmm, I wonder if this'll work?"
And then you do it and then it works
and you're like, "Mmm, mmm, mmm."
Just had one of those.
So, what I'm working on here is a coaching platform
and a team trainiac.
Now, we've got the trainiac gear,
but what I'm actually building here
is literally a how to get coaching from me to you.
Because, you've all been asking me questions
and we've got the training plans,
but the training plans are not customizable.
If you download a training plan and it's like,
"Hey, you workout nine times a week,"
and you can only workout six times a week,
pfft, well, that's what the training plan says.
It also doesn't adapt to what your week is,
to how you're feeling,
to when your race schedule is.
What I'm building is software
that does all of what one-on-one coaching gets you,
well, maybe not all.
But, a really big portion
of what one-on-one coaching gets you for much less.
Stay tuned.
Alright, let's roll.
Come on Mel, productive day is over.
- Okay.
- Come back and I'll work you twice as hard tomorrow.
- Okay.
- (laughs) I don't like it, it's money.
- We'll have to see you try.
- (laughs) Alright, thank you for watching.
If you aren't yet subscribed,
hit that subscribe button below.
If you like long form podcasts,
go check out the Triathlon Taren podcasts,
the most reviewed triathlon podcast in the world.
If you are subscribed, hit the like button.
And say bye to Mel. - Bye.
- Work hard tomorrow, bye.