Читать книгу The Bonsai Handbook - Adam Dickson - Страница 16

That’ll be a costume and some water then. It can be as simple as that but using the right equipment can make your swimming training a lot more effective and enjoyable and it also allows for you to add variety to each training session. The basics are a suitable swimming costume (you’ll need a decent wetsuit if you are swimming in open water), a pair of goggles, a swimming cap and a drinks bottle. Some people don’t like swimming caps but they do aid streamlining and for safety reasons increase your visibility in open water.

Other pieces of training equipment include a kick board and a pull buoy. These items allow you to isolate areas of each stroke and work them on their own. You can use a kick board to work on your leg kick to perfect technique. Remember that for triathletes the aim is an economical leg kick to conserve energy for what is ahead. A pull buoy is used to work on the arm-stroke technique. By isolating parts of your stroke you can make your training more challenging as you are trying to propel yourself through the water with only half the usual power.

If you want to make your training even more challenging you can wear hand paddles; these will allow you to put greater pressure on the water and therefore greater pressure on the arms and shoulders. Paddles should only be worn if you are already achieving good stroke technique and you need to take your training to the next level. You must also make sure that you build up gradually to avoid any shoulder injuries. When using paddles you should select the right paddles for your experience level as they come in different shapes and sizes, with the bigger paddles putting more pressure on the stroke.

A pair of fins can be used when concentrating on your kicking as well as being used for full-stroke swims. Wearing fins can make swimming full-stroke swims easier, which means you are able to focus on stroke technique. They also mean you are able to cover more distance and spend more time working on your technique.

Remember that tri suits, made of race-specific materials, can be worn throughout all three disciplines. This cuts down on time spent in the transitions as you will not need to change clothing. Check these out to see if they suit your needs.