cloy wrote:
You can legitimately get just as good a workout with stretch cords, though. No need for such a fancy machine.
As a diehard Vasa user, I'd disagree with this, but I will comment that for short-term swim replacement/supplementation, cords are fine.
The problems with cords become a real bugger once you intend to do 'real' volume with it. Like 1 to several hours or more per week. At that point, the reversed power curve of cords (weakest in the catch phase) becomes a big problem - you literally feel that you're ingraining incorrect neuromuscular habits after doing that for long periods of time.
Once I was doing cords for even 2hrs/week, I felt it was such a low yield activity, that I should as well skip it altogether and cycle or run, even though most of my gains to be had were on the swim at that point. It was then I decided the $2k Vasa investment was to be made - I didn't want to waste potentially hundreds of hours on such a low yield activity.
I don't know to date anyone on ST or elsewhere that has done cords for hours per week regularly, whereas I and others have used a Vasa easily that much, although I'm more than happy to hear from successful cord users if any are reading this.
Still, I do think cords are fine for short-term use or shorter pure strength workouts. I still take them on trips with no pool access, but there's no way that I feel these cord workouts remotely equal a pool workout or a true Vasa erg workout for actual swim replacement.