Growing up as a competitive swimmer I was always very focused on everything that impacted my performance…Okay, I can’t even write that sentence with a straight face, that is just a blatant lie. I swam all the time, so I ate all the time. Do you think I’m talking about protein and veggies here? Nope, not even close. Donuts were my one true love, probably still are (don’t tell Dominic), and I definitely never paid attention to my sleep habits. An 8:30pm bedtime as a 16 year girl isn’t exactly going to make you a happy camper.
But as I’ve gotten older and learned more about taking care of myself (be proud, Mom & Dad) I really wish I had paid attention to these things more when I was younger and competing. Which just makes me want to have everyone else take as good of care of themselves as they can in order to get the best out of their training. Which is why Dominic and I are so excited about SwimBox Elite, our new performance optimization service.
Using the Whoop Strap, a wearable that’s worn 24/7 (don’t worry, it’s waterproof), we’re able to monitor your resting heart rate, heart rate variability, recovery, cardio strain, and sleep. Yes, we’re basically asking you to let us stalk you, get excited. Getting all of this data in real time allows us to take the guess work out of your training. Our head of performance, Dr. Marc Luko, takes all of this data and sends you weekly analyses and training suggestions to make sure you’re staying on top of your game.
If you’re like me, you definitely have those days where you wake up and wish you could call in sick to your training plan because you’re feeling so beaten down and dead. With SwimBox Elite we’ll see your data, in real time, and let you know you need to give it a rest, take a break, and let your body recover. And even though we all can get a bit obsessed with sticking to our training and getting those endorphin highs from our long workouts, breaks are necessary, and sometimes it’s hard to know when to listen to your body and when to suck it up. But not anymore.
As a member of SwimBox Elite you'll receive training tips based off of your personal data, take a movement screen so we can head off injury before it happens, specific advice on how to best prepare for your races, and how to take care of your body in terms of training, recovery, and sleep performance. Members also get data updates, Skype sessions to plan for your race season, and performance coaching. We believe this is a perfect add-on to any swimmer's current training plan to give them the extra edge over their competition.
I was always the kid who would miss a practice and come back about 3-4 days behind in my conditioning. But to me it seemed like I was the only one this happened to, because my friends, who would sometimes miss 2-3 practices in a row, would come back even better than they were before they left. I hated not knowing why this was happening, so that makes me super excited to be able to take that guesswork out of your training and give you the answers you're looking for to have you perform at your best.
