Xterra Lava Pants Review Author: Davy DeArmond Date: 06/04/14 Category: Training
I have been swimming in my new Xterra Lava Pants the past few weeks and they are amazing! I highly recommend them for any triathlete. I am currently training for Rev3 Knoxville Half, Nation’s Triathlon and Ironman Chattanooga. I am not a fast swimmer so my swim workouts are usually pretty boring but I am in the pool 4-5 times a week and these new pants have injected my workouts with excitement and speed. Just by wearing my Lava Pants, I shaved 7 seconds per 100 yards without changing anything else! The first thing I noticed was how easy it is to get them on and off. Imagine a wetsuit that only covers your waist to just below the knee and you have the Xterra Lava Pants. Getting in and out of the pool is quite easy because they slip on and off much faster than a traditional wetsuit. While swimming, the Lava Pants give you exactly what swimmers want out of a wetsuit – a little more buoyancy for your lower body. I immediately felt the difference the first time wore them. They are very comfortable because of the low cut waist and the ¾ leg length. Your entire upper body and arms have complete freedom of motion and, unlike full wetsuits, you are not at risk of overheating which is fantastic for lap swimming or open water swimming in warm water and weather. They are also easy to get on and off in the water if you only want them for part of your workout.
Lava Pants give you the experience of training in a wetsuit which makes for less adjustment when swimming or racing in your wetsuit. The water here in Annapolis is still a little chilly, so I recently had to don my full wetsuit for the first OWS of the season. But since I have been training in my Lava Pants the transition to a full wetsuit was much smoother.