Tapering

Your nervous system needs at least as much rest as your muscles. All out sprints within 2 or 3 days of a focus meet are probably counter productive. This is also true o f your meet warm up. Don't do more than 1 or 2 short breakouts, maybe 4 or 5 strokes. This is very true, the central nervous system needs time to recover. It is a large bodily system that consumes alot of energy and needs rest. I remember reading about this regarding track sprinting.

Be careful if you use the treadmill the day before the meet. Don't want to risk injury.

What do u guys think about shaking legs arms? If u do arms do u do arm pits? And what happens when it grows back ??

What do u guys think about shaking legs arms? If u do arms do u do arm pits? And what happens when it grows back ?? I assume you meant shaving.If it is a taper meet then shave.You will feel faster and swim faster.Hair definitely slows you down.Armpit hair can be a little uncomfortable growing back,but what if you missed your goal by .01 sec and didn't shave your armpit hair. Never put yourself in the position of thinking "if only".when it comes to big meet preparation.

At least cyclists only have to shave their legs, and only from the knees down... Strange as it will seem to long-time high-level swimmers, I have never shaved for any meets/swims. I keep thinking it might be something I should try for a state meet or something, but I'd have to enlist my wife's help, and she'd just laugh at me. Skip

At least cyclists only have to shave their legs, and only from the knees down... Strange as it will seem to long-time high-level swimmers, I have never shaved for any meets/swims. I keep thinking it might be something I should try for a state meet or something, but I'd have to enlist my wife's help, and she'd just laugh at me. Skip LOL -- my wife has to help with my back. She hates it and I'm not supposed to tell anyone. ;-)

You've been training since January and you're already thinking about shaving for a meet? We've created a monster! My take is you've only been training since January. Seems a little premature to shave, but go for it if you want to. Shaving will make you faster. Do you also have a tech suit or at least a very tight, newish suit? If you don't then it definitely isn't worth shaving. You also mentioned in another thread that you will be swimming at your state meet in April. If this is the case there's not much point in shaving for this meet. The vast majority of swimmers just shave for a meet a couple times per year (their season ending taper meets).

I assume you meant shaving.If it is a taper meet then shave.You will feel faster and swim faster.Hair definitely slows you down.Armpit hair can be a little uncomfortable growing back,but what if you missed your goal by .01 sec and didn't shave your armpit hair. Never put yourself in the position of thinking "if only".when it comes to big meet preparation. I have a lot of hair. For local meets, I trim close with an electric clipper. I only use a razor for nationals. I never blade underarms. As far as it growing back, it will appear thicker because the hair has not been subject to long periods of wear and tear. You might get itchy at first, too, like when growing a beard out, except all over. That is not fun the first couple times, but you should get used to it. If you are not very hairy to start, it's probably not worth it to shave for a small meet. To what Allen said, my senior year in HS, at states, I was seeded 20-something, 2 seconds out of the top 12. I didn't shave. I figured if I somehow advanced I'd shave for finals. I blew away my seed time and ended up 13th by .02, missing our school record by .2. So my advice would be if you want to be your absolute fastest, shave.

some of us resemble walking (swimming?) carpets. it takes me 3-4 hrs to shave (clipping 1st) and that is with help. my back alone is worth a good 0.25sec in a 50. and thats what i liked the 2nd most about my blue70 nero supersuit. (Honey, where is my supersuit? - the incredibles). not having to shave my whole body and the multitude of ingrowns that occur after. silver back gorilla - steve

I wasn't really p lanning on shaving just wondered what people thought about it. My wife is not on board with it at all!! I did get a new tighter suit that I plan to try out tonight. while not a full techinical it is a nicer one than the jammers I've worn for the last 6 weeks. Tried it on last night and I can tell its defniitely tighter and feels slicker/smoother.