What are you methods for tapering?

RE: What are you methods for tapering?

Former Member — Mon, 12 Apr 2004 16:27:57 GMT

I'm a sprinter, and I'm not saying that this is advisable, but I continue my lifting, running, and swimming program right up until two days before the meet. Doing this, I've posted my best times ever... even faster than when I swam in college. Hopefully that trend will continue when I swim at Nationals in two weeks!

RE: What are you methods for tapering?

Former Member — Mon, 12 Apr 2004 13:47:53 GMT

Everyone tapers a little differently. You just have to try different tapers to find out what works best for you. In general sprinters will taper down to less yardage than distance swimmers. When I swam in college (distance swimmer) what worked best for me was a nice 4 week taper. Dropping morning swim practices the first week. Then for weeks 2-4 dropping 500 yards every other day, down to 3000 yds. I'd continue lifting until week 3. As the yards dropped, the intervals increase. Didn't work as hard for the entire set ; but max effort was greater on the last repetition(s). Started to really focus on drills/stroke technique - fine tuning. Getting a feel in the water for swimming really fast. LOTS of pace work. Everyday would do 5x100s trying to hold the pace I wanted for either the 500 or 1650. Or I would do 4x50s holding the pace I wanted for my 200.

RE: What are you methods for tapering?

knelson — Mon, 12 Apr 2004 10:58:50 GMT

I like what DWR had to say. The taper needs two elements: 1) make sure your body is properly rested, 2) getting your body used to swimming at race speed. The first one is probably the most tricky. You need to have a good feel for what kind of shape you're in now. If you've been working very hard all season, lots of rest is probably your best bet. On the other hand, if you feel like you're not yet in the greatest shape maybe you should push it fairly hard right up until a couple days before the meet.