I searched for this subject in prior threads, but couldn't find specific answers. With Nationals just a few weeks away, I'm hoping responses posted here will be helpful for others as well. My question is, when do you stop lifting as part of your taper? Way back in college, I used to stop weights a full three weeks before big meets (competed in sprint free/fly). I'm still only competing in spring free and fly. I don't know if I should -
keep lifting longer because yardage is way down compared to college
stop lifting sooner because my 40-year-old body takes longer to recover
or somewhere in the middleI certainly would appreciate it if folks would respond with your age-group, best events, and when you taper off weights. And if you competed in your youth/college, how does your current taper compare to then?
Thanks!
I am a 18-25 group member, so I am all that far removed from my age-group/club swimming experiences. I am a mid-distance freestyle swimmer (200, 500 y) that occasionally does the spints (50,100 y).
When it comes to weights, my body tends to be prone to delayed muscle soreness - I also recover rather slowly compared to what I percieve as normal. At no point in my lifting experience did I ever do more than 2-3 days per week, and no more than 45 minutes of lifting. For the major meets I went to back then (Sectionals, Zones, etc) I would cut out lifting 3-4 weeks ahead of major competition.
Obviously I think it depends on the person, but I usually like to only lift "early season" and then use paddles/pulling to build upper body stength once I am in competition.
Craig,
I predict you're going to get answers all over the map on this one. And it does depend somewhat on the person and the nature of their dryland work.
I prefer to err on the safe side: I stop lifting at least 3 weeks out, and for 2 weeks prior to that I'm on maintenance mode. Like SLOmmafan, I also use paddles more once I stop weights.
Good luck with your taper.
I asked my resident "lifter" and teacher this yesterday at the meet. Hulk has me doing weights that will benefit my swimming and told me to go lower on the weights starting at 2 weeks out. I think I cut them out a week prior.
I stop lifting 2 weeks out, although if I lifted more than 2x a week, I'd probably stop earlier. I do the fly-back-free sprints and am in the 45-49 age group. Tapered more in college. Don't do enough yardage for a really long taper now. Good luck at Nats!!
I stopped lifting weights two weeks out from my last taper meet in April, and it seemed to work for me. I swim mostly freestyle (all distances), and maybe 1 or 2 butterfly or IM events.
I'm 22, I swim the 50 free and 50 fly.
The past two years for spring nationals I cut out lifting about two weeks before my first race, maybe a little more. For summer nationals this year I'm considering making that more like one week.
two weeks sounds about right. Of course, I have been very random on my lifting. Right now, I am just concentrating on getting my training in and some cardio stuff on the side with some hand weight work. I figure that I start lifting again in September since my Zone Champs are a month away and my lifting has been probably once every 10 days.
I'm 50 and swim middle distance free. I stop lifting about two weeks out. Even though the yardage is much less, I take longer to recover than I did thirty years ago.
Thanks for the replies, everyone. I was planning on 2+ to 3 weeks, and it sounds like that wouldn't be too long, especially for someone like me that has dense muscles (or maybe that denseness just applies to my noggin) and gets pretty broken down.
I don't mean for my 'thank you' to be the end of this string. I would welcome more responses.
Craig
