When to stop lifting weights for taper?

I usually stop lifting 2.5 weeks out, but continue abdominmal work for another week at 50% of normal.

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 Muscles can lose their memory in 2 weeks so any longer out can be detrimental to what you've worked hard on.

Muscles can lose their memory in 2 weeks so any longer out can be detrimental to what you've worked hard on. I'm sure Jazz would want to jump all over any statement about "muscle memory," but there is no question that you lose the ability to hoist heavy objects during taper. Actually, even 1 week away from lifting is sufficient to do that, in my experience. The question is really whether it affects your swimming performance. Doing weights takes a lot out of me in the pool, so even as I lose my ability to do bench presses etc, I can still get faster and more powerful. Others' mileage may differ, of course. One summer when I was in college, I had 3 meets in succession that I had to taper for, each two weeks apart. I did a full taper for the first one (I had to meet some tough qualifying standards) and did not pick up lifting again for any of the following meets. By the time I hit the last meet, I had not lifted for 7 weeks. I got faster at each successive meet and in all events and strokes (100s and 200s). Granted, I had a much larger training base in college (and I was, uh, much younger). Still, I was definitely significantly weaker, in terms of lifting weights, by the end than at the beginning even as I was swimming faster. Personally -- and this is just my opinion and my experience -- I would not worry too much about losing some weight-lifting strength during taper. (I am no coach, though; I've heard some say that women need to taper less than men. Maybe men can maintain strength better during tapering? I don't know.) That doesn't mean you can't do some resistance-type training in the water to help maintain swimming-specific strength during taper; in fact I would encourage it. I also do significantly more sprinting during tapering, which may have an effect somewhat similar to lifting.

I'm sure Jazz would want to jump all over any statement about "muscle memory," but there is no question that you lose the ability to hoist heavy objects during taper. Actually, even 1 week away from lifting is sufficient to do that, in my experience. The question is really whether it affects your swimming performance. Doing weights takes a lot out of me in the pool, so even as I lose my ability to do bench presses etc, I can still get faster and more powerful. Others' mileage may differ, of course. I would jump all over it, but you covered exactly what I was going to say. Looking forward to meeting you at nationals next month, by the way.

Still, I was definitely significantly weaker, in terms of lifting weights, by the end than at the beginning even as I was swimming faster. How do you know if you did not lift ? You are not going to lose anything in 3 weeks of a good taper even if you never look at a weight - actually your max lift will most likely increase because of the rest. I actually tried that out after Nationals - I came back after not touching a weight in 4 weeks and did the exact same workout as the last lifting session. I could do 2-4 more reps on every excercise (I don't do max tests). How much taper ? Older swimmers need more rest -- I need more rest now than 20 years ago even though I am training less Sprinters and / or Men need more rest -- bigger muscles need more rest There will be a taper low -- the dreaded taper low, 10 days - 2 weeks into the taper for me. As everybody has said more taper is better than not enough. It's trial and error - nobody knows for certain, you may need 2-3 seasons to figure it out.

for me its a minimum of 2 weeks especially for long course. Paul, is that weight lifting only or do you stop all dryland e.g. (ab work, chin ups, etc)?

How do you know if you did not lift ? You are not going to lose anything in 3 weeks of a good taper even if you never look at a weight - actually your max lift will most likely increase because of the rest. I actually tried that out after Nationals - I came back after not touching a weight in 4 weeks and did the exact same workout as the last lifting session. I could do 2-4 more reps on every excercise (I don't do max tests). How much taper ? Older swimmers need more rest -- I need more rest now than 20 years ago even though I am training less Sprinters and / or Men need more rest -- bigger muscles need more rest There will be a taper low -- the dreaded taper low, 10 days - 2 weeks into the taper for me. As everybody has said more taper is better than not enough. It's trial and error - nobody knows for certain, you may need 2-3 seasons to figure it out. I read an interesting article a couple of years back that was asking the question of whether swimmers actually tend to under-taper rather than over-taper. As I recall it was more of a discussion paper than presenting clear evidence, but one of the things that it pointed to was the number of swimmers who went faster at the circuit meets that immediately followed the world champs (not masters) in 2009. There could be many variables in that, not least the lack of pressure, but interesting still. I think that as masters we were generally raised in a time where yardage counted and a fear of losing fitness quickly tended to rule. Tapers were quite short and we still worked quite hard when we were in them as 'maintenance'. Contrast this to my time as a masters swimmer where I've gone into the last few weeks before Nationals with an attitude of, "well, I might want to be fitter but it's not going to happen now" and reduced right down on yardage, dropped weights and focused on feel (really important for me) and race pace. So far I've generally done better than I'd expected going in.

About 3 weeks out ,I cut back to 1 set of each & the last wekk stopped it all.

As a coach I usually stop lifting about two weeks before a big meet. A recovery cycle depends on how hard you were lifting / breaking down muscle fiber. When a person is in a maintaining mode, less rest is required than when you're trying to gain muscle mass. I think a two week rest is typical and a one week for those who are simply maintaining. When I was coaching girls they tended to not lift as hard as the guys so they needed less rest (just a thought).

I want to bring back this post. I'm swimming my first Nationals next weekend, and I lift heavy (Crossfit) 5-6 times a week. Sometimes the Crossfit workout is all cardio (box jumps, rower, run, etc). and sometimes it's, of course, lifting, or a mix of a skill (back squat, etc) and cardio (300 double unders and 300 air squats). When should I stop?? I didn't go this morning (today was the double unders/air squats with a back squat skill)....and when I stop lifting weights, do I stop all exercise completely except for my swim practices (3-4 times a week)? I'm 30 and I have been feeling my body taking a bit longer to recover. I realize I'm not going to place at Nats bc my times aren't there, but I still want to swim all personal bests in my three events. ANY advice, guidence would be helpful!!!