Do you rest for meets? I'm not talking about taper meets, just your run-of-the-mill local meets.
I almost never do. OK, I might do 4,000 yards instead of 5,000 or something the day before, but usually I tend to "swim through" anything other than a taper meet. I'm starting to think maybe this is sort of silly. In some ways I almost feel like I'm afraid to swim too fast in season. Like I don't want to shoot my wad before the big meet or something. I have a feeling this is pretty common in swimming. We've been trained to believe everything is a build up to that one big meet.
A lot of this stems from high school and college swimming, I think. Those seasons are pretty short and you've got a lot of meets packed in. You can't afford to sacrifice training sessions to rest for meets (or at least that's what most coaches think). There's no question it's considered a sign of weakness for a college team to rest for a dual meet.
These days I probably average about six competitions a year total. Do you think it's going to affect my overall training if I'd rest a couple days before some of these?
These days I probably average about six competitions a year total. Do you think it's going to affect my overall training if I'd rest a couple days before some of these?
I think you should back off 1-2 days before most meets. That isn't the same as a full-blown taper. (If tapering doesn't produce better results than 1-2 days rest, then something is wrong with the taper.)
Meets usually involve some travel and expense and inconvenience; I don't think you should treat any of them like some glorified practice. They are dress rehearsals for the big meets.
For non-taper meets, I will usually ease up on (or skip entirely) one lifting session and one swim practice. Maybe slightly more if it is a big meet. It is more a matter of making sure I am not completely broken down at the meet -- it is no fun racing that way -- rather than truly resting or tapering.
These days I probably average about six competitions a year total. Do you think it's going to affect my overall training if I'd rest a couple days before some of these?
I think you should back off 1-2 days before most meets. That isn't the same as a full-blown taper. (If tapering doesn't produce better results than 1-2 days rest, then something is wrong with the taper.)
Meets usually involve some travel and expense and inconvenience; I don't think you should treat any of them like some glorified practice. They are dress rehearsals for the big meets.
For non-taper meets, I will usually ease up on (or skip entirely) one lifting session and one swim practice. Maybe slightly more if it is a big meet. It is more a matter of making sure I am not completely broken down at the meet -- it is no fun racing that way -- rather than truly resting or tapering.
