I'm planning on resting for a meet in Feb. As usual, I'm wondering what taper to use, how much to rest, etc. I don't feel like I've really hit on the "one" plan that works for me.
I know everyone has their own approach to taper and may taper for between 1-4 weeks. In every taper plan I've seen, the yardage always drops off gradually. Has anyone ever tried a "drop dead" taper? One where you continue to exercise at your regular level and then, say 7 days before the big meet, you precipitously drop the yardage down to 1500 or so with very little sprinting? Thoughts?
I'm wondering if this type of taper might work for me, as I feel (possibly falsely) like I lose conditioning if I taper too long.
Fort, this was my typical 4 to 5 taper plan back in high school, but I was training for 400 IM, 500 - 1000 - 1650 free. Up until that point, I'd be going pretty much full bore in the ~8K to ~14K per day (depending upon which days were doubles). For a meet that would start on a Friday, I'd do something like:
Monday: 6K -- intensity moderately high
Tuesday: 4K -- intensity moderately easy
Wednesday: 3K -- light, light, light
Thursday: 1500 -- less than warmup pace
In high school, this thing worked amazingly well for me. Of course, I was also the kind of guy who would go through hell week over Christmas holiday training, rest a day, and do best times. For me, I think this worked because:
aiming for distance events
very little muscle mass to rest
I doubt this would work for a sprinter like yourself.
Interestingly, this season, I'm going to experiment with both a longer taper and trying to get two tapers in about only 5 weeks apart. I'll probably swim like crap.:afraid:
Fort, this was my typical 4 to 5 taper plan back in high school, but I was training for 400 IM, 500 - 1000 - 1650 free. Up until that point, I'd be going pretty much full bore in the ~8K to ~14K per day (depending upon which days were doubles). For a meet that would start on a Friday, I'd do something like:
Monday: 6K -- intensity moderately high
Tuesday: 4K -- intensity moderately easy
Wednesday: 3K -- light, light, light
Thursday: 1500 -- less than warmup pace
In high school, this thing worked amazingly well for me. Of course, I was also the kind of guy who would go through hell week over Christmas holiday training, rest a day, and do best times. For me, I think this worked because:
aiming for distance events
very little muscle mass to rest
I doubt this would work for a sprinter like yourself.
Interestingly, this season, I'm going to experiment with both a longer taper and trying to get two tapers in about only 5 weeks apart. I'll probably swim like crap.:afraid:
