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.
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Hey Fort,
Let me share what Maglischo's suggests in Swimming Fastest.
Gradual tapers worked better than drop tapers. (Tested in triathletes)
Drop taper is probably the best taper to use if tapering for 7 days or less.
In general he recommends a pretaper of 2 to 3 weeks followed by a 3 week taper.
The bad news is, I don't think Maglischo's research helps Master's swimmers at all. He studied sprinters averaging 50k/week in season, and recommends dropping down to 15k/week the week before and finally tapering off with warmups only twice a day the 3 days leading up to a mid week meet start. You don't even want to know what the mid distance guys are supposed to do.
I think your drop taper is a good idea. First, you hate tapering, so why drag it out? Second, you are not all torn down from your swimming, so you don't need a long taper for your body to heal, you just need enough time to build up to maximum glycogen stores. That is only two to three days for most people.
One thing Maglischo did point out was that you should sprint less during your taper than you do in season. The key being that you should be sprinting a good amount in season, so during your taper you still get some sprinting done, just less.
Another thing Maglischo points out is the mental factor. So if you don't believe tapering works for you, there isn't much point in tapering.
For anyone not familiar with Maglischo and Swimming Fastest (or the precursor Swimming Faster, the the percursor to that Swimming Fast), Maglischo is some kind of swimming research nut, who put together this super huge book consolidating the findings from all the research that applies to swimming. Lots of physics, math and references to studies and papers done in sports medicine and swimming. It is a great book if you want to look up when to initiate your *** stroke pull out (someone did velocity testing on elite breaststrokers using different pull out timings), but not so helpful if you just want to know how to go faster in general.
Hey Fort,
Let me share what Maglischo's suggests in Swimming Fastest.
Gradual tapers worked better than drop tapers. (Tested in triathletes)
Drop taper is probably the best taper to use if tapering for 7 days or less.
In general he recommends a pretaper of 2 to 3 weeks followed by a 3 week taper.
The bad news is, I don't think Maglischo's research helps Master's swimmers at all. He studied sprinters averaging 50k/week in season, and recommends dropping down to 15k/week the week before and finally tapering off with warmups only twice a day the 3 days leading up to a mid week meet start. You don't even want to know what the mid distance guys are supposed to do.
I think your drop taper is a good idea. First, you hate tapering, so why drag it out? Second, you are not all torn down from your swimming, so you don't need a long taper for your body to heal, you just need enough time to build up to maximum glycogen stores. That is only two to three days for most people.
One thing Maglischo did point out was that you should sprint less during your taper than you do in season. The key being that you should be sprinting a good amount in season, so during your taper you still get some sprinting done, just less.
Another thing Maglischo points out is the mental factor. So if you don't believe tapering works for you, there isn't much point in tapering.
For anyone not familiar with Maglischo and Swimming Fastest (or the precursor Swimming Faster, the the percursor to that Swimming Fast), Maglischo is some kind of swimming research nut, who put together this super huge book consolidating the findings from all the research that applies to swimming. Lots of physics, math and references to studies and papers done in sports medicine and swimming. It is a great book if you want to look up when to initiate your *** stroke pull out (someone did velocity testing on elite breaststrokers using different pull out timings), but not so helpful if you just want to know how to go faster in general.
