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.
One thing I'd like to be able to do (and maybe Fort also), is some sort of, 'bare maintenance' with weights. Do some sort of minimum, so my muscles will still have a chance to rest up for a meet, but then after the meet when I go back to weights, I don't have that initial soreness from starting up all over again.
Is something like that possible? If so, how?
This has been my experience for what it's worth:
My workouts are spaced out in such a way that I hit each muscle group every 15-17 days (as in I'm getting 15-17 days of rest per muscle group). I'll do 5 weight workouts in those 15-17 days (back, shoulders, chest, legs, arms). Each workout lasts about 50 minutes and I lift as heavy as I can with lots of rest in between sets (3-5min). My strength has remained relatively constant (a good thing I believe since most of my energy is being spent in the pool).
I write this to point out that while I only lift 2 days of the week, my strength doesn't decrease. I believe that you can hold onto strength even if you take 2 weeks off. This is providing you lift as heavy as possible and go to failure (usually on one set). So, I guess I'm not offering anything in the way of "bare maintenance" but if in theory you could take 2 weeks off and still retain strength, maybe a "rest" period of minimal lifting would not have serious drawbacks?
As far as the soreness goes, I've got nothing…I'm always sore 2 days after. Stretching seems to help once I get past the initial tenderness.
:bouncing:
One thing I'd like to be able to do (and maybe Fort also), is some sort of, 'bare maintenance' with weights. Do some sort of minimum, so my muscles will still have a chance to rest up for a meet, but then after the meet when I go back to weights, I don't have that initial soreness from starting up all over again.
Is something like that possible? If so, how?
This has been my experience for what it's worth:
My workouts are spaced out in such a way that I hit each muscle group every 15-17 days (as in I'm getting 15-17 days of rest per muscle group). I'll do 5 weight workouts in those 15-17 days (back, shoulders, chest, legs, arms). Each workout lasts about 50 minutes and I lift as heavy as I can with lots of rest in between sets (3-5min). My strength has remained relatively constant (a good thing I believe since most of my energy is being spent in the pool).
I write this to point out that while I only lift 2 days of the week, my strength doesn't decrease. I believe that you can hold onto strength even if you take 2 weeks off. This is providing you lift as heavy as possible and go to failure (usually on one set). So, I guess I'm not offering anything in the way of "bare maintenance" but if in theory you could take 2 weeks off and still retain strength, maybe a "rest" period of minimal lifting would not have serious drawbacks?
As far as the soreness goes, I've got nothing…I'm always sore 2 days after. Stretching seems to help once I get past the initial tenderness.
:bouncing:
