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.
For a given exercise, when you lift 1 set to failure, how many reps do you typically do? In other words, do you choose a weight where you expect you will do approximately 5 reps, or 10, or 20, etc? (For the few exercises that I do, I pick a weight where I expect to do about 15-20 reps, but I'm no expert.)
I'll usually do 2-3 warm-up sets, gradually increasing the weight to what I plan to use on my failure set. I'll shoot for a rep range between 3-6 reps. I think 1-2 reps is too close to a max lift, and if I go over 6 then I know I need to add weight. In theory you could lift to failure with any rep range, but I acquire a slight case of ADD in the gym and lose focus with anything over 10. I also focus on sprints, so I try to use my lifting time to work on strength/power vs. endurance.
For a given exercise, when you lift 1 set to failure, how many reps do you typically do? In other words, do you choose a weight where you expect you will do approximately 5 reps, or 10, or 20, etc? (For the few exercises that I do, I pick a weight where I expect to do about 15-20 reps, but I'm no expert.)
I'll usually do 2-3 warm-up sets, gradually increasing the weight to what I plan to use on my failure set. I'll shoot for a rep range between 3-6 reps. I think 1-2 reps is too close to a max lift, and if I go over 6 then I know I need to add weight. In theory you could lift to failure with any rep range, but I acquire a slight case of ADD in the gym and lose focus with anything over 10. I also focus on sprints, so I try to use my lifting time to work on strength/power vs. endurance.
