Swimming taper how long

Prioritize your health and get an extra hour of sleep every night this week. These fundamentals are so important and can make a huge difference in your race. We recommend reserving 10 minutes every workout to dedicate to these skills. Here are some drills you can work on:. Do a dress rehearsal of every step in your routine. Mentally and physically walk through packing your bags, planning your diet, warming up in the pool, stretching behind the blocks, crushing your swim, and hitting the wall as hard as you can.

Head to the pool and get an easy warm-up swim in. Ideally you can swim at the competition pool. This will give you a chance to get used to the temperature, find your visual markers, and feel confident that you know where the walls are so your flip turns and finishes are perfect.

This is your chance to stretch your body out, mentally prepare yourself, and get your feel for the water before race day. If you are a distance swimmer who gets really broken down with long workouts and challenging sets throughout the season, you may want to take a more luxurious taper of , a three-week taper.

Remember, this is a personal thing, and each of you may find that your peak-conditioning needs differ from the swimmer in the next lane. It may take you a few tries at a taper to determine what is best for you. In addition to decreasing yardage, it is important to allow your body a chance to rest and recover from the beating it has taken all season in the midst of your training. You may begin this process by giving yourself more rest during interval training, and listening to your body at each turn.

If your muscles are sore, you should not be sprinting or practicing pace sets until you feel fresh and energetic. If you feel lethargic a week into your taper, allow yourself a day off completely.

Get lots of sleep. Watch what you eat, since you are easing up on your training intensity. Under no circumstances should you be in the weight room for the month before your race, even if you have been on a consistent weightlifting program. More Swimming Articles. Look for this banner for recommended activities. Cancel Yes. Join Active or Sign In. Sprinters should still perform high-intensity sets, but these need to have fewer reps and at least double their usual rest intervals.

Sprinting at maximum intensity and speed should stop during the last week of the taper. Swimmers react to swimming tapering differently.

Some find it an easy process and enjoy the feeling of gaining extra strength and power as the tapering process begins to work. However, some inexperienced swimmers can feel uncomfortable and nervous in the lead up to a major championship.

We have produced a related article on the benefits of swimming self-talk. Which you can view by clicking this link: swimming self-talk. Swimmers should take comfort in the fact that swimming tapering works. Most swimmers who undertake tapering show an improvement in their competitive performance. Therefore, during the swimming tapering process, swimmers should resist the urge to train harder. This will undermine the purpose of the swimming taper, which requires the swimmer to balance their training with the appropriate rest and recovery.

During the swimming taper process, swimmers should focus on fine-tuning their technique. At major competitions, a swimmer needs to focus on their race and not focus on a new technique. Reducing the training volume during the swimming taper allows the swimmer to fine-tune their starts, turns and finishes.

We have produced a related article on swimming race tactics. Which you can view by clicking this link: swimming race tactics. As the swimming tapering process is unique to the individual swimmer, it may take an inexperienced swimmer a few tapers to get it right.