Tapering at a Glance: A Big-Picture Guide
“You can’t train at your max if you’re competing, and you can’t compete at your best if you’re training at your max.“ Tom Platz
Tapering is perhaps best described as the process whereby peak performance can be expressed by altering the training load to maximize adaptations. This is often done by a methodical reduction of training load leading up to any event where the objective is to maximize performance.
Training and recovery must be appropriately balanced to optimize physiological adaptations. Intentional training will induce stressors that are often felt as fatigue. It is this well measured and controlled chronic fatigue that leads to improved fitness. However, as fitness continues to improve so may the baseline fatigue or stress. It is the intention of the taper to reduce the fatigue to a point where the improvements in fitness can be fully unmasked. It is only at this point when an athlete may be able to optimize their potential.
Research across various sports disciplines has consistently demonstrated the effectiveness of tapering in improving both physiological and psychological readiness for competition. The intent of this article is to discuss at a high level the physiological and psychological effects of a taper, types of tapers, and how to best implement your own taper specific to your objectives.
Physiological and Psychological Adaptations of a Taper
Cardiovascular: Cardiovascular adaptations include enhanced stroke volume and enhanced blood volume, both of which improve oxygen delivery during endurance activities (Mujika & Padilla, 2003).
Metabolic: There are numerous potential metabolic benefits associated with a taper. The increase in muscle glycogen storage is perhaps the most notable of these benefits. As glycogen is one of the the substrates for metabolism, having stored levels maximized is highly advantageous as it can delay the onset of fatigue and improve performance (Mujika & Padilla, 2003). Additionally, tapering can improve mitochondrial enzyme activity. This enhances the muscle’s ability to produce ATP via aerobic metabolism (Neary et al., 2003). To add clarification to the reader, the mentioned metabolic adaptations are merely accentuated with a taper, but the real catalyst for eliciting these physiological changes is a well designed training program.
Neurological: Heavy training loads place a significant demand on the autonomic nervous system and in particular, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). An overactive SNS can lead to increased stress, elevated resting heart rate, and poor recovery from training stimuli. Tapering may reduce SNS activity, allowing for increased parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) function. Increased PNS activity facilitates recovery and readiness for optimal performance (Meeusen et al., 2006).
Hormonal: Tapering has been shown to restore hormonal balance by increasing anabolic hormones while reducing catabolic hormones. Notably, tapering has been shown to increase the testosterone to cortisol ratio. This shift promotes protein synthesis, which can aid in muscle repair and further improve glycogen storage (Mujika & Padilla, 2000).
Immune Function: Optimal immune function preceding any significant objective or trip should be a top priority. This is especially true in contexts where stressful periods are anticipated such as traveling to a foreign country for a climbing expedition where an illness can rapidly derail a long anticipated trip. As discussed previously, tapers have been proven to decrease cortisol levels which can improve immune function as elevated cortisol levels are associated with suppressed immune function (Mujika & Padilla, 2003). Additionally, the activity of various immune cells can increase, resulting in improved defenses against potential infections (Pyne and Gleeson, 1998).
Psychological: The psychological benefits of tapering are well-documented, with athletes often reporting improved mood states, reduced fatigue, and increased feelings of vigor and readiness for competition. These psychological improvements are critical, as mental readiness can be just as important as physical preparation in achieving peak performance (Stone et al., 2023).
Structuring your Taper
The execution of a taper can be manipulated in numerous ways from the duration of taper, to the type of function that best represents the reduction in load. Most tapers can be classified as either a liner, exponential, or step function.
As implied by the name, a linear taper would be a gradual linear decrease in volume. This type of taper may work well for athletes with a long lead up to a single event as it does need to be carried out over a longer time period. This could look like a steady 10% reduction in volume performed over a period of four weeks.
Exponential tapers can be either fast or slow depending on the situation. A fast exponential taper is often going to be the method of choice for athletes with busy competition schedules as it balances maintenance of fitness well with recovery. Exponential tapers can work better for experienced athletes who have established a training history and are well aware of how high volumes of training may affect their performance in competition with minimal tapers.
Step tapers are most commonly seen in strength and power sports as the overall volume may be lower for these athletes, but maintaining peak strength is critical for performance. These tapers often will involve a step change in volume carried out over a shorter time period leading up to an event.
Generally it is best to maintain intensity during a taper, while reducing training volume via duration (Wang et al., 2023). Modulating the frequency of the training can also be important but this largely depends on how experienced the athlete is. Maintaining intensity in the taper should not be overlooked in order to prevent detraining.
Taper Tantrums?
The ‘taper tantrum’ refers to the psychological and emotional challenges athletes may experience during a taper. When athletes are accustomed to relatively high volumes of physical activity, they can feel anxious or restless when that load is reduced, often unsure of what to do in their new found free time. Concerns around a perceived loss of fitness can occur as well as a focus on any minor aches and pains that would often be ignored during typical training periods. Overthinking and self-doubt can occur as athletes simply have more time on their hands.
In order to avoid finding yourself in these situations mentioned, it is imperative to consider the intention behind the taper and realize that if you have trained appropriately for your given objective, you should have zero concerns regarding your readiness to perform. When it comes down to it, athletes should focus all their attention on specific variables that they can optimize during the taper including quality rest, nutrition, sleep, and good hygiene.
What are you Tapering from?
This is an important question to set the context for what may be the most optimal taper for. The nature of your objective will have a bearing on selecting the appropriate taper strategy, but training history must also be considered. A planned period of functional overreaching pre-taper can produce greater training-induced adaptations and facilitated supercompensation (Chen L et al., 2017). Intuitively this makes sense as we know that the fatigue induced by training is a key component in building fitness, so it stands to reason that in order to optimize a period of deloading, the athlete must have relatively significant training volume leading into the taper to achieve optimal results.
If an athlete has completed minimal training before an event, cramming in last-minute sessions may seem tempting. However, this approach is generally ineffective for endurance sports like running. Cramming can increase the risk of injury, nonproductive overreaching, and mental stress, often leading to poorer performance. The key to effective training lies in consistency, gradual progression, and the training load must be modulated appropriately. Cramming is in stark contrast with these essential axioms of effective training.
Final Thoughts
A taper of some degree is beneficial to achieving peak performance, but it is imperative that the taper is individualized to the athlete. The potential performance gains will vary depending on the athlete, the objective, and of course the execution of the taper. It is possible to see improvements of approximately 3% resulting from positive physiological and psychological adaptations (Mujika and Padilla, 2003). Athletes should recognize that tapering responses vary greatly among individuals and understand that personal experimentation is essential to finding the most effective approach. This article provides a high level view of tapering and should only be considered as a starting point on this subject.
References
Chen, L., Li, R., Liu, C., & Tian, M. J. (2017). Change features of training load in tapering period of elite individual event athletes. J Tianjin Univ Sport, 32(01), 8–15.
Meeusen, R., et al. (2006). Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the overtraining syndrome: ECSS position statement ‘task force’. European Journal of Sport Science, 6(1), 1-14.
Mujika, I., & Padilla, S. (2000). Detraining: Loss of training-induced physiological and performance adaptations. Part I: Short term insufficient training stimulus. Sports Medicine, 30(2), 79-87.
Mujika, I., & Padilla, S. (2003). Scientific bases for precompetition tapering strategies. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 35(7), 1182-1187. https://doi.org/10.1249/01.MSS.0000074448.73931.11
Mujika, I., Padilla, S., Pyne, D., & Busso, T. (2004). Physiological changes associated with the pre-event taper in athletes. Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 34(13), 891–921. https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200434130-00003
Neary, J. P., Martin, T. P., & Quinney, H. A. (2003). Effects of taper on endurance cycling capacity and single muscle fiber metabolism. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 35(11), 1875-1881.
Pyne, D. B., & Gleeson, M. (1998). Effects of intensive exercise training on immunity in athletes. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 19(S3), S183-S188. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-2007-971973
Stone, M. J., Knight, C. J., Hall, R., & et al. (2023). The psychology of athletic tapering in sport: A scoping review. Sports Medicine, 53(6), 777–801. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-022-01798-6
Wang, Z., Wang, Y. T., Gao, W., & Zhong, Y. (2023). Effects of tapering on performance in endurance athletes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PloS one, 18(5), e0282838. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282838
