Tapering...is it an exact science?

I'm currently studying a Masters in Sports Performance Coaching, and as such, am spending any spare hour I may have listening to course lectures or reading academic articles.....often disappearing down a rabbit hole in interesting coaching and sporting stuff.

This is one such article, as I was searching for a paper from my sports physiology Tutor, Andy Kirkland, I came across an article he wrote for Training Peaks about Tapering for your A race.

You can read it here

I am happy to share it here because this guy does proper scientific research so very little of what he says is just his own thoughts and experience. He draws on the evidence available - something I am trying to do in my own coaching now I'm on an academic (and mildly challenging) journey!

So, although its a little early for some of you to think about race tapering, this is a fairly short read and you can also save it for later. Having said that, there are a few of you with early season IM events in the next couple of months, so...you know who you are....this is for you!

What comes out of the article is that that there are no hard-and-fast rules to determine what an optimal taper looks like or exact numbers that every person will need to hit.

There is no doubt that Training Peaks offers some good metrics using TSB but we "need to go beyond the metrics, recognizing that to perform at our best requires a greater focus on both the psychological and practical aspects of performance."

In other words, strategies for managing lack of confidence, fear, feeling of undertraining, letting people down all play a big part in what your taper should look like, within the boundaries of keeping focused and sharp for your race.

Everyone is different but the main aim of a taper is to promote recovery from previous training whilst allowing us to gain maximum benefit from training adaptation processes.

It is the “cherry on the top on the cake” of a training program, but it will only work if we’ve got our previous training right in the first place!