JOHNSON CITY – (July 13, 2020) Athletes spend months and often years preparing for a major competition. In the final weeks leading up to an event, is it best to keep the training going full speed, or is tapering off training the right thing to do in order to reach peak performance?
That’s the question Dr. Caleb Bazyler, a researcher at East Tennessee State University, hopes to answer in a new study funded by the National Strength and Conditioning Association Foundation.
Tapering is when athletes reduce the volume of their training, usually prior to a competition. Significant research has already been done on the effectiveness of tapering for endurance performance, such as running or cycling, but Bazyler says there is a scarcity of available information on tapering and strength and power performance.
“Preliminary work done in our lab suggests that tapering may help strength athletes achieve peak performance, so this study will help us better understand if there is a positive effect on strength and power performance,” said Bazyler, an assistant professor of Sport, Exercise, Recreation, and Kinesiology in the Clemmer College.
“Our ultimate goal is to have knowledge on how to optimize training practices for strength athletes that positions them to perform their best at competitions,” he said.
In the study, strength athletes will participate in an eight-week regimen and will be divided into two groups. One group will undergo a normal training program and the other will follow a training schedule that includes tapering.
Those selected for the taper group will continue training through the end of the study, and even though the volume may be less in terms of repetitions and sets, the intensity of the work will actually be higher.
The subjects will participate in a mock competition at the beginning and end of the study. The researchers will gather data throughout the study and measure strength and jumping performance as well as whole muscle and single fiber adaptations and then compare the results between the two groups.
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