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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

neuromuscular characteristics, taper, male collegiate swimmers, competitive swimming

College

David O. McKay School of Education

Department

Teacher Education

Abstract

An important part of maximizing performance in competitive swimming is a progressive reduction of training before championship competitions called “tapering” (Johns et al. 1992). Because the high volume and intensity of training used during in-season swim workouts may adversely affect muscle strength and performance (Hakkinen et al. 1989; Stone et al. 1984), a short-term reduction in training is used to enhance performance. Tapering involves a significant reduction of duration, intensity and frequency of training over a period of 1-4 weeks. Experimental evidence supports the effects of taper on physiological improvements such as swim power (Costill et al. 1985; Johns et al. 1992; Hooper et al. 1998), performance (Houmard et al. 1994; Shepley et al. 1992), and distance per stroke (Johns et al. 1992). Such benefits have been attributed to changes in psychometric factors such as mood states, stress, and rating of perceived exertion (Hooper et al. 1998; Pyke et al. 1988), rest from over training (Banister et al. 1998), and changes in musculature such as hypertrophy of muscle fibers and increase in contractile velocity (Trappe et al. 2000). Muscle strength increases during training due to a number of factors. Hypertrophy of the muscle fibers, increased motor unit recruitment and decreased contractile inhibition all contribute to increased muscle strength.

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