Athletes often assume that their results are going to be consistent with the amount of effort they put into their training. For example, you might imagine that if you spent every waking minute swimming it’d result in some massive improvements in your overall performance. There is some truth to the idea. But it’s not the one-to-one ratio of workout to gain that people often imagine. To get the best results you need to remember exactly what’s happening to your body when you’re pushing yourself.
Strength largely builds through a process of stress, release, and healing. You push yourself just a bit beyond your limit, rest, and your body heals up a little stronger than it had been before. However, there are limits to how much your body can do at any given point. It’s often best to let your body have some extra time to recover without adding additional stress before a period when you know you’ll need to be at your best. Swimmers know this process as swimming taper sets.
Swimming taper sets switch from building raw strength to fine-tuning what’s already been built up. This is generally done in preparation for a competition. But of course, you can’t just rest. It’s a delicate balance between resting your body while also focusing on your skills and building up your strategy. Likewise, this is why taper sets are typically done with some coaching or guidance to optimize your results. You can get started with taper sets through Faster Swimming at https://fasterswimming.com.
