Performing at your best on the big day requires that you "peak" in your bodies physiological abilities at just the right time. In order to do this you can't just go harder and harder and harder right up to "race day" because just when you need the most stored up energy your gas tank will be on empty.
PEAK TRAINING vs PEAK PERFORMING
Tapering (reducing exercise) your TRAINING just prior to your PEFORMING is essential to getting to that peak PERFORMANCE goal youre aiming at. This means that while in the long term, during TRAINING you stress and stimulate your body up to and beyond its prior abilities into new levels of peak ability, you are simultaneously draining its short term response (PERFORMANCE) potential to make the most out your training.
The solution to this dichotomy is that you have to restore the bodies short term (PERFORMANCE) response potentials through recovery without lessening its hard earned gains in peak abilities.
In plain English, you have to be fully recovered from TRAINING in order to PERFORM at your best on the big day.
CARDIO TAPERING
Tapering theories are many and varied but it's hard to talk about tapering without talkng about training cycles or "PERIODIZATION" as well.
What I generally try to shoot for in my own approach is to start a "period" (training cycle) relatively slowly using endurance building protocols of "go moderate and go longer".
Then, over time, I begin to introduce intensity into the mix, ie "go faster and harder". I begin to include more interval training as the cycle or "period" progresses and maybe carry a pack or hit the hills.
Next I try to max out the training with full on duration and full on intensity all at the same time. This is when I hit my TRAINING peak but not my PERFORMANCE peak.
Finally, days prior to a "big day" (performing in an event or going on a big, hard climb etc..) I cut down on the duration dramatically while keeping the intensity levels relatively high.
It looks like this graphically
In the graphic, time goes from left to right.
As my training progresses, the duration increases (goes up in the graph) to a point, and then it tapers off (goes down) to provide the vital recovery needed for the big event. So at first, the intensity is kept low, but then builds into the duration cycle. Then, with the duration dropping off for recovery, the intensity is mostly maintained (with much shorter duration) so that the body remains accustomed to the very hard (intense) efforts needed to perform at my best.
Another reason for doing it this way is that low intensity long duration training reduces the "power" response (related to intensity) in the body but training with intensity (including shortening the duration) does NOT reduce the long duration endurance response in the body as much (once you have trained it for endurance). To sum it up, endurance training hurts your strength/power, but strength/power training does not hurt your endurance as much nor as soon.
On the big day then (what ever that entails), my body's systems "know" what it is to work hard (ie "intense") because I am still pushing the intensity levels pretty high. And yet, I am well rested and recovered because I have dramatically tapered down the time (duration) of my training in order to gain the required energy reserves and allow the the full anabolic (metabolic reconstruction) response to play itself out.
Now strictly speaking, tapering of coarse is just one aspect of periodization. With this approach in general, the idea is to use "periods" of time where mainly one aspect of performance is developed while the others are recovering.
An example of what is called "linear periodization" might look like this:
Phase 1 for base and endurance building.
Phase 2 for strength and power building.
Phase 3 for speed, agility and peak training.
Phase 4 for peak performing (after tapering).
phase 5 for recovery (off season).
Each phase (or "mezo-cycle") can last from days to several weeks and is part of a "macro-cycle" which comprises the time segment from the onset of training on up to the day of the specified performance goal.
Although I can't say that I have carried this approach out to its detailed perfection, I have drawn upon and utilized many of the ideas and the templates of this approach in my own training. If nothing else, this method points to the real benefits that can be had from varying your training to accommodate the different physiological aspects that must come into play in order to maximize your training and performance potential.
For another point view on this topic you should read this article. Ironically, I "discovered" and began using my own periodization techniques well before I had even heard of the term as it simply made logical sense to me. I even intuitively used the commonly accepted "wave form" model as a means to describe and visualize the methods. I guess that says more about how simple the theory is rather than how "smart" I am LOL!
At any rate, my specific plan and approach may not be right for you considering that we all have different goals, physiological make ups and are at various levels of fitness. If you already have good VO2 max (ability to use oxygen efficiently) and endurance capabilities for instance you might need to start with strength or power building sessions rather than endurance training. Or say if you are getting ready for a whole season of climbing rather than just one single climb you would have to adjust accordingly by peaking early and just using a maintenance routine to stay in condition.
Like I said, you will need to do some experimenting or trial and error before you get it right for you. In the end though, some form of tapering and periodization is definitely a good idea if you desire to get the most out of your training so study up on it.
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