Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 28(2):251-258, FEBRUARY 1996
PMID: 8775162
Issn Print: 0195-9131
Publication Date: February 1996
Modeled responses to training and taper in competitive swimmers
IÑIGO MUJIKA;THIERRY BUSSO;LUCIEN LACOSTE;FRÉDÉRIC BARALE;ANDRÉ GEYSSANT;JEAN-CLAUDE CHATARD;
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Laboratoire de Physiologie-GIP Exercice, Université Jean Monnet, Faculté de Médecine, Saint-Etienne, FRANCE; and Toulouse Olympique Etudiant Club, Toulouse, FRANCE
Abstract
This study investigated the effect of training on performance and assessed the response to taper in elite swimmers (N = 18), using a mathematical model that links training with performance and estimates the negative and positive influences of training, NI and PI. Variations in training, performance, NI, and PI were studied during 3-, 4-, and 6-wk tapers. The fit between modeled and actual performance was significant for 17 subjects; r2 ranged from 0.45 to 0.85, P < 0.05. Training was progressively reduced during tapers. Performance improved during the first two tapers: 2.90 ± 1.50% (P < 0.01) and 3.20 ± 1.70% (P < 0.01). Performance improvement in the third taper was not significant (1.81 ± 1.73%). NI was reduced during the first two tapers (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively), but not during the third. PI did not change significantly during tapers. Thus, the present results show that the model used is a valuable method to describe the effects of training on performance. Performance improvement during taper was attributed to a reduction in NI. PI did not improve with taper, but it was not compromised by the reduced training periods.
