The purpose of this investigation was to examine the influence of training frequency on performance and some physiological responses during a 6-day taper. After 18 weeks of training, 9 male middle-distance runners were assigned to a high frequency taper (HFT, n = 5) or a moderate frequency taper (MFT, n = 4), consisting of training daily or resting every third day of the taper. Taper consisted of an 80% nonlinear progressive reduction in high intensity interval training. Blood samples were obtained, and 800 m performance and peak blood lactate ([La] peak ) measured before and after taper. Performance improved significantly after HFT (121.8 +/- 4.7 vs 124.2 +/- 4.9 s, p < 0.05), but not after MFT (126.6 +/- 2.8 vs 127.1 +/- 2.1 s). Neutrophils (2.89 +/- 0.68 vs 2.56 +/- 0.61 10 (3) x mm(-3)), granulocytes (3.08 +/- 0.70 vs 2.77 +/- 0.66 10 (3) x mm(-3)), haptoglobin (79.7 +/- 47.9 vs 60.7 +/- 33.6 mg x dl(-1)), total testosterone (7.39 +/- 1.67 vs 5.52 +/- 0.88 microg x l(-1)) and [La] peak (15.5 +/- 1.5 vs 14.4 +/- 2.0 mmol x l(-1)) significantly increased with taper. [La] peak correlated with performance time before taper (r = -0.76, p < 0.05), and change in [La] peak with change in serum cortisol (r = -0.75, p < 0.05) and total testosterone:cortisol ratio (r = 0.82, p < 0.01). In conclusion, training daily during a 6-day taper brought about significant performance gains, whereas resting every third day did not. High [La] peak and a hormonal milieu propitious to anabolic processes seemed to be necessary for optimum performance.
It is concluded that taper-induced physiological changes in trained middle-distance runners are mainly hematological, and that distinct physiological changes are elicited from LICT and HIIT during taper. Middle-distance runners can progressively reduce their usual training volume by at least 75% during a 6-d taper.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.