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Sports & Fitness vocabulary · Sports Science & Performance

Taper

Meaning in sports & fitness, with examples

/ˈteɪpər/verbAdvanced term

In sports & fitness, taper means: To reduce training volume in the days or weeks before a major competition so that the athlete arrives rested and at peak performance.

In Turkish: yük azaltmak, tapering yapmak

How it is used

Common in running, swimming, cycling and triathlon. Athletes taper or start their taper; the period itself is called the taper or the tapering phase. Intensity is often kept while volume drops.

Example sentences

  1. We'll taper for two weeks before the national championships.

  2. During the taper my weekly mileage drops by about half.

Common collocations

  • taper for a race
  • start the taper
  • two-week taper
  • tapering phase
  • training programA planned series of workouts over weeks or months that sets out the exercises, sets, reps, intensity and rest needed to reach a goal.
  • marathonA long-distance running race of 42.195 kilometres (26.2 miles), usually held on roads; the word is also used for any very long event.
  • recoveryThe process of the body returning to normal after training, competition or injury, helped by rest, sleep and nutrition.
  • overtrainingDoing more training than the body can recover from over a long period, which can lead to falling performance, fatigue, poor sleep and injury.

More terms: Sports Science & Performance

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