30 Seconds SummaryResearch Spotlight: How do powerlifters taper for competitions?
- This article presents a study on the tapering practices of American and Canadian raw powerlifters with a large sample of 364 subjects, aiming to understand commonly used tapering strategies.
- The study surveyed competitors from the OpenPowerlifting database who participated in USAPL, CPU, or IPF competitions, collecting data through an online survey about their training and tapering practices.
- Key findings include predominant use of step and linear tapers, taper durations typically less than 10 days, and a common practice of reducing training volume while varying intensity adjustments.
- International-level lifters tend to decrease training duration during taper more than national or regional level competitors, and sessions last slightly longer.
- Most lifters perform their final heavy sessions for squat and deadlift about 7-10 days before the competition, with bench press sessions within 7 days.
- Additional recovery and performance enhancement practices during tapering include sleep modifications, foam rolling, nutrition changes, massage, and visualization, employed by about 30-60% of lifters.
- The study reflects that training and tapering approaches are quite uniform across different competitive levels, suggesting a possible dissemination of effective practices or potential groupthink in training strategies.
- While decreasing intensity during taper is popular, especially among international-level competitors, it contrasts with common literature advising to maintain or increase intensity—highlighting a potential specific adaptation for powerlifting.
- The research does not confirm the superiority of the typical tapering practices but suggests their effectiveness as they are widely adopted, though it remains open whether other, less traditional methods might yield better results.
Stronger By Science
Greg Nuckols
