Tapering

[amart107]

How do you guys taper for fights/competitions? How long out do you start reducing volume? Do you/how many days off do you take before fights? Interested to see how differently everyone does this.

[John L Sullivan]

If you trained for six to eight weeks, start the taper about a week out. If you trained for 12, start two weeks out.

Maintain intensity but slowly lower the volume. You were doing six rounds of stand up and six of rolling? Sunday do five, monday do four, Tuesday do three, Wednesday do two. Thursday and Friday should be pretty much off. Maybe hit the mitts lightly just to break a sweat and maintain muscle memory, or roll around at 50% to work on maintaining positions without incurring injuries.

The key to a good taper is to maintain intensity while reducing volume. You want to work AS HARD, just not AS MUCH.

Saturday you're ready to fight. Good luck. By the time you start the taper, the hay's in the barn, the work's been done, and it's just time to go reap the rewards of all the hard work you've done.

[John L Sullivan]

There should be a sticky for tapering, by the way, or one with a good schedule on how to prep for a fight. Tom Erickson had a good six- to eight-week one up for a long time.

[wildman1717]

That's a good idea about the sticky.