The Fine Art of Doing Less to Perform Better

You’ve logged the miles, sweated through the intervals, and set more alarms than a firefighter. Now race day looms, and you’re told it’s time to “taper.” Translation: stop training so hard. For many endurance athletes, that’s like telling a toddler to stop touching things.

So, what exactly is a taper? In plain English, it’s a strategic reduction in training load (volume and intensity) in the last one to three weeks before a race. The goal is to slowly let your body absorb all that work you’ve done, shed accumulated fatigue, and hit the start line feeling like a coiled spring instead of a wrung-out sponge.

Here’s the science bit: during taper, muscle glycogen stores refill, hormones rebalance, and microscopic damage repairs. Your fitness doesn’t vanish, it just stays steady. But rest too little, and you stay tired. Rest too much, and you risk feeling flat. The sweet spot? A taper typically lasts 10–14 days for most endurance races. Shorter races might only need a three to seven day taper. I’ve found that most experienced athletes don’t need as long of a taper, even for really long events.

Now, let’s talk about how NOT to sabotage your taper.

1. DON’T PANIC-TRAIN
That “one last hard session” you think will give you an edge? It won’t. It’ll just leave you sore and more fatigued. The hay is already in the barn — don’t light the match too early and blow your taper on a last-minute quality session.

2. KEEP MOVING, BUT CHILL
Tapering isn’t hibernation. Nor is it total recovery. Keep some short efforts to stay sharp, but dial the volume down by 20-25%. Think “fresh and snappy,” not “race simulation.”

3. TRUST YOUR TRAINING
You’ll probably feel weird, a bit sluggish at times, restless, anxious, and convinced you’re losing fitness by the minute. You’re not. That’s just your body increasing readiness. Resist the urge to fix what isn’t broken and just know you’ve done the work, so you are ready. Fitness doesn’t just fall off, so it’s pretty hard to mess up by doing too little at this point.

4. ADJUST YOUR INTAKE… SLIGHTLY
With less training, there is less calorie burn. Keep eating well, but there’s no need to eat more than usual until you are only a few days out. And even then, you don’t want to overeat and risk GI issues. It’s not hard to put on a few pounds in the two weeks before a big race if you keep eating like you are training at a high volume.

5. PROTECT YOUR SLEEP AND YOUR SANITY
Sleep is your number one recovery tool —prioritize it. Avoid making significant life changes during a taper week. If possible, don’t change jobs, adopt a puppy, plan to propose, or remodel your kitchen. Avoid all avoidable extra stress, at least until after the race. You can, however, use your spare time to check off some to-dos you’ve been putting off. That tends to reduce some stress and start to rebuild your brownie points.

In short, a good taper is about confidence, trusting your preparation, reducing fatigue, staying sharp, and not letting your inner overachiever talk you into doing something dumb.

Dale Sanford is the co-founder of BPC Performance, Inc. and has been coaching individuals and athletes all over the world since 2009. You can catch up with Dale @bpcperformance on IG, or listen to the Coaches on Couches Podcast. If you’d like to start your health or sports performance journey with BPC, visit Buildpeakcompete.com

By Dale Sanford, Performance Coach