Sprint Taper Tips（冲刺恢复）

小臭贝

This week’s Speedo Tip of the Week comes from Christine Woodruff, USA Swimming’s coaching fellow. Woodruff, a former swimmer at the University of Florida, offers advice on tapering sprinters.
本周的Speedo小贴士来自美国游泳队的教练克里斯廷.伍德拉夫。这位佛罗里达大学的早期运动员要向处于恢复期的短距离运动员提出忠告。

One of the most difficult and unpredictable aspects of a swimmer’s season is their taper. This is even more true for sprinters and is partly attributed to physiological differences. Some research has shown that the greatest benefits from taper occur in fast-twitch muscle fiber, the type of muscle primarily used by sprinters. After about two weeks of taper, fast-twitch muscle fiber shows greatly increased muscle power, contraction speed and force. Slow-twitch muscle fibers only demonstrate marginally increased contraction speed. In theory, the more fast-twitch muscle mass a swimmer has, the more they will benefit from taper.
游泳运动员在赛季中最困难也最不可预测的因素是他们的恢复。对于冲刺（短距离）运动员来说，尤其如此。这种现象部分归因于生理学的差异。一些研究显示，恢复的最大的受益者产生于快速收缩肌肉纤维中，这种类型的肌肉，主要是冲刺（短距离）运动员使用的。在恢复的两周后，快速收缩肌肉纤维显示显著增强了肌肉能量，收缩速度以及力度。慢速收缩肌肉纤维只会略微增加收缩速度。理论上，一个运动员有越多的快速收缩肌肉纤维群，那么他会从恢复过程中得益更多。

Tapers generally average between 14 and 28 days, and can usually be determined by the following factors which relate to muscle mass:
恢复通常在14到28天之间，也与下列因素相关：

•         Length of event: shorter events, like the 50, require more power and therefore more rest
•         Gender: men generally need a longer taper due to greater muscle mass
•         Age: recovery time is longer for older swimmers and typically they have more muscle mass
•         Training Consistency: certain studies show that a year-round swimmer will benefit more from taper than a seasonal swimmer
•         Length of season: a longer season allows for a longer taper
•         Height: can sometimes be overlooked as a factor. Tall, thin swimmers may have more muscle mass than they appear to have because it is stretched over a larger frame
•        比赛项目的长度：更短的项目，比如50m，需要更大的力量，因此需要更多的休息。
•        性别：男性一般需要更长时间恢复，因为他们有更多的肌肉群。
•        年龄：年长的游泳运动员，需要更长的恢复时间，因为他们有更多的肌肉群。
•        训练连贯性：某些研究显示，一个整年（坚持训练）的游泳运动员会比季度的游泳运动员从恢复中获得更多的好处。
•        赛季的长度：长赛季就需要长恢复期。
•        体重：有时会成为一个被人忽略的因素。高，瘦的运动员的肌肉比表明上看起来的多，因为肌肉在一个更大的骨骼框架内被拉伸。

Taper is something that should be tailored to the individual.  Coaches can adapt and perfect an athlete’s taper after each season by observing how each athlete responds. A longer taper should involve a gradual increase in recovery sessions, along with a gradual decrease in aerobic threshold training. One of the most important parts of a sprinter’s taper is finding the balance between resting enough for the muscles to adequately recover, but not so much that they begin to deteriorate.
恢复过程需要适应个人情况。教练应该在每个赛季后通过观察每个运动员的反应情况，调整并完善每个运动员的恢复过程。一个较长期的恢复过程应该包括一个渐进增加的恢复期，以及一个逐步减少的有氧运动。冲刺（短距离）运动员恢复过程中的一个最重要的部分，是要足够的休息，以使得肌肉得到充分的恢复，但是也不能休息太多，使得情况恶化（肌肉退化）。

Note: There are always exceptions to the generalities of a taper. An athlete’s coach is the most qualified person to determine what kind of taper is best for them, and it might be contrary to these guidelines.
注意：对于恢复过程的一般性而言，总有例外。运动员的教练应该是最有资格来决定给他们什么样的恢复，而且有时会和指导方针相反。（意思是说，不要教条，要针对运动员采取相应的措施）