Here’s what’s involved in “peaking” or strategically unloading your athletes without detraining them. Tapering is a method of strategically unloading athletes in order to achieve peak levels of preparedness for major competitions. It’s one of those things we hear about more frequently than we see — and when we do see it, it’s rarely done consistently. For every coach who understands the whys and hows of tapering, unfortunately there seem to be two more who either do it incorrectly or don’t believe in doing it at all. Guidelines Fitness-Fatigue Paradigm Putting It Together