Strength phase taper

[amalec]

On the RCTM strength programs, there's a notation to "begin tapering", without a good definition of what a taper means in this context.

To be clear, I'm familiar with the term "taper" with respect to strength training, but I understand it to mean part or all of the following:

• Reducing intensity of each session
• Reducing volume of each session
• Reducing frequency of sessions

In the context of the RCTM strength training sessions, it's pretty clear that I'm not reducing frequency, but am I reducing intensity (by reducing weight on hang board sessions)? Or reducing volume (by reducing number of sets)?

Or something else?

[MarkAnderson]

I'm a little unclear what exactly you are referring to. Can you be more precise? Are you referring to the comment in gray text for day 45 on the schedule on the bottom of page 126? Let's assume for the sake of discussion that are (and, note that this schedule is a direct excerpt from the Strength Phase of the schedule on page 186, so the following explanation would be the same).

In that case, the statement "(Begin tapering)" refers to the Optional Outdoor Mileage (OM), Optional ARC, and Optional Aerobic Exercise (OAE) activities that are shown in gray throughout the earlier days in the phase. The point is to begin tapering any extraneous activities you are doing in addition to your strength training. So, day 45 is the last day with an Optional ARC workout (and its much lower volume than previous days), and there is no OM or OAE after Day 43.

The Strength sessions themselves would stay exactly the same, structurally speaking, although the resistance should be progressively increasing. So you should be in fact INCREASING intensity, while duration stays the same, and so, INCREASING volume.

[amalec]

Yes - that's the text. Thanks for the clarification - in the full cycle plans and even in the strength section chart it wasn't clear to me that the notation refers to the optional aerobic and other optional activity and *not* to the main hangboarding and other strength work. Thanks!