Episode 31 - Peak Form: How to Reach It and Why You Can’t Stay There Forever

Peak form is not simply about being as fit as possible. It is the point where high fitness meets low fatigue, allowing an athlete to fully express the adaptations built over weeks and months of training.

Hard training develops aerobic fitness, strength, durability, climbing and descending ability, but it also creates fatigue. This means runners can sometimes be getting fitter while temporarily feeling slower or heavier. Tapering works by reducing that fatigue while preserving the fitness already developed.

Research supports substantially reducing training volume before an important race while maintaining some intensity. The purpose is not to create new fitness at the last minute, but to reveal the fitness already there.

Peak form should also be viewed as a window rather than a permanent state. Fitness can be maintained for relatively long periods, but the ideal combination of fitness, freshness, race specificity and psychological readiness cannot be held indefinitely.

After an A-race, the goal should therefore not be to stay at your peak, but to repeat the cycle:

RECOVER → REBUILD → DEVELOP → TAPER → PEAK AGAIN.

The key message of the episode is simple:

Training builds the fitness. Tapering reveals it.

1. Wang, Z., Wang, Y., Gao, W., & Zhong, Y. (2023).Effects of tapering on performance in endurance athletes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 18(5), e0282838.DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282838

2. Bosquet, L., Montpetit, J., Arvisais, D., & Mujika, I. (2007).Effects of tapering on performance: A meta-analysis. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 39(8), 1358–1365.

3. Mujika, I., & Padilla, S. (2003).Scientific bases for precompetition tapering strategies. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 35(7), 1182–1187.DOI: 10.1249/01.MSS.0000074448.73931.11

4. Calvert, T. W., Banister, E. W., Savage, M. V., & Bach, T. (1976).A systems model of the effects of training on physical performance. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, 6(2), 94–102.DOI: 10.1109/TSMC.1976.5409179

5. Spiering, B. A., Mujika, I., Sharp, M. A., & Foulis, S. A. (2021).Maintaining Physical Performance: The Minimal Dose of Exercise Needed to Preserve Endurance and Strength Over Time. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 35(5), 1449–1458.DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003964

6. Millet, G. Y., Tomazin, K., Verges, S., Vincent, C., Bonnefoy, R., Boisson, R. C., et al. (2011).Neuromuscular Consequences of an Extreme Mountain Ultra-Marathon. PLOS ONE, 6(2), e17059.DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0017059