Peaking When It Counts: Perfecting the 10-Day Taper
A Review by TopCat
This DVD is a departure from the normal CF.com format in that it is shot almost documentary style and provides a fly on the wall experience of the final 11 days before a national championship and the work that goes in to take a promising 100m sprinter from previous seasons best performances of 10.6 down to a final showing and a new PB of 10.36 & 10.32W.
The DVD starts off with an introduction to the athletes background and paints a picture so familiar in Track and Field – a promising high school athlete with a PB of 10.38s moves to College and over the preceding five years fails to run a personal best and often struggles to perform within half a second of his best. Did he “peak to young” or can something be done to return to his former glory? Following a short to long program based on the CFTS template he runs PBs during the indoors season but due to issues with weather he is unable to translate this success to the outdoor season and seems unable to dip under 10.6s. With 11 days to go before his National championships him and his coach Derek travel to Toronto to see if Charlie’s fine tuning can help to rescue the outdoor season and restore the athlete’s confidence.
Having arrived in Toronto Derek sits down with Charlie 11 days out from the meet and they discuss the basis of the 10 day taper and how to adjust the template provided in the CFTS to the actual conditions the athlete finds themselves in. The first thing to discuss is should they run in a meet the next day – 10 days out from the championship?
They decide to do the meet and day 10 documents the warm up for the competition and the heat returns a time of 10.62s. In the final the blocks slip but he still comes through to finish ahead but we never do find out the final time. Not the perfect start to 10 day taper but a relatively good performance and now athlete and coach have 10 days to work on the technical issues Charlie identifies.
Day 9 starts with massage and Charlie explains the issues he is finding and talks the audience through the therapy session. After this there is a gentle tempo session and then a weights session. The format of the taper is different to what some people might think based on the normal CFTS weekly setup but Charlie explains why it is possible to do weights and tempo on the same day.
Day 8 is the first speed session since the competition. It starts of as usual with a light massage to check tone and more explanation about Charlie’s through process based on the therapy results. There is also further explanation of PNF stretching and some simple back manipulation. The session consists of a number of starting accelerations from a stand and from blocks and Charlie provides some technical correction for the arm swing. This section has quite a bit of technical commentary and it’s interesting to see just what Charlie picks up on.
Day 7 is tempo and weights and the muscles seem fine. Derek and Charlie discuss the weights session and how weight training should be organised and the reasons for including certain lifts.
At the start of day 6 the muscle tone is really coming along and the speed session includes a few longer runs but due to circumstances outside their control block work is not possible. During massage Charlie discusses controlling anxiety before a major meet and the injury risk that Frisbees pose before competition! These anecdotes are quite amusing and the speed session goes well with the athlete coming close to their PB in the 150m run despite running it relaxed and smooth.
After a day off, day 4 begins with tempo and then the final weights session. Derek also talks about the constrains the has to work under and some background to the athletes program. Day three is the final speed session, which consists of a few starts and a final check of the muscles. Charlie gives some last minute technical pointers.
Then it is off for the 3 hour drive to the meet venue and a day off. Day 1 consists of getting familiar with the track and a few block starts just to get the feeling of rhythm. Finally, Day Zero arrives and we are talked through the Heats and Semi-finals. I’m not going to tell you what happens but certainly the outcome fulfils everyone’s’ expectations! The DVD closes with some pointers about the experience and what needs to be worked on in the coming season.
At 1:42min this DVD is long! This is because it captures almost every run and every lift during the 11 days. This is a feature of the last several CF.com products and I think it helps to clear up the confusion and lets people see exactly what is happening. As a coach it gives you a real idea of what should be going on before a major meet and helps reinforce the basic philosophy behind the CFTS. As an athlete it probably shows you that peaking is not down to chance and that with good coaching and nothing more than simple massage (all be it from an experienced practitioner) you can really make a difference to performance.
It’s not a “how to” but a “how we did it” product so things are going to have to be adjusted according to the conditions you find yourself under. Obviously it can’t match the experience of actually visiting Charlie but having been there to watch the final few days in person, the footage does capture what it was all about. To get the opportunity to gain an insight into the lead up to a major competition with such a high level coach is not going to happen under real world conditions because those last few days are so nerve wracking that most of the active elite coaches would simply not want you around. This product is truly unique and a great addition to the CF.com portfolio.
In terms of shipping and service, this product was with me via international air mail within 10 days of payment, which was thoroughly impressive! I’d like to thank Derek, Charlie and the Athlete for agreeing to go on film and allow us all to experience this.
For more info and to purchase the DVD, click on the link below: