Taper Tantrums: Why Your Body Feels Off (and How to Fix It Without Losing Fitness)

You've survived peak week.

Not to mention the other 14 weeks of training.

You're finally reward with that sweet, sweet mileage drop because you can't wait for your legs to feel fresh again.

But to your chagrin, they feel…funky.

You're trying to stop yourself from overanalyzing every niggle, wondering:

“Do I sneak in a few extra miles? Stretch more?

Is it my strength training? Do I stop lifting? But will I lose my strength?

But if I keep lifting, will I ruin my race?”

This is the tightrope of tapering.

It's the ultimate balance of recovery, harvesting fitness, and maintaining strength so your sharp for race day.

Everything you're feeling: completely normal.

This is your body catching up, not breaking down. And when it comes to your strength training, the solution isn’t to stop… it’s to shift.

Let’s break down exactly what your strength should look like during taper week(s), so your legs feel fresh (not flat) on race day.

Why Your Body Feels Weird When Training Volume Drops

You hit your taper and suddenly everything starts to feel... off.

Your legs feel flat.

Your stride feels clunky.

And your knee, calf, and hip are in conspiratorial cohoots again, even though you’re running less.

The Truth: your body has been living in steady a rhythm for months.

You’ve been loading your muscles, tendons, and nervous system at a consistently intense level.

So when taper time hits, mileage drops, and gym volume decreases, your nervous system goes,“Wait… where did all the input go?”

Your brain is the super computer of this system and it got used to cataloging the steady stream of feedback and movement-data from training.

When this major piece is taken away, your brain becomes a data-addict, searching, looking, for something else to fill that void. It becomes more sensitive to every little sensation, even harmless stiffness or background fatigue.

The result? “Phantom pains” that appear right when you’re supposed to be feeling your best.

The good news? Regardless of how your feel, your muscles are rebuilding and recharging, pulling in glycogen, fluids, and nutrients as they recover and harvest fitness from your training.

And while this is absolutely necessary for full gas, no breaks on race day, it can also make your legs feel heavier or “puffy.”

Add in a little taper anxiety, and those normal sensations get magnified.

I want you to remember this:

You’re not broken. You’re adapting. And this temporary funk is actually your body setting you up for peak performance.

The Mistake Runners Make in Taper Week

When the taper starts, most runners make one of two mistakes:

• They either shut everything down (skipping strength work completely out of fear of “overdoing it”)

• or they keep trying to "lift heavy" because that's what the internet keeps telling them to do, right?

Both of these extremes backfire.

Here’s why:

When you stop strength training altogether, your nervous system loses the “reminder” of how to produce force efficiently. Your muscles may still be strong, but their activation starts to dull.

The unfortunate result: your stride can feel awkward or sluggish when mileage drops.

On the other hand, continuing to try and lift as heavy as possible before race week can do the opposite: undoing all your hard recovery from your taper.

The sweet spot lies right in between: maintaining tension and neuromuscular coordination without creating fatigue.

Think less work, not no work.

Your goal during taper isn’t to keep “training hard.” It’s to keep your system awake, fine tuned, responsive, and ready to perform on race day.

How to Strength Train Smart During Taper

Let me mega-blast you with this truth bomb:

When you enter taper time, your strength work isn’t about building muscle anymore. It’s about maintaining it.

This means your resistance training shifts into what’s called a maintenance phase, not a building phase.

The goal is to preserve strength, tendon stiffness, and neuromuscular coordination; not to chase new gains.

What does that actually look like?

• 1–2 short sessions per week. That’s enough to remind your body how to move under load without digging an unnecessary recovery hole.

• Cut your total volume in half. Think roughly 50% less total tonnage (sets × reps × load). You’ll still lift heavy, the intensity stays high, but you’ll do fewer reps overall.

• Reduce plyometric contacts by about 50%. Yes, you still do plyos during taper. Just fewer of them. Keeping a small dose of jumping or bounding keeps your Achilles, calves, and tendons responsive for race day.

• RPE around 6–7/10. You should feel like you’re moving well, not grinding through fatigue.

The idea is this:

You want to remind your neuromuscular system how to recruit muscle and store/release energy without creating new muscle damage or lingering soreness.

The workouts should leave you feeling primed, not tired.

Speaking of workouts, let me give you one that you can use.

How to Strength Train During Your Marathon Taper

Circuit: Full Body Core

2 sets each // body weight

Elongated runner's stance halos

• 5 CW/ 5 CCW // medium weight

Sprinter Plank

• 5 Reps ea side

Bear Crawl Toe Taps

• 10 taps ea foot

Circuit: Leg Strength

2 sets each of 5 reps ea leg // all at RPE 5-6

• Bulgarian Split Squat with Rotation

• DB Overhead Step Ups

• Goblet Squat

How to Avoid Losing Your Edge During Your Taper

Full Body Core Circuit

• I want you to feel the burn.

• THE SECRET: not the burn as in you can't do another rep. I want you to feel the challenge and intensity these different positions place you in. I want you to feel your muscles working hard, your entire body activated in an effort to stay strong! But I also want you to know, this kind of intensity is SAFE.

• I've chosen these running specific exercises because they challenge you in positions that resemble your running stride, but also send enough information to the data-hog of a brain of yours to help navigate and hopefully mitigate a lot of the phantom niggles.

• This is one instance where if you want to do an extra set...I'll allow it ;)

Taper Time Leg Day Circuit

• I know what you're thinking: this looks WAY to intense for tapering...

• PRO TIP: did you look at the reps and sets? And did you also look at the RPE? I want you to notice that the RPE max is a 6, which means you should pick a weight that leaves you feeling "oh yea, I could definitely do 4 more reps". Thats it.

• So while some of these may look hard and feel intense, it's nothing your body can't handle. And worse case scenario: you're a little extra sore tomorrow. BUT I PROMISE YOU...it will dissipate after your easy run or a couple walks. It's just spicy enough to remind your legs you're strong, you're capable, you're ready for race day.

WRAPPING UP

Your taper isn’t about doing more. It's about doing enough

Tapering isn’t about proving your fitness. It's about protecting it.

By the time you reach taper, the hard work is already done.

Your aerobic engine is built.

Your tissues have adapted.

Your nervous system knows what race pace feels like.

The goal now is to let all of that consolidate. To allow your system to put all the pieces into place.

And that’s where most runners get tripped up.

Doing “more” feels productive:

more stretching, more foam rolling, one last workout “just to be sure.”

But in reality, your body doesn’t need more input right now.

It needs the right amount of consistent movement to keep your system firing without draining your recovery reserves.

That means:

• 2 intentional strength sessions each week to keep your muscles awake.

• Steady, low-stress running volume to maintain rhythm and coordination.

• Recovery that’s active, not anxious.

  
  

Because here’s the truth: your fitness doesn’t disappear during your taper.

But your confidence might if you mistake “rest” for “doing nothing.”

So instead of chasing more, focus on enough: just enough stimulus to stay sharp, just enough rest to absorb all your hard work, and just enough patience to let your peak take shape.

You've got this running fit fam. I can't wait to hear all about your races!

Until next time...

Dare to Train Differently,

Marie Whitt, PT, DPT //@dr.whitt.fit