Taper is characterized as a special period during which the training stimulus is reduced in a systematic, non-linear fashion. Recent evidence has demonstrated that much of the performance decrement as loss of physiological adaptation that inevitably accompanies detraining can be minimized if training is either maintained at a reduced level or tapered.
Basically, tapering is a method where an athlete can rest his body prior to a competition without losing fitness in an effort to improve final performance. Herein lies the paradox where an athlete improves performance after a period of decreased training. The study authors explain that improvement in conditioning occurs after an increase in training intensity, stimulating the body to adapt to the new "sustained metabolic demand". Initially, however, the changes occurring at a physiological level compromise performance. Performance gains appear only after a taper begins.
Apparently, how an athlete tapers also affects the ultimate result. The study looked at four different tapers all lasting 2 weeks. In the first taper, the athlete merely decreased his training volume by 22% on the first day of the taper and maintained the decrease throughout the taper. The last three groups decreased their training volume in an exponential manner ending with a decrease of 31%, 50%, and 65% respectively. The results demonstrated that the group with the greatest exponential decrease in volume had the greatest performance increase at the end of the competition. The authors further explain that the last group trained one less day than their normal schedule and go further to theorize that adding an extra day of rest in the last week of taper could increase performance even more.
Finally, a study showing how rest makes a triathlete faster.
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