Importance of Velocity Metrics in Resistance Training

Velocity-Based Training (VBT) offers a safer and more efficient approach to strength assessment for youth athletes, reducing the risks of traditional 1RM testing. This method allows coaches to track performance and adjust training loads with precision, ensuring effective and personalized strength development.

By Coach Joey Wannouch

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Introduction

In the evolving world of resistance training (RT) and strength and conditioning (S&C), velocity metrics have emerged as pivotal tools for coaches. These metrics do more than just enhance sports performance; they play a crucial role in reducing injury risks. By integrating velocity-based training (VBT) into RT programs, coaches can tailor training to individual athlete needs, ensuring precision and adaptability. This approach links the goals of RT with the realities of sports performance, where speed and power are paramount. The adaptability of VBT to daily performance variations and its capacity to provide objective, real-time feedback marks a significant advancement over traditional training methodologies. 

Why track Velocity during Resistance Training?

One of the main aims of RT for athletic performance is to enhance relative force production capacity, thereby improving acceleration and movement velocity against any absolute load, particularly those encountered during competitive events. Relative force is a critical determinant of acceleration, while the duration of force application, or relative impulse, dictates the resultant velocity. Given the time-constrained nature of athletic tasks, enhancing sports performance through RT necessitates increasing the force component of impulse rather than extending the duration of force application. This approach aligns with the biomechanical principle that for any given movement, especially those pertinent to competitive events, the enhancement of impulse should predominantly come from an increase in force to optimize acceleration and velocity against specific loads encountered in sport. 

Executing a RT exercise with maximal intended velocity can effectively translate into the same action during competition. In most sports, excluding powerlifting, competitive performance often relies on an athlete’s ability to move or displace their body (or the body with a sport-specific external implement) at maximal intended velocity during various actions such as running, jumping, lifting, throwing, hitting, cycling, swimming, paddling, pushing or pulling opponents, and numerous other specific actions executed in both individual and team sports. Therefore, if the main objective of RT for athletic performance is to enhance an athlete’s ability to accelerate against any absolute load rapidly and forcefully by applying maximal intent, thereby enhancing movement velocity as an outcome, then it logically follows that the velocity of a training exercise should be objectively monitored. 

To achieve this objective, the development of maximal dynamic strength is crucial, as applying greater mean force to a specific load results in increased acceleration and, therefore, increased movement velocity and power output, consequently leading to improved explosive strength. It is imperative that S&C coaches understand the main objective of their RT programs and the mechanisms that govern the adaptations required for enhancing athletic performance in competition. The mechanisms underpinning enhanced athletic ability via RT requires its own blog post, but for now coaches should understand that the biggest advantage VBT has is its ability to drive maximal movement intent which enables the appropriate adaptations to occur to enhance rate of force development during athletic tasks.

The importance of Velocity in Strength and Power

In the realm of strength and conditioning, the primary goals are twofold: to elevate athletic prowess and to lower the chances of injury. Key to this are muscular strength and power, often the dividing line between varying levels of sports performance [1, 2]. These specific attributes can be targeted in RT sessions[1, 2]. These physical changes hinge on a trio of factors: mechanical and neural influences like forces and contraction times, metabolic agents such as lactic acid, and hormonal elements including testosterone. [3-5]. These mechanisms are heavily influenced by an individual’s ability to provide maximal intended movement velocity during RT, regardless of the load [6-8]. Specifically, maximal strength and power adaptations are directly affected by maximal intended concentric movement velocity, which can enhance rate coding and rate of force development during RT [9]. 

In sports, peak performance often hinges on moving the body or an object with maximal velocity, a concept central to activities like running, swimming, and team sports [10]. While weightlifting focuses on lifting heavier loads at a fixed velocity, the underlying principle remains the same: enhancing the speed at which given loads are moved. This objective is measurable and aligns with the goals of RT, including increased power output and explosive strength. Achieving higher velocities with specific loads translates to improved performance across a broad range of sports [10]. 

Understanding VBT and its methodologies

Velocity-based training (VBT) tailors RT programs to individual needs and monitors neuromuscular fatigue. It involves several methodologies: creating Load-Velocity Profiles (LVP) for precise load prescription, calculating sessional one-repetition maximum (1RM) for effective load adjustments, and providing immediate performance feedback for enhancing athlete motivation and competitiveness [11]. By incorporating VBT, coaches can monitor and adapt training to optimize neuromuscular performance and manage fatigue more effectively [11]. 

Practical Applications in S&C

Traditional RT doesn’t account for day-to-day performance variability. VBT fills this gap, enabling coaches to adjust training loads dynamically based on velocity metrics. This personalized approach ensures more accurate and effective training interventions.  

Beyond traditional qualitative feedback, VBT offers objective, real-time performance data. This precision aids coaches, especially those managing large groups, in delivering tailored feedback for enhanced training quality and immediate performance improvements. The biggest benefit VBT seems to have however, is its ability to drive maximal movement intent and quantify this objectively, as mentioned earlier its  

Pro Tip: A must read resource for all coaches interested in both the theory and how to practically apply VBT is the paper titled ‘Velocity-Based Training: From Theory to Application’ by Jonathan Weakley and co.  

Conclusion

Velocity metrics significantly enhance resistance training by offering detailed insights into the athletes dynamic neuromuscular ability on any given day, leading to more efficient and personalized approaches in sports performance. VBT provides several advantages, including improved movement intent, reduced injury risks with tailored adjustments, individualised training programs, effective monitoring of neuromuscular fatigue, objective performance feedback, and adaptability to daily performance variations. For an in-depth understanding of these benefits, I recommend coaches explore the insightful content on GymAware’s blogs. 

References 

  1. Harries SK, Lubans DR, Callister R. Resistance training to improve power and sports performance in adolescent athletes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of science and medicine in sport. 2012;15(6):532-40. 
  2. McGuigan MR, Wright GA, Fleck SJ. Strength training for athletes: Does it really help sports performance? International journal of sports physiology and performance. 2012;7(1):2-5. 
  3. Crewther B, Cronin J, Keogh J. Possible stimuli for strength and power adaptation: Acute mechanical responses. Sports Med. 2005;35(11):967-89. 
  4. Crewther B, Cronin J, Keogh J. Possible stimuli for strength and power adaptation : Acute metabolic responses. Sports Med. 2006;36(1):65-78. 
  5. Crewther B, Keogh J, Cronin J, Cook C. Possible stimuli for strength and power adaptation: Acute hormonal responses. Sports Med. 2006;36(3):215-38. 
  6. Weakley J, McLaren S, Ramirez-Lopez C, García-Ramos A, Dalton-Barron N, Banyard H, et al. Application of velocity loss thresholds during free-weight resistance training: Responses and reproducibility of perceptual, metabolic, and neuromuscular outcomes. Journal of Sports Sciences. 2020;38(5):477-85. 
  7. González-Badillo JJ, Rodríguez-Rosell D, Sánchez-Medina L, Gorostiaga EM, Pareja-Blanco F. Maximal intended velocity training induces greater gains in bench press performance than deliberately slower half-velocity training. European journal of sport science. 2014;14(8):772-81. 
  8. Pareja-Blanco F, Rodríguez-Rosell D, Sánchez-Medina L, Gorostiaga E, González-Badillo J. Effect of movement velocity during resistance training on neuromuscular performance. International journal of sports medicine. 2014;35(11):916-24. 
  9. Enoka RM, Duchateau J. Rate coding and the control of muscle force. Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine. 2017;7(10):a029702. 
  10. González-Badillo JJ, Sánchez-Medina L, Ribas-Serna J, Rodríguez-Rosell D. Toward a new paradigm in resistance training by means of velocity monitoring: A critical and challenging narrative. Sports Medicine-Open. 2022;8(1):1-24. 
  11. Weakley J, Mann B, Banyard H, McLaren S, Scott T, Garcia-Ramos A. Velocity-based training: From theory to application. Strength Cond J. 2021;43(2):31-49. 

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Coach Joey Wannouch

Joey Wannouch

Joey Wannouch is a sport scientist at Precision Sport Science in California, USA. He is currently completing his PhD in Velocity Based Training in Youth Athletes and works as a sessional academic at Swinburne University of Technology. He is passionate about improving the application of performance training and monitoring methods in youth athletes.