Velocity Based Training: A Revolutionary Practice

For some time now we have been hearing about Velocity Based Training and its benefits.

It seems that this novel form of training for the development and control of strength in sportsmen and athletes is changing the paradigms.

More and more personal trainers, coaches and athletes themselves are joining this method that promises to be more effective in terms of strength training. To carry out the training they use high-precision technological devices, such as Vitruve (to learn more about it you can click here vitruve), which helps them to achieve their maximum performance.

In this article we will provide you with the information you need to learn more about this new method. You could say that it is a velocity based training guide for you to learn everything about this type of training.

What is VBT (Velocity Based Training)?

The training of athletes and sportsmen has been favored by technological advances in the last decade, and muscle strength training is no exception. In the last few years, new technologies have appeared that allow a more controlled and acute analysis of the athletes’ capacity.

We are talking about new devices, such as Vitruve, which provide the possibility of analyzing the speed of execution when lifting loads, with a high degree of accuracy, which generates more specific results and a positive impact on sports performance. This allows the coach to have the necessary information to know how to help the athlete’s evolution, for example, understanding that in order to improve he/she must lift the bar more quickly.

This is what is known as Velocity Based Training (VBT), a method that has been studied and analyzed for several years and has gained much popularity in recent times. In fact, scientific studies have shown that this method is the most effective in strength training.

Why is this type of training useful?

In the training of a professional athlete, there are many training variables and many people involved in the training. The strength coach, physical therapist, personal trainer and other professionals together design the training and endurance programs for these athletes. These professionals need to manipulate the variables mentioned above; some of them are easy to measure, such as rest times or training frequency. However, other variables can be very complex to calculate, such as intensity.

Intensity is one of the most difficult variables to measure. It has always been calculated as a percentage of the athlete’s 1-RM.

The 1-RM is calculated by assessing maximal strength at the beginning and at the end of a new program. In this way it is possible to identify if the athlete has improved his strength during the program.

However, using this approach alone can be problematic when considering day-to-day fluctuations in strength, which have been shown to be 18% below and above the tested 1-RM. This equals a total variation of 36%, a very high percentage indeed.

To put it more simply, an athlete’s strength levels are likely to vary significantly before a rugby match and the day after playing. So, his training loads (which were prescribed based on 1-RM percentage) must be adjusted to match the athlete’s condition.

Today’s technology puts an end to this dilemma, since it is possible to measure the speed of movement as an indicator of intensity. In this way it is not necessary to resort to 1-RM. As you can see, this type of training is really useful.

Velocity based training guide summary

Let’s see then, in summary, what are the benefits and uses that this training offers

• VBT allows for periodic training using specific speeds to adapt to specific circumstances and conditions of the athlete.
• The tools used in this method offer an objective and immediate feedback that allows to design each session according to the needs.
• Thanks to the features of VBT the loads can be adjusted in the moment, in real time and in an exact way and thus design the speed zone based on the objectives of each session, depending on the capabilities of the athlete during that session. This is known as “autoregulation”.

Conclusion

The technology applied to speed-based training allows to optimize the weight room and sports performance in a much more efficient way than traditional methods.

The information obtained through this modality is essential to adjust the training of each athlete according to his daily performance.