If you’re looking for an objective way to autoregulate training, velocity trackers may be the tool for you. Today, we’re diving into the world of velocity-based training (VBT), how it can improve your training, and whether you should buy a velocity tracker. At the end of the newsletter, if you’re interested in buying a velocity tracker, we’ll give some recommendations of devices to consider.
Velocity trackers measure the speed at which you move the barbell – or other implement – during your lifts. The main metric of interest that it provides is average concentric velocity. Simply put, average concentric velocity is the speed of the lifting phase of the movement.
Why is this an important metric? Well, there’s a few reasons. For one, there’s a very strong correlation between the speed with which you’re able to lift a weight and the corresponding % of your one-rep max (1, 2, 3).
So, on any given day, using a velocity tracker can allow you to get a pretty accurate estimate of your predicted one-rep max and readiness to perform. This can be helpful in terms of selecting the right load; if you’re usually able to squat 400 pounds with an average concentric velocity of around 0.35 m/s, but you were able to lift it with an average concentric velocity of 0.42 m/s while warming up today, you either got a fair bit stronger or are having a great day. Either way, this feedback can be used to increase the loads you’re using for the day.
Likewise, if you like to have a good idea of what your one-rep max is, velocity tracking is helpful. Since it can provide a decent estimate of your one-rep max, you won’t need to test it nearly as often anymore.
Velocity tracking can also help you train more accurately and nail your RPE targets. Just like average concentric velocity corresponds closely to the percentage of your one-rep max you are lifting, during a set, it is also strongly predictive of how close to failure you take the set (1).
So, you can set a velocity threshold that you want to reach before ending the set. If the last successful rep of a set to failure on bench reliably has a velocity of around 0.25 m/s, for example, and you want to stop a rep shy of failure, you could end the set when a rep has a velocity of around 0.3 m/s. This can be helpful both when training for muscle growth or strength.
Besides autoregulation, predicting your one-rep max, and helping you train to the right proximity to failure, velocity trackers also have another use: feedback. There’s a pretty large amount of research showing that receiving feedback during resistance training can improve strength and power gains. Furthermore, these gains tend to be greater when feedback is frequent (i.e. between reps of a set) and quantitative (i.e. velocity). So, if you can set up your phone or a tablet to show you your average concentric velocity during a set – or even just say the value out-loud – there’s a very good chance this could help you see greater gains. Additionally, prior research has shown that focusing on moving explosively throughout the concentric improves strength gains. Since receiving frequent feedback on velocity can motivate you to beat the last rep, and helps keep your attentional focus on being explosive, using a velocity tracker for feedback seems like a great bet.
What’s the catch? First, for the data you get out of the device to be worth much, you need to be as explosive as possible during the concentric/lifting phase of the movement. Another big caveat is that (good) velocity trackers aren’t cheap. You have to buy a device that is both valid and reliable. By comparison, RPE is also pretty accurate for predicting one-rep max, provided you set up an individualized load-maximum-repetitions profile, and it’s free (1). In fact, the best way to use velocity trackers is probably to use them alongside RPE (1). Technical errors, like misgrooving a rep, or getting distracted can have a major impact on the velocity of a rep. Rating RPE allows you to contextualize a given set a bit better than a number alone would, leading to more effective autoregulation.
Second, it also involves a fair bit more work than other autoregulation and tracking methods. You need to set up the device for every set/exercise. You also need to set up individual velocity-load profiles. Since different individuals do vary in how fast they’re able to move loads – and how well they can grind out a heavy lift, for example – setting up an individualized load-velocity profile is important to get value out of velocity tracking. Otherwise, the one-rep max estimates will be off, and you may not get as much use out of setting a velocity threshold when ending a set, either. Fortunately, Greg has previously created a nifty spreadsheet you can use for this purpose.
If you want to buy a velocity tracker, there are a few options we recommend. Linear position transducers tend to be your best bet for validity and reliability (1). GymAware is the gold standard that is used in exercise science labs, but it is costly. A cheaper, solid alternative is OpenBarbell. If you need an ecosystem with a greater number of features, try the Push Band 2.0, though the Push Band likely isn’t as valid or reliable as the GymAware or OpenBarbell (1, 2). Finally, if you don’t have the cash to spend on a solid option, you could try a smartphone velocity tracking app, like metric VBT; though you should be aware that these are likely a fair bit less accurate than linear position transducers for the time being.
