Velocity Based Training: A Guide to Getting Started with Your VBT

Strength training has often been understood as a really hard workout, with very high loads and a very high effort character, but the evidence has long been gained from those slogans as the “No pain, no gain”,  which have done so much damage to the world of training. This more traditional load percentage-based workout, which is typically estimated through a 1RM test consists of certain limitations that can play against our performance.

 

Training weaknesses based on % load

• Regular testing requires a great deal of time that not everyone has at their disposal. In addition to exerting a lot of effort, these tests produce an excessive degree of fatigue and are potentially harmful.
• They are vague, especially in people with little experience since they are not able to apply as much force as possible.
• 1RM is very variable according to various factors such as day, time, motivation, fatigue,stress, etc. This is because the nervous system is never constant and today’s 1RM may not be tomorrow’s, therefore it is very arbitrary, and a punctual test cannot set the tone for all your training days.

On the other hand, we have the VBT and a number of advantages that training that does not focus on velocity does not have. But  what’s with the VBT?

If you’re reading this, you’re probably already interested in using Velocity-Based Training (VBT), but broadly speaking, VBT is a training mode that puts the focus onachieving the maximum possible velocity in your lifts or movements.

Gonzalez –Badillo’s research found an almost perfect relationship between %1RM and the corresponding velocity in the individual’s velocity profile. In other words, when a subject tests their 1RM, their velocity at the corresponding percentages of 1RM always stays the same.

Figure 1. Velocity Zones (@rubrs_go)

 

Advantatges of velocity-based training

• It is most effective in terms of strength/power improvements.
• It’s more efficient, since you achieve more with less volume and less time, although later we’ll delve into this concept.
• It is safer and less lesive, as workouts are far from failure.

In addition, if you have an encoder with the onethat Vitruve offers, the workouts will be much more accurate since we will be training with the % load really programmed and you will have constant control, session by session of how your progress is going. If you want to delve into the topic,  I recommend this blog post: What is Velocity Based  Training?

For all these advantages and many more that I will tell you below, give the Vitruve team we bet on velocity-based training (VBT).

How do I start training VBT if I never have?

Before you start training VBT you have to stand and know what level you are at. Have you just started training, have you been training for a while and mastering the technique of exercises, do you have a Vitruve encoder?

If you don’t know where to be, don’t worry, from the Vitruve team we make it easy for you:

Initiation level: For people who have just started training, it is preferable that they focus their focus on the technique and perform the exercises at a controlled velocity. After a learning process of these exercises, we can have a little more impact on that intentionality of seeking a higher velocity and progressively increasing the concentric velocity of movement.

Basic level: If we have already been performing certain exercises with a correct execution for a while and master the technique, we can move on to the next level where we will seek to perform the movement as fast as possible in the concentric phase. When you notice that you lose a significant velocity with respect to the first repetition (20-30% of the velocity), FOR THE SERIES.

In this way, we will be training with a low stress character, away from failure, avoiding the accumulation of fatigue, both neuromuscular and metabolic caused by the accumulation of lactate and ammonium, which can reduce our performance.

“The more fatigue, the less strength, and therefore velocity, we will be able to generate”

Advanced level: In the previous levels, you didn’t need to have a device, but at this level, you already have a  Vitruve encoder, with which you can immediately see your % velocity.  Our goal will be to beat our own personal brand with the burden you use on a regular basis.

In addition, you can program the degree of intra-series and inter-series fatigue through % velocity loss. This way, when you repeat with that % velocity loss compared to the first series, the encoder will let you know so that you stop the series.

Expert level: This level is already for people who want to spin finer in their workouts. What we will do is look at the velocity tables – % load that we commented on later and even being able to create your own velocity profile. So, if we want to train, for example, at 75%, we will look during heating for the load that we can move at ‘X’ velocity and work with the exact % load that we want for that day.

 

 

Velocity tables – % load

The”type” tables, being normative and generic, have a slight problem since we are not all the same and there is a certain variability between people. That’s why it’s recommended to create your own force-velocity profile. But  how do I do it?

If you have a Vitruve device, it’s really very simple. During warm-up, which will be closely related to the exercise or movement that we want to measure, you will choose 4 loads, from a low load to a very high load. In this way, the application, through equations,will create your own personal curve and that when you perform ‘X’ exercise you will have your individual and exclusive percentage fully insured. Interestingly, every month and a half approximately we reevalue our velocity profile to adjust loads.

Every day we can work with the burdens that we can lift that same day, because we know that every day our athlete or ourselves have a different working capacity. The encoder is going to give us the exact load to lift at the velocitys we want to handle that day.

Figure 2. Table “type” velocity – % load 

 

Feedback – motivaton

In addition to all the advantages that we have already mentioned, having an encoder like Vitruve, offers you an incredible plus in terms of motivation thanks to the immediate auditory feedback that you can get from the application without having to be aware of the velocity on the screen and allowing you to maintain maximum concentration in each lift.

Simply wanting to beat your own record is going to make you want to lift faster even without thinking about it.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask! Leave a comment or contact us here.

 

If you want to know more about the velocity-based training offered bythe Vitruve linear encoder, we recommend that you keep an eye on this

REVIEW where we tell you everything you need to know to start using it from now on VBT in your workouts *CLICK IN REVIEW or insert video down* Vitruve Review  Linear ENCODER

 

Bibliography

• Balsalobre Fernández, ,&Jiménez  Reyes,P. (2014). Strength Training: New Methodological Perspectives.
• Pérez-Castilla, A., Piepoli, A., Delgado-García, G., Garrido-Blanca, G., & García-Ramos, A. (2019). Reliability and Concurrent Validity of Seven Commercially Available Devices for the Assessment of Movement Velocity at Different Intensities During the Bench Press. Journal of  strength  and  conditioning  research,33(5), 1258–1265. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000003118
• González-Badillo, J. J., & Sánchez-Medina, L. (2010). Movement velocity as a measure of loading intensity in resistance training. International journal  of  sports  medicine,  31(5), 347–352. https://doi.org/10.1055/s–0030–1248333
• Pareja-Blanco, F., Rodríguez-Rosell, D., Sánchez-Medina, L., Sanchis-Moysi, J., Dorado, C., Mora-Custodio, R., Yáñez-García, J.M., Morales-Alamo, D., Pérez-Suárez, I., Calbet, J., & González-Badillo, J. Effects of velocity loss during resistance training on athletic performance, strength gains and muscle adaptations. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 27(7), 724–735. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.12678
• Left, M., Ibañez,J., González-Badillo, J. J., H.K., Ratamess,N.A.,  Kraemer,W. J., French, D. N., Slavic, J.,  Altadill,A.,  Asiain,X., &  Gorostiaga,E.M. (2006). Differential effects of strength training leading to failure versus not to failure on hormonal responses, strength, and muscle power gains. Journal  of  applied  physiology (Bethesda, Md. :  1985), 100(5), 1647–1656. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.01400.2005