VBT Resources

Start here

The single best overview

Read this first

Velocity-based training: from theory to application

Weakley, J., Mann, B., Banyard, H., McLaren, S., Scott, T., & Garcia-Ramos, A. (2021). Strength & Conditioning Journal, 43(2), 31–49.

If you read one paper on VBT, make it this one. It walks through the whole system — why bar speed works, how to set zones, how to autoregulate a session, and where the evidence is still thin — in language a lifter can actually use.

Beginner

Measure bar speed in your next session

No lab required. Here's the smallest useful version.

1. Get a way to measure

Clip a linear encoder to the bar, set a camera system on it, or open a phone app like Metric VBT. Any of them reads bar speed rep by rep — see the device comparison if you're choosing.

2. Pick one lift, one load

Take a weight you can move for about 5 good reps — say 70–80% of what you think your max is. Warm up normally.

3. Do 3 reps, watch the numbers

Move every rep as fast as you intend (maximal intent, controlled form). Note the mean velocity of each rep. If rep 3 is ~10% slower than rep 1, you've just watched fatigue arrive in real time.

4. Stop the next set on speed, not feel

Do another set and stop when a rep drops ~20% below your fastest — the common rule of thumb for strength work. That number is now your first personal data point. Log it, repeat next session, and the trend starts building.

The evidence

Landmark studies

The papers that built the field. One plain-English sentence each.

Movement velocity as a measure of loading intensity in resistance training

González-Badillo, J. J., & Sánchez-Medina, L. (2010). International Journal of Sports Medicine, 31, 347–352.

Showed that bar speed can estimate your %1RM without ever maxing out — the foundation everything else sits on.

Velocity loss as an indicator of neuromuscular fatigue during resistance training

Sánchez-Medina, L., & González-Badillo, J. J. (2011). Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 43(9), 1725–1734.

Showed that how much your rep speed drops within a set is a direct, measurable indicator of fatigue.

Effect of movement velocity during resistance training on neuromuscular performance

Pareja-Blanco, F., et al. (2014). International Journal of Sports Medicine, 35(11), 916–924.

doi.org/10.1055/s-0033-1363985

Showed that moving every rep with maximal intended velocity produces better strength and power gains.

Effects of velocity loss during resistance training on athletic performance, strength gains and muscle adaptations

Pareja-Blanco, F., et al. (2017). Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 27(7), 724–735.

doi.org/10.1111/sms.12678

Stopping sets at low velocity loss beat grinding to failure for strength, jump, and sprint outcomes.

Velocity loss as a variable for monitoring resistance exercise

González-Badillo, J. J., et al. (2017). International Journal of Sports Medicine, 38(3), 217–225.

doi.org/10.1055/s-0042-120324

Made velocity loss the day-to-day monitoring variable: one number that tells you how hard the session really was.

Relationship between velocity loss and repetitions in reserve in the bench press and back squat

Rodríguez-Rosell, D., et al. (2020). Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 34(9), 2537–2547.

doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000002881

Velocity loss tells you how many reps you had left in the tank — reps in reserve, without guessing.

Velocity loss as a critical variable determining the adaptations to strength training

Pareja-Blanco, F., et al. (2020). Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 52(8), 1752–1762.

doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000002295

The dose-response confirmation: how much velocity you lose across a training block shapes what your body adapts to.

Concepts

Key concepts in 60 seconds

The five ideas that make VBT work. Each one has a chart on the Charts page.

01

Velocity zones

Different speeds train different qualities — typical literature values are roughly 0.75–1.0+ m/s for speed-strength, 0.5–0.75 for power, 0.3–0.5 for strength. Treat these as starting points, not law: your zones get calibrated to your own minimums.

See the zone chart →

02

Velocity loss

How far your rep speed falls from the fastest rep in the set. Around 20% loss and the set's productive work is mostly done; push past 40% and you're buying fatigue, not adaptation. This is your stop signal.

See the fatigue chart →

03

Load-velocity profiling

Plot your best rep speed at several loads, draw the line through them, and read off your max where it crosses your minimum velocity. That's how the free estimator works — and how every report starts.

Try the estimator →

04

Minimum velocity threshold

Typical literature values run 0.25–0.30 m/s; Jake's deadlift minimum is 0.10. This one personal number is why a calibrated value beats a borrowed chart.

Why it matters →

05

Daily readiness

Bar speed reflects fatigue whether you feel it or not. If your warm-up reps are ~10% slower than usual, today isn't PR day — the bar already told you. Track it session to session and stop guessing.

Watch speed decay →

Speak the language

Glossary

MV — mean velocity: The average speed of the bar during the lifting phase of a rep. The standard unit of VBT — every report on this site uses it.
MPV — mean propulsive velocity: Average speed during only the propulsive phase, excluding the braking at the top of the rep. Some devices report this instead of MV — don't mix the two.
e1RM — estimated one-rep max: Your predicted max, read off your load-velocity line where it crosses your minimum velocity. An estimate from submaximal reps — not a tested max.
Velocity loss %: How far a rep's speed has fallen from the fastest rep in the set. The stop signal: ~20% for strength/power work, up to ~40% for hypertrophy blocks.
MVT — minimum velocity threshold: The slowest speed at which you can complete a true 1RM rep. Personal — calibrate it from your own grinding reps, don't borrow it from a chart.
RPE / RIR: Rating of perceived exertion / reps in reserve. Subjective cousins of velocity — useful, but the bar is more honest than your feelings on rep eight.
Autoregulation: Adjusting today's training to today's readiness — usually via bar speed — instead of blindly following last month's percentages.
Load-velocity profile: Your best rep speed plotted at several loads. The line through them predicts your max and sets your personal zones.
Control charts: A session-by-session chart with a center line and control limits that flags unusual sessions automatically — the coach's early-warning system.
Jump readiness: Whether your jump-test numbers say you're primed or flat today — a quick proxy for overall lifting readiness.
%1RM: A load expressed as a percentage of your one-rep max. VBT replaces it with velocity targets that auto-adjust daily.
Dose-response: How the amount of training (the dose) maps to the adaptation you get (the response) — e.g. how velocity-loss thresholds steer strength vs hypertrophy outcomes.
Speed-strength: Moving moderate loads as fast as possible — the quality trained roughly in the 0.75–1.0 m/s zone.

Now put it on your own numbers.

The free estimator runs the same load-velocity math on your reps — or send one workout export and get the full report done for you.

Try the estimator Get my free report