Velocity Drop and VBT
For as long as resistance training has been around, intuition has said that athletes need to lift until failure to see strength improvements. But what if that didn’t have to be the case? Enter: Velocity Drop Programming.
Research shows that velocity loss, or velocity drop, programming can result in equal or greater strength gains than performing a set to failure [4, 1, 2]. This holds true despite the decrease in reps and reported fatigue.
In this post we’ll explain what velocity loss programming is, the science behind it, and how devices like Perch can be used to implement.
WHAT IS VELOCITY DROP PROGRAMMING?
Velocity drop programming is simple. Programming a set based on a velocity loss threshold instead of a specific number of reps (or reps until failure). The athlete will record the mean velocity of their first rep, which is generally the fastest, and then perform reps until the velocity drops a specific percentage [1, 3].
If Perch shows an athlete’s mean velocity on rep 1 was 1 m/s, and a 20% velocity drop is prescribed, the athlete will perform maximal effort reps until the mean velocity drops below 0.8 m/s.
FATIGUE & THE SCIENCE BEHIND VELOCITY DROP PROGRAMMING
Velocity drop is an objective, non-invasive measure of fatigue levels. This makes it a great way to monitor an athlete throughout a session and account for daily fluctuations [3]. A study completed in 2011 found a nearly perfect correlation between mean propulsive velocity loss and increase in lactate levels, a known chemical measure of fatigue [3]. This correlation was present for both bench press and squat [3].
The difference in these two fatigue indicators is huge: Measuring lactate levels requires analyzing a small amount of blood drawn from a fingertip in a lactate analyzer before and after a set [3]. Measuring velocity loss simply requires looking at the data displayed instantly on Perch’s tablet.
As an athlete fatigues, their muscle fibers’ ability to generate force declines [3]. This leads to unintentional decreases in all of force, velocity, and power. If fatigue reaches a certain point, measured metabolically through lactate and ammonia levels, recovery time can become unnecessarily long [3, 1]. With velocity drop programming, fatigue levels and recovery time can be reduced. This is done through programming sets with low or moderate velocity loss. This will not reduce strength gains. Therefore, continuing to safely and efficiently progress an athlete without negatively impacting performance.
THRESHOLDS & THE SCIENCE BEHIND VELOCITY DROP PROGRAMMING
The proper velocity loss threshold for each exercise is still being determined, but two things that seem certain are that it depends on the desired training outcome and the exercise [4, 1, 3].
Larger velocity loss thresholds (about 30%-40%) will be closer to performing a set to failure and will result in greater muscle hypertrophy. This also may result in reduced velocity [4, 2]. Smaller velocity loss thresholds (about 10%-25%) results in greater strength and power, and less perceived fatigue [4, 1]. Velocity loss thresholds around 10% are most beneficial when competitions are close. This is when developing muscular power is the goal, or in sports that require greater kinematic outputs, such as throwing events [4].
These thresholds can also change based on the exercise. For example, a bench press has a lower minimum velocity than a squat, so the velocity loss threshold should be set to a greater percentage for a bench press [4].
RESEARCH & THE SCIENCE BEHIND VELOCITY DROP PROGRAMMING
A 2016 study found that a 20% velocity loss threshold training program resulted in similar squat strength gains and greater countermovement jump height improvements as an identical program that was performed with a 40% velocity loss threshold [1]. Overall, the 20% velocity loss threshold group performed nearly 40% less repetitions and 36% less “work” than the 40% velocity loss group, but saw similar or better results [1]. Basically, the group that did less improved more.
The research was further supported by a 2017 study. Researchers found that professional soccer players that trained with a 15% velocity loss program saw similar improvement in squat strength and endurance performance, along with greater improvements in countermovement jump height, than a group of players that trained with a 30% velocity loss program [2].
The two studies suggest that at worst, velocity loss programming with lower velocity loss thresholds results in similar strength gains with less work. At best, improvements are greater despite significantly less repetitions and fatigue.
IMPLEMENTING VELOCITY LOSS PROGRAMMING WITH PERCH
Perch is a great tool for implementing velocity loss programming! With a few simple steps and a Perch unit, it can be added to any program:
- Using the information above, pick a velocity loss threshold
- You can set velocity thresholds in the tablet app settings for each lift
- If you choose to display these and use different colors for fast vs slow reps, you will get visual feedback rep after rep
- Perform one rep and look at the average velocity instantly output on the Perch tablet
- Perform reps until the velocity falls below the threshold
Have questions? Feel free to reach out!
Read more about Perch here! And check out Product Videos here. And our support website here.
Back to basics? Review the origins of VBT and Strength Training!
SOURCES
- Pareja-Blanco F, Rodríguez-Rosell D, Sánchez-Medina L, et al. Effects of velocity loss during resistance training on athletic performance, strength gains and muscle adaptations. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. 2016;27(7):724-735. doi:10.1111/sms.12678
- Pareja-Blanco F, Sánchez-Medina L, Suárez-Arrones L, González-Badillo JJ. Effects of Velocity Loss During Resistance Training on Performance in Professional Soccer Players. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. 2017;12(4):512-519. doi:10.1123/ijspp.2016-0170
- SÁNCHEZ-MEDINA LUIS, GONZÁLEZ-BADILLO JUANJOSÉ. Velocity Loss as an Indicator of Neuromuscular Fatigue during Resistance Training. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2011;43(9):1725-1734. doi:10.1249/mss.0b013e318213f880
- Weakley J, McLaren S, Ramirez-Lopez C, 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. 2019;38(5):477-485. doi:10.1080/02640414.2019.1706831
Further Reading
This AI is Taking Over the Sports World
This AI is Taking Over the Sports World... Every now and then, the sports world gets introduced to a new technology that absolutely changes the game. With professional sport currently operating at a more competitive level than ever, we have a question for you all. What’s the most important factor for teams to focus on?
NBA Teams Embrace AI Weightlifting Tech From Perch
NBA's Nets, Pistons, Heat and Magic using Perch's AI-powered weight training platform
Meet the BostInno 2023 Fire Awards Honorees
They may work out of a Cambridge office, but Perch is working on the field, pitch, and court. A growing number of teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS, and NCAA use Perch’s AI-backed weight training platform to monitor player movements during exercises and enhance their motivation, safety, and performance.
Perch Revolutionizing the Way MLS Teams Train in Weight Room
U of L men’s basketball has been utilizing an AI-backed weight training platform this offseason
U of L men’s basketball has been utilizing an AI-backed weight training platform this offseason. The next time Louisville men’s basketball takes the court, how they fare will, in large part, depend on the play of their revamped roster. But their success also hinges on a new AI-backed weight training platform.
Burning Questions with New England Based Innovators: Perch’s Founder, Jacob Rothman
Jacob Rothman and his co-founder created Perch, a company with the goal of making the world a stronger place. Perch enables athletes and coaches to effortlessly quantify weight room performance through a camera enabled device and software. This provides groundbreaking insights to their clientele through the use of AI in their tech stack.
The Future of Sports: Jacob Rothman of Perch On The New Emerging Technologies That Are Disrupting The World Of Sports
Asa part of this interview, we had the pleasure of interviewing Jacob Rothman, co-founder of Perch. Jacob Rothman was an MIT varsity athlete when he herniated a disc in his back during a routine workout. While recovering from his injury, he started to brainstorm ideas for a device that could help athletes better quantify workouts in the weight room
Perch Weight Room Technology Launches Rack Integration with Life Fitness and PLAE
Perch – the first and only piece of weight room technology built for athletes and coaches – has announced a weight rack integration launch with Life Fitness and PLAE, giving users of the equipment an opportunity to elevate their weight room experience by quantifying performance with velocity-based training.
How college football's national champion Georgia Bulldogs are leveraging Perch's 3D camera in the weight room
Perch Announces Investment Partnership with Miami Dolphins CB Byron Jones
Jacob Rothman revolutionizing sports industry with Perch
The journey through life offers many twists and turns. For 2016 MIT graduate Jacob Rothman, his journey has helped him become a revolutionary in the sports and tech world. Rothman first fell in love with sports, specifically baseball, in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was one of the most popular sports where he grew up.
Perch Raises $4 Million Funding Round
Perch, an MIT-developed technology that is helping a growing number of professional and collegiate athletic programs improve overall performance in the weight room and on the field, today announced the raise of a $4 million financing round. This brings the total amount raised by the company to $6 million since the company’s founding in 2017.
Perch Raises $4m For 3d Strength Tracking
Velocity-based training is flexing its strength. For context: Tried and true, for decades, strength and conditioning revolved around percentage-based training — where intensity and load are prescribed relative to an athlete’s one-rep maximum weight. Now, new research suggests that velocity-based training (VBT)—focused on measuring and improving...
Train Smarter With This Cambridge Startup’s Weight Room Tech
A new technology is coming to the weight room. Founded by three MIT athletes, Cambridge-based Perch uses computer vision and machine learning algorithms to monitor an athlete’s movements during exercise in the gym. The startup recently raised a $4 million round from investors like Bradley Bloom, Ledgeways Ventures LLC and Byron Jones...
Weightlifting Camera And Data Company Perch Raises $4 Million Funding Round With Miami Dolphins’ Bryon Jones Among New Investors
Weightlifting camera and data company Perch has raised a new $4 million funding round that includes investment from Miami Dolphins cornerback Byron Jones. Perch makes a 3D camera that straps to weight racks to track an athlete’s movements as they lift, including calculating sets, reps, velocity, and power output via Perch’s connected app.
Perch Is Changing The Game Of Velocity-based Training
Dubbed as an “invaluable addition” to their training program by the Orlando Magic, weight training platform Perch has pulled in a number of new users in NFL and NCAA football and basketball teams. Among those teams include the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baylor Bears (Men’s Basketball), and North Carolina Tar Heels.
Spotlight: Perch Offers A New Type Of Fitness Tracker
Tech entrepreneurs are disrupting the fitness industry in a number of ways. One of the most prominent is the production of devices that can measure steps and other vitals. But these are often geared more toward cardio exercises. Now, Perch offers something similar for strength training exercises. Read about this new innovation in this week’s...
.avif)
Training Like The Pros: Glenbrook South Using Mit-developed Tech
Glenbrook South is one of a few high schools in the country utilizing equipment adopted by the NFL, MLB, NHL, MLS, NBA and NCAA. The GBS athletic program installed some new state-of-the-art technology in the weight room last summer. With a fall sports season about to conclude, Perch has been paying off.
To Protect And Progress: Glenbrook South Student-athletes Lifting Faster, Smarter, Thanks To New Weight Room Tech
This school year Glenbrook South implemented a new piece of equipment in its weight room designed to monitor and improve training results without beating people up. The MIT-developed Perch system consists of a 3D camera that straps to a weight rack -- it's on all 14 racks in Glenbrook South's weight room -- and a computer...
Exclusive: Saints Install Perch’s 3D Camera Technology
The New Orleans Saints have become the latest client for the 3D camera technology in their workout facility. The technology helped to propel LSU to their 2019 National Championship. Perch co-founder Jacob Rothman recently met with the New Orleans Saints and head strength and conditioning coach Dan Dalrymple. Perch installed their 3D camera...
How the Saints are using 3D cameras and motion tracking in the weight room to gain an edge
The New Orleans Saints are not necessarily trying to make bionic men, but they are feeling around on technology’s leading edge to help their players uncover their peak form in the weight room. So, roll with Saints longtime strength and conditioning coach Dan Dalrymple as he puts on his best cinematic voice. “We have,” he said with a dramatic...
Terps Install 3D Cameras On Weight Racks To Assure Safe Lifting
The University of Maryland Terrapins football team installed 3D cameras on its weight racks this month to help student-athletes lift safely. The cameras track their movements and help the players achieve proper form. This could reduce the risk of lifting injuries. The technology, called Perch, was developed by a former varsity athlete at the...
LSU Football Trainer Jack Marucci Transitioning to Director of Performance Innovation
LSU is in the market for another key position on its staff. On Wednesday the program announced that longtime Director of Athletic Training Jack Marucci, would be transitioning to a new role within the athletic department. Marucci will take over as Director of Performance Innovation for the program, where his primary focus will be to hone in on...
Meet Perch, the new weight room staple that’s becoming a game-changer in the SEC and beyond
Jacob Rothman wasn’t a massive college football fan. He was just your standard MIT graduate/ex-college baseball player who wanted to change the way people lifted weights. But when longtime LSU strength and conditioning coach Tommy Moffitt made the Tigers the first collegiate or professional sports team to roll the dice on Rothman’s new...
Perch Weight Room Tech Added to More NFL, College Football Facilities
The Jacksonville Jaguars, Seattle Seahawks, Ole Miss Rebels and Georgia Bulldogs are the newest professional and college football teams to equip their exercise facilities with Perch, an AI-backed weight training platform that tracks performance during workouts. Those teams join the New York Giants, Tennessee Titans, Miami Dolphins and LSU Tigers...
Weight Room Technology Boosts Sports Performance
In weight rooms across the country, top-flight sports teams are generating data from student-athletes beyond just how much weight is on the bar and how many times they can lift it. "Right now, you go to the weight room and you lift weights, the information you have access to is your sets, your reps and how much weight you moved," says...
MIT spinoff brings artificial intelligence to the weight room
In January, 2019, a Cambridge startup called Perch sold the Louisiana State University football team on a new weight training system that uses video cameras and artificial intelligence software to boost athletic performance. One year later, the Tigers won the national championship of college football.
Pro And College Teams Use New Workout Device That Enables ‘Smart’ Weight Racks
Jacob Rothman, a first and third baseman at MIT, herniated a disc in his back while doing a warm-up set of squats during the summer after his freshman year. Though that helped end his baseball career, it helped launch a new technology. He and two fellow MIT students started working on Perch in 2016. With Rothman’s own physical therapy and...
Perch is Reinventing the Weight Rack and Helping Athletes Train Smarter
An MIT-developed technology is helping a growing number of players and coaches – including those in the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS, and Power Five conferences – improve overall performance in the weight room and on the field. Named Perch, the device uses a combination of cameras and machine learning to monitor movements during exercise and enhance...
LSU Football Strength Coach Tommy Moffitt Recaps First Week of Workouts, How Technology Has Helped in Return
Technology like Perch allows coaches and athletes to determine the speed of movement in real time and adjust the weight or exercise accordingly. "Using the velocity-based system we have, Perch, we knew all of the sets and all of the reps and all of the velocities the guys were doing before we left."
An Inside Look at the Technology That Will Help LSU Football Return to Peak Physical Condition
Discovering a baseline for each athlete—whether it's an incoming freshman or a returning player—is just another way in which the Perch technology will help LSU in the coming weeks as it attempts to get its players back in shape. What Perch allows is for strength coaches like Moffitt and Jacobs, as well as each individual athlete, to find the...
LSU Is Winning the Weight-Room Arms Race With Real-Time Data
Three weeks after Perch installed units on each of the 22 weight racks at LSU’s indoor football facility on Oct. 1, Tigers coach Ed Orgeron said he noticed differences in his team’s performance on the field. “I think our guys are stronger and quicker and faster,” he said in late October. “I think as the season goes on, there’s not as many...
Start Gathering Data With Perch Today!
Reach out to us to speak with a representative and get started using Perch in your facility.