What Is Velocity-Based Training?

A Beginner’s Guide to Smarter Strength Training

Velocity-Based Training (VBT) is a strength training method that uses bar speed, or the velocity at which a weight is lifted, to guide training. By measuring how fast a movement is performed, coaches and athletes can plan smarter sessions, make real-time adjustments, and track progress without needing to lift their heaviest possible weight, which can increase the risk of injury..

VBT is already used by top professional teams in football, baseball, basketball, and Olympic sports to improve performance. Thanks to advances in modern technology, it is now accessible to all levels, from pro athletes to local gyms.

How Does Velocity-Based Training Work?

VBT measures two things:

• How far the bar (or body) moves
• How long it takes to move that distance

From this, it calculates velocity (m/s). This provides a powerful insight into how fresh, fatigued, or explosive an athlete is on any given day.

What Is the Load-Velocity Relationship?

A key principle behind Velocity-Based Training is the load-velocity relationship. Put simply, the heavier the load, the slower the movement.

This relationship is visualized in a load-velocity profile, where lighter loads move faster, and heavier loads move more slowly. 

This can be taken one step further to look at sporting actions and applied to the same graph as can be seen in figure 2. This again indicates that heavier loads or sporting actions require more time to produce and are therefore slower, think of the time taken in a rugby scrum vs a boxer throwing a jab.

At the top left of the curve, we see high-load, low-velocity actions such as a heavy deadlift or rugby scrum, where athletes are working against significant external resistance. In the middle of the curve, actions like an American football tackle or a sprinter’s start involve lower external loads, such as bodyweight or an opponent’s mass, but still require very high force outputs, often produced in shorter timeframes. Toward the lower right, fast and explosive movements like a kick or a boxing jab involve minimal resistance but high movement velocity.

To develop well rounded athletes and people, we need to appreciate this continuum of actions and train accordingly to prepare people for these different demands.

Benefits of Velocity-Based Training (VBT)

Here’s how VBT helps guide smarter training:

1. Check for Fatigue

If an athlete lifts a familiar load more slowly than usual, it may indicate central fatigue or they’re under-recovered. Coaches can use a table like this to adapt:

2. Train for Specific Qualities

You may or may not have come across terms like speed-strength and strength-speed in discussions around velocity-based training (VBT). If those phrases leave you scratching your head, you’re not alone, they often feel abstract and hard to visualise.

At Output, our aim is to make sports science simple and scalable. That’s why we’ve taken these long-standing concepts and renamed the training zones in a way that clearly reflects what’s actually happening without losing sight of the science.

Here’s how we define the four primary zones used to target key physical qualities:

Light-Loaded Power (Also known as Speed–Strength)

‍This zone develops the ability to produce force rapidly against minimal resistance. It’s about moving fast with intent to build explosiveness.

Examples: Kettlebell swings, medicine ball throws, light loaded jumps, resisted sprints

Heavy-Loaded Power (Also known as Strength-Speed)

‍This zone builds explosiveness by developing the ability to produce force rapidly against minimal resistance and emphasizing fast, intentional movement.

Examples: Olympic lifts (e.g. cleans), trap bar jumps, push presses, heavy sled pushes.

General Strength (Also known as anatomical adaptation)

This zone develops muscular capacity, technical control, and tissue resilience by emphasizing slower, more controlled movements that build a solid foundation.

Maximal Strength

This zone develops absolute strength and improves motor unit recruitment by producing maximal force through heavy loads moved at low velocities.

The relative velocity zones for both upper and lower body lifts of each category can be found in Figure 2.

These zones should be seen as part of a continuum. They help identify where an athlete excels or where there may be a gap between strength and expression of power. Understanding this can guide more focused and effective programming.

If you’d like to read more on what each of these zones means, please click to read this article here!

3. Track Progress

You don’t need to test your one-repetition maximum (the heaviest weight you can lift once) to know you’re improving. Max testing can be risky, especially for youth or less experienced athletes, and for more advanced lifters it can be hard to fit into regular training.

With VBT, progress is easy to spot: if an athlete lifts the same load at a faster velocity, they’re getting stronger and more powerful.

📈 Example:
Week 1: 100kg at 0.55 metres per second (m/s)
Week 4: 100kg at 0.65 m/s

Same weight, moving faster equals a stronger, more powerful athlete.

4. Give Instant Feedback

Live data on screen boosts intent and focus. Athletes naturally compete with themselves or teammates when they see bar speed in real time, adding purpose to every rep.

How Is Velocity Measured?

There are multiple technologies that can measure bar or body velocity:

• IMUs (Inertial Measurement Units), like the Output sensor
• Linear Position Transducers (LPTs)
• Accelerometers
• Camera-Based Systems

Each has its own benefits and use cases. We wrote a comprehensive review of the best VBT devices in 2025 that you can read here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can beginners use VBT?

‍A: Yes. It is especially useful for safe progression without max testing and provides immediate technical feedback.

Q: What exercises work best with VBT?

‍A: Typically used for squats, bench press, deadlifts, and Olympic lifts—but also effective for med ball throws, kettlebell swings, and jumps.

Q: Does VBT replace max testing?

‍A: It can. For many athletes, VBT provides a more accurate and safe measure of strength development over time.

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