Bar speed is only useful if you read the right number. A lot of coaches start velocity based training (VBT), film a set, see a list of figures, and then compare a back squat to a power clean as if they were the same kind of rep. They are not, and the number that tells you the truth is different for each.
There are two numbers worth knowing.
Mean velocity is the average speed of the bar over the whole upward part of the rep, from the bottom to lockout. Peak velocity is the single fastest moment the bar reaches during that upward part.
Use mean velocity for strength lifts. In a squat, bench press or deadlift, the athlete has to push the bar the whole way. The hard part is often the middle, where the bar slows down. Mean velocity captures that whole effort. If the average speed of a set at the same weight drops week to week, something changed: fatigue, sleep, or the weight is heavier for that athlete today than it looks on paper.
Use peak velocity for Olympic lifts. In a snatch, clean or jerk, the athlete is trying to make the bar move as fast as possible for a short moment and then get under it. What happens after that moment is the catch, not the pull. An average over the whole movement mixes the pull with the part where the athlete is dropping under the bar, so it hides what you care about. Peak velocity shows how fast the athlete actually got the bar moving.
That is how SpeedTrackr's barbell velocity tool reports it. You film the set, or import a video you already have, and you get bar speed in metres per second for every rep. Strength lifts show mean velocity. Olympic lifts show peak velocity. It is not a live readout while the athlete lifts. You record or import, the video is analysed, and then you read the results.
A few habits make those numbers worth comparing.
Film from the same spot every time. Same side of the bar, same distance, the whole bar path in frame. A different angle each week makes it harder to trust a small change.
Compare the same lift at the same weight. A clean at 60 kg and a clean at 80 kg will not have the same peak velocity, and they should not. The app treats the first set at a new weight as the baseline to beat, so the comparison stays fair.
Watch the set, not only the best rep. Within a set, the drop in speed from the first rep to the last tells you how much fatigue the athlete is building. If the bar slows a lot by rep three, the set has done its job.
Use the personal record for context, not as a target every session. Home shows each athlete's best bar speed with the date it was set. Some days the bar will be slower, and that is useful information, not a failure.
For coaches with a group, turn on Coach Mode. It works on the web app and on Android. Each filmed set can be saved to the right athlete in the Squad tab, so every athlete's bar speed history sits on their own page instead of in someone's camera roll.
A simple way to start this week:
- Pick one strength lift and one Olympic lift you already train.
- Film one working set of each from a fixed spot.
- Read mean velocity on the strength lift and peak velocity on the Olympic lift.
- Repeat the same weights next week and compare.
The Android app is on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.speedtrackr.reactionpro
For an iPhone or a laptop, use the web app: https://www.speedtrackr.com/auth/login
There is no native iPhone app. iPhone users use the web app.
Two lifts, two numbers. Read mean velocity when the athlete has to grind the bar the whole way, and peak velocity when the job is to make the bar fly for a moment. Once you match the number to the lift, the bar speed starts telling you something you can coach.
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