Most training plans tell you how many reps to do. Five sets of five. Three sets of eight. The number is written down before anyone has warmed up.
But the athlete who walks in on Tuesday is not the same athlete who walked in on Friday. Some days the bar moves. Some days it feels like it is glued to the floor. A fixed rep count treats both days the same.
Velocity loss is a simple way to let the bar decide instead.
The idea is this. The first rep of a set is usually the fastest. As the athlete tires, each rep gets a little slower. Velocity loss is how much slower the bar has become across the set, compared with those first fast reps. When it drops past a line you chose before the session, the set is over, even if the sheet said there were more reps to go.
Here is how that works with the SpeedTrackr app.
You film the set on your phone, or import a clip you already have. The app then gives you bar speed for every rep in metres per second, plus the velocity loss across the set. It is not live analysis on the camera screen. You record or import first, and the results come after.
For strength lifts like squats, bench and deadlifts, look at mean velocity, the average speed of the bar through the whole lift. For Olympic lifts like cleans and snatches, look at peak velocity, the fastest point of the pull.
A few habits make velocity loss worth using.
Pick your cut-off before the session, not during it. A lower cut-off, for example stopping when the bar has slowed by around 20 percent, keeps sets fresher and suits speed and power work. A higher cut-off lets the athlete grind closer to failure. There is no single right number. What matters is that you choose it on purpose and keep it the same so the sets can be compared week to week.
Film every rep from the first. The early reps are usually the fastest, and they set the standard the rest of the set is compared with. If you only start filming at rep three, you have lost them.
Keep the camera spot and the lift the same. Same angle, same distance, same exercise. When the setup changes, the numbers change, and it will look like the athlete did.
Treat the first set at a new weight as the starting line. It is the bar speed to beat next time, not a judgement on the athlete.
Read the athlete against their own history. A heavy lifter and a light one will never move the bar at the same speed. The useful question is whether each of them is moving faster at the same load than they were a few weeks ago.
If you coach a group, turn on Coach Mode. Coach Mode is on the web app and on Android. Save each set to the right athlete, either from the Squad tab or by typing their name when you save the result. Each athlete then has one page with their records, progress and every result, so you can see how their bar speed is trending without scrolling through a camera roll.
The Android app is on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.speedtrackr.reactionpro
On 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.
Try it on your next heavy day. Choose one lift, choose one cut-off, and film every set. Let the bar tell you when the set is done.
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