Programming velocity based training for team sport: in-season load management without guesswork
How to use bar speed to regulate volume, set velocity loss thresholds and shape the week around the fixture, so players stay strong and fast all season.
In-season, the gym is not where games are won. Matches, field sessions, travel, work and study all draw on the same recovery budget, and the strength coach controls only one small part of it. That is exactly where velocity based training (VBT) earns its place. Its in-season value is mostly in regulating volume, not in chasing maximal loads: the goal is to keep players strong and fast through the season without adding fatigue they can’t afford.
This updated guide draws on Bryan Mann’s chapter on VBT in-season, the review by Weakley and colleagues (2021) on velocity loss thresholds, and VALD Performance’s VBT 101 cheat sheet. It covers what the bar speed is telling you, how to set velocity loss thresholds, how to shape the week around a fixture, and when to ignore the numbers. For the basics, start with the pillar article on velocity based training.
The in-season problem, stated plainly
Percentage-based loading assumes the athlete who walks into the gym today is the one who was tested in pre-season. In-season, that is rarely true. Strength moves up and down with matches, sleep, travel, knocks and everything else going on in a player’s life, and a percentage of an old 1RM can’t see any of it.
Mann describes in-season stress through Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome: the body responds to stress in the same way whatever its source. A hard week at work, an exam block or a tough match all draw on the same reserve. Players handle a moderate load well (the resistance phase) until they don’t, and soreness, illness or injury follows (the exhaustion phase). The research backs this up:
- Academic stress raises injury risk. In Division 1 college football, players were more likely to be injured in exam weeks than in low-stress weeks. For starting players, the risk was 3.29 times higher in exam weeks, higher even than in training camp at 2.84 times (Mann et al., 2016).
- Uncoordinated loading wipes out gains. When a football squad kept the same gym programme while coach-led conditioning and spring practice were added on top, speed and power fell below their starting values, and did not recover until after spring practice ended (Moore & Fry, 2007). In Mann’s words, a whole semester was lost to a lack of communication.
- A tested 1RM drifts. Across a season, one athlete’s velocity-predicted 1RM was close to 30 kg above their pre-season test on some days and around 22 kg below it on others (Jovanovic & Flanagan, 2014). The same percentage could be far too heavy on one day and far too light on another.
- The same percentage isn’t the same effort. At 80% of 1RM, some athletes can complete twice as many repetitions as others, 8 vs 16 (Richens & Cleather, 2014). A prescription of 3 × 8 at 80% takes some players to failure and leaves others with plenty in reserve.
Velocity solves the core problem because it updates every repetition. The relationship between mean bar velocity and %1RM is very strong (r = 0.98 for bench press in Jidovtseff’s work, cited by Mann) and stays stable even as strength changes. If an athlete moves a load at the velocity that matches 60% of their 1RM, it is 60% of their 1RM for that day.
Two different jobs: prescribing and monitoring
Velocity can do two different things in-season, and it helps to keep them apart.
Prescribing by velocity. The coach sets a target velocity zone and the athlete adjusts the load to hit it. If they’re fresh, the load goes up; if they’re carrying fatigue, it comes down, but the quality being trained stays the same. This needs a device on the bar for every set that matters.
Monitoring by velocity. The coach uses a fixed load, often a warm-up set or a standard lift, and tracks its speed over time. A drop in velocity at a familiar load is a sign that the neuromuscular system is depressed, and Mann notes that it means the athlete’s whole strength level is down that day, not just their speed (Fry & Kraemer, 1997). Monitoring needs far fewer devices, so it suits squads with only one or two.
Every strength has a speed
Prescribing works because different qualities live at different bar speeds. The VBT 101 cheat sheet starts from A.V. Hill’s force-velocity curve (1938): muscles produce the most force when lengthening, maximum isometric force when the speed is zero, and less and less force as shortening speed rises.
Applied to the barbell, that curve gives five training zones. Mann’s point is simple: if the athlete isn’t in the zone, they aren’t training that quality. Descending velocity means ascending load, so a target of 0.3 m/s means a heavier bar than 0.5 m/s.
| Quality | Mean velocity | What it is | In-season example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Absolute strength | <0.5 m/s | The most a player can lift on the day | Low-volume heavy squats early in a one-match week |
| Accelerative strength | 0.5–0.75 m/s | Accelerating through a heavy load, like a forward driving through contact | Main strength work, 2–5 reps per set |
| Strength-speed | 0.75–1.0 m/s | Moderate loads moved as fast as possible | Trap bar deadlifts and squats in power-focused sessions |
| Speed-strength | 1.0–1.3 m/s | Light loads at near-maximal speed | Jump squats, light cleans or pulls close to the fixture |
| Starting strength | >1.3 m/s | Overcoming inertia rapidly from a dead stop | Unloaded or very light jumps and throws |
Volume regulation is the main in-season tool
Choosing the load is half of the job. The other half is deciding when a set ends. In-season, that second decision matters more, because it decides how much fatigue each session leaves behind.
Managing fatigue with relative velocity loss thresholds
A velocity loss threshold ends a set when bar speed has dropped by a set percentage from the fastest repetition. With a 20% threshold, an athlete whose best rep is 0.70 m/s stops once a repetition falls below 0.56 m/s. Weakley and colleagues (2021) set out why this works better than a fixed rep count:
- It adjusts to each athlete. Because athletes differ so much in how many reps they can do at a given load, a fixed scheme of sets and reps produces very different levels of effort. A velocity loss threshold creates a ‘flexible-repetition’ scheme: each athlete does as many reps as it takes to reach the same relative drop in speed.
- It keeps output high. When a threshold was used across 5 sets of back squats, changes in mean bar velocity between athletes were trivial. Fixed rep schemes, in contrast, cause large drops in velocity as the set goes on (Weakley et al., 2020b).
- It controls fatigue predictably. Each step up in velocity loss (10%, 20%, 30%) produced a roughly linear drop in neuromuscular function, with matching increases in perceived effort and metabolic response. These responses were consistent within and between athletes and highly reproducible over time (Weakley et al., 2020a; Sánchez-Medina & González-Badillo, 2011).
The training studies point the same way. In a squat programme comparing 20% and 40% velocity loss, the 20% group gained similar strength and more jump performance from far fewer repetitions, while the 40% group gained more muscle but lost some of their fast type IIx fibres (Pareja-Blanco et al., 2017a). In professional soccer players, the smaller threshold again delivered equal or better results with less work (Pareja-Blanco et al., 2017b). For a team-sport athlete in-season, that is the trade you want: keep the power, skip the extra fatigue.
Ways to programme with velocity loss
Weakley et al. (2021) list several ways to combine velocity loss with a load prescription. Three of them suit team sport in-season best:
| Method | How it works | Why it suits in-season |
|---|---|---|
| Targeted velocity + velocity loss | The athlete adjusts the load to hit a starting velocity (e.g. 0.70–0.75 m/s), and each set ends at a velocity loss (e.g. 10%). If the first rep of a set is more than 0.06 m/s off target, they rest an extra 30 s; if it is still off, the load changes by 4–5% of 1RM | Matches load and fatigue to the day |
| Fixed sets + velocity loss + rep cap | The load comes from the athlete’s load-velocity profile. Each set ends at the velocity loss (e.g. 10%) or at the rep cap (e.g. 5), whichever comes first | Simple to run with a squad, and nobody overshoots |
| Fixed total reps + velocity loss | A total is set (e.g. 25 reps). Sets end at the velocity loss and the athlete does as many sets as needed to reach the total | Keeps volume equal while letting fatigue set the structure |
Setting in-season thresholds
For most team-sport athletes in-season, a velocity loss of 10–20% is a sensible working band. Three rules make it safer:
Tighten as the fixture approaches. Use the larger threshold furthest from the match and the smallest one closest to it. Weakley’s example week drops from 30% to 20% to 10% across the week.
Tighten for the athletes playing the most minutes. A player who has just played 70 minutes and a player who didn’t come off the bench do not need the same session. Starters and heavy-minute players get the lower threshold.
Cap the repetitions regardless. A strong, well-conditioned athlete can do a surprising number of reps before losing 20% of their speed. A cap (for example, 5 reps per set) stops a ‘good day’ turning into extra fatigue that shows up at the weekend.
Structuring the week around the fixture
The principle is simple: the further you are from the match, the more fatigue you can afford. Weakley et al. (2021) show how velocity loss, starting velocity and the expected response change across a week for the back squat.
A one-match week (match on Saturday)
| Day | Velocity loss | Starting intensity | Volume | Expected response (24 h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | Rest | |||
| Monday | 30% | ~0.70 m/s (~65% 1RM) | ~9 reps per set | Large effort, more soreness, moderate drop in neuromuscular function |
| Tuesday | Rest | |||
| Wednesday | 20% | ~0.55 m/s (~82% 1RM) | ~4–5 reps per set | Moderate effort, small rise in soreness, small drop at most in function |
| Thursday | 10% | ~1.00–0.60 m/s (~30–75% 1RM) | ~2–6 reps | Small effort, little soreness, function maintained or improved |
| Friday | Rest | |||
| Saturday | Match day | |||
A two-match week (Wednesday and Saturday)
With two fixtures, there is no room for a 30% or even a 20% session. Both gym days drop to 10% velocity loss: Monday at ~0.55 m/s (~82% 1RM) for 2–3 reps, and Thursday at ~0.70 m/s (~65% 1RM) for about 5 reps. Both are expected to keep neuromuscular function stable or slightly improved, with only trivial soreness.
How this looks in a GAA or rugby week
Club GAA and rugby weeks are rarely as tidy as a research table. Field sessions sit on fixed evenings, many players work or study, and the main gym session usually lands early in the week. An adapted version for a Saturday fixture might look like this:
| Day | Gym focus | Velocity loss | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | Recovery | – | Mobility, light aerobic work, no barbell |
| Monday | Off or upper body | – | Starters off; non-starters can lift upper body |
| Tuesday | Main strength session | 15–20%, cap of 5 reps | Accelerative strength zone (0.5–0.75 m/s); starters at 15% |
| Wednesday | Field session | – | No heavy lower-body work |
| Thursday | Power session | 10%, cap of 3 reps | Strength-speed zone (0.75–1.0 m/s); jumps and light pulls |
| Friday | Primer or rest | ≤10% | Optional: 2–3 fast reps or jumps only |
| Saturday | Fixture | – | – |
If a midweek game is added, drop to the two-match pattern above: two short sessions at 10% velocity loss and nothing heavy within 48 hours of either fixture.
When the numbers disagree with the athlete
Sooner or later, a player will look flat but move the bar well, or look fine but move it slowly. Neither the device nor the coach’s eye is always right.
When an athlete looks fatigued but the velocity is fine, trust the coach. Velocity reflects how quickly motor units can be recruited, and it won’t capture everything: a tight hamstring, a family problem, a bad night’s sleep. Mann is clear that the most stressed athletes often need support more than another stressor.
When an athlete says they feel fine but the velocity has dropped, take it seriously. A slower bar at a familiar load is an objective sign that the nervous system is depressed that day, and velocity can reveal fatigue an athlete won’t report. Reduce the load to keep them in the right zone, or shorten the session.
And when the change is small, it may be noise. Weakley et al. (2021) suggest judging changes against a smallest practically important difference. In one powerlifter’s back squat, a change of 0.03 m/s matched roughly 1% of 1RM. Many devices have errors of a similar size, so a single slow warm-up set is not a reason to rewrite a session.
When the data is useless
When the device is noisier than the change. If a device’s error is bigger than the change you’re looking for, the number tells you nothing. Use a validated device and always measure the same lift in the same way.
When there is no profile to compare against. Velocity zones work for any athlete, but monitoring needs a baseline. Without each player’s own load-velocity profile or a history of warm-up velocities, you can’t tell a bad day from a normal one.
When the athlete is technically inconsistent. If depth, bar path or intent changes from rep to rep, so does velocity. Coach the lift first, and only use velocity with athletes who can repeat it.
The practical constraints nobody mentions
Device count. One device for a squad of 30 won’t support velocity-prescribed sets for everyone. Prioritise the main lift, rotate players through the rack with the device, or use it only for monitoring warm-up sets.
Time. Building load-velocity profiles takes sessions you may not have in-season. Do it in pre-season, re-test periodically, and fill gaps with velocity zones, which need no profile.
Technique drift. As fatigue builds through a season, technique can drift and velocity drifts with it. Check that a drop in speed is not just a shallower squat or a different grip.
Phase fit. VBT shines in power and maintenance phases. It is less suited to high-volume accumulation blocks, where large velocity losses are part of the point. In-season, that rarely matters.
One more lever that costs nothing: feedback. Showing athletes their velocity after every repetition can improve outputs by up to 10%, and grouping players of similar ability or position together turns it into competition (Weakley et al., 2021). Make sure the competition doesn’t change the purpose of the lift.
The honest summary
Mann compares percentage-based training to a road atlas and VBT to GPS on your phone. The atlas works, and coaches have run brilliant programmes with it for decades. But GPS knows where you are right now, and in-season, where an athlete is right now changes from day to day.
- Use velocity to regulate volume first: velocity loss thresholds of 10–20% with a rep cap do more for in-season athletes than chasing heavier loads.
- Pick loads from zones, not old maxes: the right load is the one that hits the target velocity today.
- Shape the week around the fixture: the closer to the match, the smaller the velocity loss and the faster the bar.
- Respect the other stressors: exams, work, travel and minutes played all count, and velocity is your fastest way to see their effect.
- Know when to ignore the numbers: small changes may be noise, and the coach’s eye still matters.
Want to apply this with your own athletes? VBT, load management and in-season programming are covered in our National Certificate in Strength and Conditioning.
Frequently asked questions
Is velocity based training useful in-season?
Yes. In-season is one of the most valuable times to use it, because readiness changes from day to day. Velocity lets you match the load to the athlete on the day and stop sets before fatigue builds up.
What velocity loss threshold should I use in-season?
For most team-sport athletes, 10–20% with a repetition cap. Use the higher end early in a one-match week and 10% close to the fixture or in two-match weeks.
Can I use VBT with a whole squad if I only have one device?
Yes, but mainly for monitoring. Track a standard warm-up set for each player, use velocity zones on the main lift where you can, and save device-led prescription for the players you’re most concerned about.
What if an athlete’s velocity looks fine but they seem fatigued?
Trust the coach’s eye and ask questions. Velocity doesn’t capture everything, and an athlete under stress outside training may need a lighter session or a conversation more than another set.
How often do load-velocity profiles need re-testing?
Re-test periodically, for example at the start of each new block, after a long break or an injury. The velocity at a given %1RM is fairly stable but can shift with fatigue or after power-focused training (Weakley et al., 2021).
Check the Dublin dates, or ask EPI whether your existing qualification counts towards Phase 2 entry.
References
- Fry, A. C., & Kraemer, W. J. (1997). Resistance exercise overtraining and overreaching: Neuroendocrine responses. Sports Medicine, 23(2), 106–129.
- Hill, A. V. (1938). The heat of shortening and the dynamic constants of muscle. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 126(843), 136–195.
- Jovanovic, M., & Flanagan, E. P. (2014). Researched applications of velocity based strength training. Journal of Australian Strength and Conditioning, 22(2), 58–69.
- Mann, B. (n.d.). Velocity based training in-season. In The Manual, Vol. 1 (Chapter 1).
- Mann, J. B., Bryant, K. R., Johnstone, B., Ivey, P. A., & Sayers, S. P. (2016). Effect of physical and academic stress on illness and injury in Division 1 college football players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 30(1), 20–25.
- Moore, C. A., & Fry, A. C. (2007). Nonfunctional overreaching during off-season training for skill position players in collegiate American football. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 21(3), 793–800.
- Pareja-Blanco, F., Rodríguez-Rosell, D., Sánchez-Medina, L., et al. (2017a). Effects of velocity loss during resistance training on athletic performance, strength gains and muscle adaptations. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 27(7), 724–735.
- Pareja-Blanco, F., Sánchez-Medina, L., Suárez-Arrones, L., & González-Badillo, J. J. (2017b). Effects of velocity loss during resistance training on performance in professional soccer players. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 12(4), 512–519.
- Richens, B., & Cleather, D. J. (2014). The relationship between the number of repetitions performed at given intensities is different in endurance and strength trained athletes. Biology of Sport, 31(2), 157–161.
- Sánchez-Medina, L., & González-Badillo, J. J. (2011). Velocity loss as an indicator of neuromuscular fatigue during resistance training. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 43(9), 1725–1734.
- VALD Performance. (n.d.). Velocity Based Training (VBT) 101: A beginner’s guide to VBT integration [Cheat sheet].
- Weakley, J., Mann, B., Banyard, H., McLaren, S., Scott, T., & Garcia-Ramos, A. (2021). Velocity-based training: From theory to application. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 43(2), 31–49.
- Weakley, J., McLaren, S., Ramirez-Lopez, C., et al. (2020a). Application of velocity loss thresholds during free-weight resistance training: Responses and reproducibility of perceptual, metabolic, and neuromuscular outcomes. Journal of Sports Sciences, 38(5), 477–485.
- Weakley, J., Ramirez-Lopez, C., McLaren, S., et al. (2020b). The effects of 10%, 20%, and 30% velocity loss thresholds on kinetic, kinematic, and repetition characteristics during the barbell back squat. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 15(2), 180–188.
