Velocity-Based Training Calculator
Velocity-based training prescribes load by how fast the bar moves rather than by a fixed percentage, so it adapts to how strong you are on the day.
Your results
These are generic population anchors. Load-velocity relationships are strongly individual, and a generic table can be 10% or more out for a given lifter — building your own profile is the entire point of the method.
What velocity-based training is for
A fixed percentage assumes your 1RM is a constant. It is not — it moves with sleep, stress, food and where you are in a training block. On a bad day 85% might feel like 95%.
Velocity solves that by measuring what the bar actually does. If your target velocity for a given zone is 0.5 m/s and today's load is moving at 0.42, you are working harder than intended and should reduce it. The prescription auto-regulates.
The other main use is velocity loss as a set-termination criterion: stop the set when bar speed drops by a set percentage from your fastest rep. A 10–20% velocity loss threshold is common, and it standardises proximity to failure far better than counting reps.
Building your own profile, which is the actual method
The table above is a starting point and should not be your endpoint. Generic anchors vary substantially between individuals — some lifters grind a true 1RM at 0.20 m/s while others move it at 0.35.
To build yours:
- Warm up thoroughly, then work up in 3–5 steps across the load range, recording mean concentric velocity for the best rep at each.
- Plot load against velocity. The relationship is close to linear for most people over the working range.
- Read your own percentages off it.
- Re-test every few months, or after a substantial strength change.
Practical caveats: this needs a reliable measurement device, and cheap ones have real error. It also matters that you record mean concentric velocity rather than peak, since the two differ and the zones above use mean.
Common questions
What is a good velocity for a heavy squat?
Roughly 0.30 m/s at a true 1RM and around 0.50 m/s at 90%, though individual variation is large.
Do I need a velocity device?
For genuine VBT, yes. Estimating bar speed by eye is not reliable enough to prescribe from.
What is a velocity loss threshold?
Stopping a set when bar speed falls by a set percentage from the fastest rep — commonly 10–20%. It standardises proximity to failure.
Is VBT better than percentage-based training?
It auto-regulates for daily readiness, which percentages cannot. It also needs equipment and adds complexity most lifters do not need.
Related calculators
Track the numbers, not just calculate them
MyFitsy stores your weight, measurements and every session, so the figures above become a trend instead of a one-off.
