I can’t believe I am writing this but this all comes on the heels of the convo I had with Carmen. You can watch that debate on the use of VBT by clicking right here. During our chat I found out that she had been hearing coaches tell athletes all that matters is the speed of the lift. Essentially these coaches stopped coaching and only told the athletes to lift fast. She told me that technique was no longer what was being coached.
Well of course she won’t think athletes should use VBT if that is what coaches are saying. First off, if you are that coach - please stop saying that. Secondly, why on earth would you say that? To answer my own question let’s assume that this coach (and others who say it) just flat out don’t know any better. Well, lets teach them better.
VBT Helps with Technique
This concept was something I knew, but never realized until my conversation with Antonio Squillante. For those of you unfamiliar with Antonio is the Head of Performance and Training USA Cycling Track Sprint Program as well as serving as a board of director for the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). In our CMW episode he educated me on VBT best practices and told me about being able to get BETTER lifting technique with VBT on the bar.
Now this makes total sense. As I said above, I knew this but I didn’t know it. Without Antonio brining it out of me I never would have realized it. It makes so much sense. I am sure the same thing happened to you right now. I am just making you aware that you knew this. When the VBT is on the bar you can show athletes - look you did that rep faster. As the coach, you can now ask them: what did you do differently on that rep? Chances are they might tell you many different things
“I kept my back tighter”
“I braced my abs tighter”
“I focused on that spot on the ground to fix my gaze”
Whatever the athlete tells you doesn’t REALLY matter. All that matters is they tell you something that worked for them. Now you tell them to do that same technical thing EVERY time they lift. In this way you know they are lifting with better technique. Then, if the velo goes down on the lift, instead of you yelling at them to get their speeds - you can talk technique with them and say hey, did you do _____ like you told me you did when it was fast. Chances are they will say no, and you can remind them to do that again.
VBT Accuracy
You might be saying to yourself, well that sounds awesome Justin I need to get a VBT system but I don’t have the money. Maybe you have the money but don’t know what system to get? Or maybe you just don’t know where to start at all. I got you. First thing first watch this podcast with Cody Hughes where he talks about doing trial runs with four different VBT companies at the same time to test which product is the best. Not only is he looking for the most accurate company, he looked for the best logistical for him and all the hundreds of athletes he trained.
Next thing to do is read this research article from Pérez-Castilla et al (2019) where they investigated Reliability and Concurrent Validityof Seven Commercially Available Devices for the Assessment of Movement Velocity at Different Intensities During the Bench Press.
Ready for me to give away the answer? Here is a direct quote from the Castilla et al (2019) article:
Devices were ranked by reliability as follows: (I) VITRUVE (II) Velowin™, PowerLift™, T-Force™, Chronojump™ (III) PUSH™ band, and (IV) Beast™ sensor.
All devices, except for the Beast™ sensor, showed high concurrent validity* with the Trio-OptiTrack™ system.
VITRUVE was the only device that did not show variance errors** within the sample, indicating consistent and precise measurements.
* Concurrent validity occurs when the results of a new measurement tool are similar to those of an already validated tool, thus confirming the effectiveness and accuracy of the new tool.
** The absence of variance errors suggests that the tool’s results are consistent and homogeneous, without significant differences between measurements in the sample, indicating that the tool is reliable and produces stable and precise measurements.
That is also the same result that Cody came up with - Vitruve won. That is why he outfitted his entire room with Vitruve.
How to use Vitruve VBT
This is the most simple part.
- Purchase the encoder
- Wait for it to arrive
- Take it out of the box (the box is sweet)
- Turn the encoder on
- Open the app
- Connect the encoder via bluetooth
- Put the tether on the bar and start measuring
Sounds like a lot cuz there is 7 steps but you really see there is only 3 steps. Turn it on, open the app, put the tether on the bar. Now, if you want to get fancy you can also have the app video your rep to have metrics show up too.
This is dope isn’t it?!?!? This is all part of what you get with Vitruve. They also just updated their app with tons of new exercises in their library that can help coaches and athletes track on the backend of training. Speaking of backend of training, if you or an athlete put something in the wrong spot while on the floor you can now fix in on the back end. You also can use their app regardless if you are an iOS user or Android. The video at the top of the page will show you all of this or you can click here to learn more about what is new in Vitruve’s app.
Wrapping it All Up
So, if you are going to get VBT for your organization the research and trials show you to get Vitruve. Also, the price per device is also INSANELY less expensive for Vitruve compared to other companies. One company that uses cameras (and has the devices break often from what coaches tell me) costs $20,000 upfront and then $6,000 per year for 20 devices. Get Vitruve and you skip that $20k upfront cost and pay less than that $6,000 per year - and you get to integrate with your TeamBuildr platform.
Win
Win
Win
If you have more questions about VBT you can reach out to the team at Vitruve here. While you are on their homepage you can download a free eBook and watch one of their many webinars too. Speaking of webinars I did one with Rodrigo Alvira who is a Strength and Conditioning Coach at Detroit Pistons. We presented on VBT In-season and Off-season, Guide to Optimize Athlete Development and you can watch it right here.
Have a great day,
Justin
