Barbell Path: Good strength coaches specialize in all lifting techniques. The consistency and quality of your athlete’s lifting technique will amaze you. Motion sensing makes speed-based training technology stand out. The right technique can teach you.
Some biomechanics and weightlifters research the trajectory of the barbell in athletic performance, which is disheartening. Sports technology companies are to blame for not being able to supply the barbell method, not sports science. The tempo of the bench press, clean and bar path should be considered athletic technique.
As a barbell route champion for years, I think I made it all the more important to use it at all levels by marketing it as a coaching instructional tool. This blog post emphasizes the art of barbell training over the science. Those seeking to improve athletic performance through coaching and training will enjoy this essay.
Bar technique is more important than speed
My use of barbell tracking technology may surprise you because improving athletic performance requires strength and power. The power and speed you develop at the bar is important, but not everything. Interested coaches know that pole performance involves training action, not just speed or information. Video, motion capture, and barbell tracking devices can measure smooth, coordinated movement—good technique by eye alone.
Advanced programs require bar speed, yet many companies track barbell speed, which is exaggerated. Most equipment providers (usually the same) lacked bar path competence and tried to hide VBT SF and other painful abilities. The bar route is expensive to create and burdensome to give, so companies don’t want you to look for it.
The priority of strength training is always technique over load and speed. Ultimately you want heavy and/or fast lifts, but athletes learn the important lifts first. Strangely, the path of the rod seems secondary to the speed, so we should call it a method. Without preaching, here are some powerful extensions of the VBT rules from the previous work.
Don’t use biofeedback for strength or power every time you lift because it’s physically and mentally draining.
- Use feedback to keep athletes focused on the process rather than the numbers.
- Use bar speed only for quick lifts or maximum load handling, such as heavy compound sit-ups.
Increase the speed of strength training only when teaching advanced athletes to challenge them.
- Dumbbell path affects technique over time. Whenever possible, use it first. • To consider only the concentric mean or maximum sum of the repetition rate is completely inappropriate. I think barbell speed helps with intention and effort, but you can see the movement of the bar better. The next section will illustrate why coaches must now include bar movement and speed, not just speed.
- •My outdated barbell trajectory column could have been better. My definition lacked speed and path, which was a problem. A barbell track is a two- or three-dimensional tracking of the time and distance of a barbell during training. I will explain this phrase because social media actively spreads falsehoods. Concentric diameter and maximum speed complicate the fight for me. The speed of the bar depends on the lift technique, weight and strength and performance of the athlete. Most trainers have difficulty interpreting lift beyond a simple numerical range, which is why “load velocity training” has failed as a substitute for VBT. We can blame ourselves, but we have to sell the movement and speed of the barbell, not just rep slices.
After years of struggling to track the bar over speed, my lift pitch is better for the bar path. Stick speed and space movement should now be priorities for coaches. Many coaches ask about peak or average speed during output training, but bar speed measurements are often too shiny. Most athletes prefer barbell track over speed. Most athletes must perform exercises consistently, and speed depends only on load selection and fatigue management.
Keep analytics simple and actionable
The counter-movement jump explaining the ad nauseam in the marketing ads taught me not to over think the analysis and interpretation of the barbell path. You need to understand the reporting or rod feedback, but then the work begins. Sports science and coaching are usually separated as coaches try to study biomechanics to help athletes make better decisions. A poorly applied bar exercise study.
I will summarize our current knowledge using existing science and describe the research without diluting its value in this section. Coaches’ overconfidence in coaching or program design is a major temptation and difficulty in pole analysis. Be humble and watch the athlete’s training movement and engagement skyrocket.
Barbell route research is mostly film analysis of major weightlifting events or internal studies. Most ballistic exercises are not studied because projectile motion is unclear, although there are few studies of strength exercises. While barbell path is more important for complex exercises like the Olympic lifts, basic parameters like squat depth remain ageless and beneficial to athletes. Checking the bench press reveals a complicated movement.
Instead of breaking down exercises, coaches should discuss anatomy and kinematics. Many data sets simply show changes in force or speed. The ACWR fiasco revealed that people are more complex than line graphs. Simple line graphs can help us make careful decisions about load instructions and adjustments.
The best barbell track workout
Barbell path analysis should be dominated by powerlifting and Olympic-style weightlifting. Deadlifts are simple enough that coaches don’t need to analyze the path of the bar. I like fast, heavy or mixed lifts over other exercises.
I’m no expert, so I don’t know if advanced bench pressers are stronger or more experienced. Because we think advanced athletes are special because of their tissue, errors in causality and correlation statistics apply. Most strength coaches who emphasize upper body deadlifts work with throwers or collision sports where an impressive upper body is valuable. Use the path of the bar to ensure the athlete is using the load that best challenges them, as some sports communicate maximum strength later.
Since I can better explore squat technique than faster lifts, I focus on range of motion. Bar speed is more important in heavy training if technique is perfect, but depth can decrease with load. For quarter, split, and step squats, use the barbell or offset route. The track of the bar allows me to examine consistency of technique and form in fatigued athletes. My experience is that changes in squat depth are more telling than speed. I don’t squat with lower loads and maintain 80-92% all season to minimize fatigue.
Clean and Jerk: More research focuses on pulling the clean and jerk than receiving it. Just looking at the bar, the obligation to keep it close to the body is humbling. Holding the bar closer and reducing horizontal displacement helps athletes with higher loads. This increases the strength of the legs and reduces the tension in the lower limbs. The least researched lift jerk phase dese