New book by Nunzio Signore “Velocity-Based Training, How to Apply Science, Technology, and Data to Maximize Performance”, published by Human Kinetics.
What is Velocity-Based Training (VBT)?
VBT is a method for evaluating the intensity of a given movement by calculating displacement and time through the monitoring of bar or body speeds. For many years, the standard method strength coaches used was determining the weight of that load based on a percentage of a one-rep maximum (1RM). VBT, on the other hand, is based on the speed of a movement or load lifted. Today’s advancements in technology allow us to more precisely focus on the speed at which a bar or an athlete is moving as well as the percentage of loss in velocity from rep to rep or from set to set. By getting external feedback on the speed of the lift, athletes can get immediate feedback on power and intent which goes hand-in-hand with improved performance outside the weight room.
What Does the Book Cover?
From breaking the VBT code, understading the metrics and the special strenth zones to yearly periodization (off-season and in-season) to sample programming, this book has it all.
The book is 170 pages with 3 distinct parts as follows:
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- Part I – What is Velocity-Based Training
- Part II – Getting Started
- Part III – Programming
Forward by Randy Sullivan (Florida Baseball Ranch)
Nunzio Signore is one of the most passionate, intelligent, and infinitely curious coaches in the strength and conditioning profession. As he proves in this book, he is rapidly becoming a pioneer and one of the “go-to guys” for everything related to Velocity Based Training (VBT). His work has been an inspiration to us here at the Florida Baseball Ranch, where we train high-level throwing athletes. We have been utilizing VBT for a little over a year, and our results have been remarkable. The introduction of VBT into our process has helped us amp up our training’s specificity while providing objective, measurable feedback and fresh motivation for our athletes.
When it comes to getting the best return on training time, “specificity” rules. Most coaches and instructors would agree that to get the most bang for your training buck, the activities you choose should be as specific as possible to the performance outcome you desire. Throughout strength training’s history, many well-intentioned coaches with incomplete information (myself included) have overused, misinterpreted, and misapplied this concept of specificity. Somewhere along the way, in our pursuit of specific outcomes, solid strength training practices morphed into a load-averse process that became known as “functional training.” The original idea may have been sound, but its application watered down the results.
Nunzio Signore understands that while a solid foundation in traditional slow, heavy lifting is vital for any athlete, it doesn’t address the temporal dimension of specificity. For high-intensity sports skills that present significant time constraints, traditional strengthening may not be enough to train an athlete to produce force quickly enough to meet the demands of competition. VBT, by providing external feedback on the speed at which we are moving either our body or an object brings attention to not only the force side of the power equation, but the “velocity” side as well, helping to solve this dilemma.
VBT also takes care of the biotensegral dimension. Muscles don’t sit on your bones ready to produce power, coordinate and control your movements, or protect inert, non-contractile tissue (ligaments, bones, fascia, joints). They hang off like a sagging rope. Before you can express power, coordinate and control your body, or protect inert tissue, you must remove the slack from the system. In a high-intensity, athletic movement, the best way to remove muscle slack is through isometric co-contraction of all the muscles around a joint or limb. When co-contractions are properly sequence and synergized throughout the kinetic chain, several benefits are attained. Sheer forces are dampened. Power is amplified, and connective tissue is protectively wrapped in a blanket of stability. The movement becomes smooth and effortless, and the athlete can accomplish task-related goals while conserving energy and minimizing injury risk.
Before the innovation of VBT, coaches could only estimate time pressure and visually observe co-contraction. VBT, as Nunzio brilliantly explains in this book, provides objective, measurable evidence of time pressure and ultimately raining the body to co-contract.
In this text, Nunzio offers a stem to stern look at everything related to Velocity Based Training and takes the reader on a journey that begins with the theory and history of VBT and culminates in a thorough step-by-step process for applying VBT in programming for all sports throughout out an entire yearly plan. If you’ve never considered VBT, prepare to have your mind opened to an entirely new and incredibly productive way to train your athletes.This book is sure to become a staple for strength coaches worldwide and will be a game-changer for anyone preparing for a high-intensity athletic endeavor.
Congratulations, Nunzio. Well done.
Randy Sullivan (CEO Florida Baseball Ranch)
Testimonials
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- Brian Cashman, General Manager of the New York Yankees
Nunzio has done an excellent job of blending athleticism and technology. I highly recommend his book, Velocity-Based Training.
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- Will Franco, MS, CSCS, Strength and Conditioning Coach with the Baltimore Orioles
Nunzio’s understanding and practical application of velocity-based training are revolutionizing the field of strength and conditioning. This book will be a valuable addition to any strength and conditioning coach’s library.
How to purchase it?
The book is available on Amazon and the Human Kinetics website
About the Author
Nunzio Signore is a certified strength and conditioning coach and the owner and operator of Rockland Peak Performance (RPP). He is also a member of the American Baseball Biomechanics Society (ABBS) and director of the Pitching Lab in New Jersey. For the past 10 years, he has been one of the most in-demand strength and conditioning coaches in the New York and New Jersey areas, working with players from the Minnesota Twins, Anaheim Angels, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Seattle Mariners, to name a few. He has written articles for publications such as Inside Pitch Magazine and speaks annually at baseball clinics such as Pitch-a-Palooza, Bridge the Gap, NY Coaches Convention, Be the Best, and Inside Baseball Coaches Conventions.
Signore also has served as an adjunct professor at St. Thomas Aquinas College, teaching theories and applications of strength and conditioning. In addition, he is a lecturer at Springfield College, SUNY Cortland, and Penn State and is affiliated with the Wake Forest Pitching Lab.
