What type of exercise are you programming?
Pick an option to get started.
What this app does and how to use it
This app converts percentage-based training (PBT), built on percentages of 1RM, into velocity-based training (VBT), built on lifting velocity. It was designed by Javier Peña, strength and conditioning coach, from the load-velocity relationships published in the scientific literature.
Goals
- Match each session's load to the athlete's actual readiness, using the velocity of the first rep.
- Manage fatigue within each set through velocity loss.
- Estimate 1RM without a maximal test.
How to use it
- Choose traditional strength, Olympic lifts, or loaded jumps.
- Traditional strength, By equation tab: select the exercise, sets, reps, %RM, and fatigue threshold (high, moderate, or low). The app gives you the target velocity for the first rep, the velocity range, and the velocity loss and velocity at which to end the set, plus the relative load (sets × reps × %1RM, in arbitrary units). The full squat and the deadlift each come in two versions, from two different studies: pick the one that best matches your athletes.
- Traditional strength, By profile tab: enter a test of 2 to 4 loads with their velocities. The app builds the athlete's load-velocity profile, estimates their 1RM, and prescribes from their own line, including the load in pounds or kilograms. If you already have an estimated 1RM, the app suggests the test loads.
- Traditional strength, Estimate 1RM tab: enter the weight lifted and the velocity of the best rep in the set. The app gives you the estimated 1RM and the load for each %RM.
- Olympic lifts: choose the lift and say whether you have data from a load test. Without a test, the app gives you the average peak velocity for each %1RM and, if you know the 1RM, the load. With a test, enter 1 to 4 loads with their peak velocity, and the app estimates the 1RM and the target velocity for the % you choose. The reps per set you choose carry over to the Prescription text. For the clean, the jerk, and the snatch by height, the velocity at 1RM comes from the athlete's height, so they need a test to prescribe.
- Loaded jumps: say whether the athlete jumps at least 30 cm (12 in) unloaded, choose the bar, and enter their body mass. With a test of 2 required loads (and up to 2 optional ones), the app calculates the load with which the athlete jumps about 20 cm (8 in), the reference load; without a test, it estimates it from body mass. It then gives the load and the target peak velocity for each of González-Badillo's 10 levels.
- At the end of each result is the Share block. Results copies or sends a full summary. Prescription creates a short text, without loads, to paste into the team's training plan; in the window you choose how many warm-up sets it includes (2 by default).
Always measure the variable shown for each exercise: MPV, mean velocity or, for Olympic lifts and loaded jumps, peak velocity. The values are group averages, so treat them as a starting point and adjust them with each athlete's data.
With female athletes, “By profile” is the better choice: almost all group equations come from men, and women have a flatter load-velocity profile, with a higher velocity at 1RM and lower velocities with light loads (Torrejón et al., 2019).
How it's calculated
- The target velocity is the group average for that %RM, from each exercise's source study. The range covers the %RM ±2.5%.
- Almost all group equations come from samples of men. Women have a higher velocity at 1RM and a lower velocity with light loads (below 60%) than men at the same %1RM (Torrejón et al., 2019), so the equation may be less accurate for them and an individual profile is preferable.
- Max reps come from the same equation as the original calculator: 79.002·%² − 172.65·% + 94.683, the same for every exercise (below 67% it extrapolates).
- The velocity-loss cutoff uses the squat table for lower-body exercises and the bench press table for upper-body exercises (González-Badillo et al., 2017; Rodríguez-Rosell et al., 2020). It always rounds down; if fatigue is excessive in the weight room, reduce it by 5-10%.
- Fatigue threshold: “High” uses the velocity loss from the table; “Moderate” multiplies it by 2/3 and “Low” by 1/3 (for example, 30% → 20% → 10%). With a moderate or low threshold, the set ends before all the programmed reps are completed; the effort level is still calculated from the programmed reps.
- Cutoff velocity = rep 1 velocity × (1 − velocity loss). It is calculated from the group-average velocity; in the weight room, apply it to the actual velocity of the athlete's first rep.
- Effort Index (EI) = rep 1 velocity × velocity loss (%). Level: < 50% of possible reps low, ≤ 65% moderate, ≤ 80% high, > 80% maximal.
- Relative load (AU) = sets × reps × %1RM, with %1RM expressed as a percentage (for example, 3 × 5 at 75% = 1,125 AU). It is session volume relative to 1RM, so you can compare sessions and athletes of different strength levels; it does not account for how close to failure the set ends, so read it together with the effort level (Scott et al., 2016).
- In brackets next to estimated max reps: reps in reserve = estimated max reps − programmed reps. With a moderate or low fatigue threshold the set ends sooner, so more will be left in the weight room. As a guide, with 25-30% velocity loss about half of the possible reps are left in reserve, depending on the exercise (Rodríguez-Rosell et al., 2020).
- A warning appears with a velocity loss of 40% or more: in the squat, that threshold did not improve 1RM more than 10-20%, impaired RFD, and produced more hypertrophy (Pareja-Blanco et al., 2020); blood ammonia also rises sharply beyond that point (Sánchez-Medina & González-Badillo, 2011). These data come from the squat and bench press in trained men.
1 · Exercise
2 · Reference 1RM (optional)
Used only to suggest the test loads. The 1RM and the prescription always come from the measured profile.
3 · Load test → individual profile
Record the velocity of the best rep at each load (2-3 reps at maximal velocity). From the loads and the velocity at 1RM, the app builds the athlete's load-velocity line. Test with the same technique you will train with (paused or not).
By default, the value from this exercise's equation. Change it if you know the athlete's own.
4 · Prescription
Save to history
How it's calculated
- A velocity-load line is fitted to the test loads (least squares). The 1RM is the load at which that line reaches the velocity at 1RM. If it comes out below the heaviest load lifted, that load is taken as the 1RM.
- The target velocity comes from the athlete's own line at that %RM; the range covers the %RM ±2.5%. The load is the estimated 1RM × %RM.
- Max reps, the velocity-loss cutoff, the fatigue threshold, the Effort Index (EI), and the effort level are calculated the same way as in “By equation.”
- Two-load test: the heavy load should be close to the velocity at 1RM and the light load well apart from it (García-Ramos & Jaric, 2018; García-Ramos, 2024). Individual profiles are more accurate than group equations.
- With a reference 1RM, the suggested loads are 50% and 80% (required) and 65% and 90% (optional), rounded to 5 lb (2.5 kg). The expected velocity comes from the exercise's group equation.
If this is the first working set of the session, pick the %RM you had planned: the app tells you whether to keep, increase, or reduce the load.
| %RM | Load | Velocity |
|---|
Save to history
Use the best rep of a set with a load of at least 50-60% and measure the same variable shown on the exercise tag (MPV or mean velocity). With female athletes, “By profile” is the better choice: almost all group equations come from men, and women have a flatter load-velocity profile, with a higher velocity at 1RM and lower velocities with light loads (Torrejón et al., 2019).
No saved tests yet. Save them from “By profile” or “Estimate 1RM” with the “Save test” button.
| Date | Test | 1RM |
|---|
Export and import (CSV)
Tests are stored only in this browser: if you clear its data or change phones, they are lost. Export a copy now and then. The CSV opens in Excel (comma-separated, decimal point), with one row per test; “Import” loads it here or on another device and adds it to what is already there, without duplicates.
How tests are compared
- Each test stores the date, exercise, loads and velocities, estimated 1RM and, for profiles, the R² and the velocity at 1RM.
- The 1RM change compares the latest test with the previous one for the same athlete and exercise.
- Velocity at the same load uses the heaviest load of the previous test: for a profile, it comes from the athlete's line; for “Estimate 1RM”, from the exercise equation with that day's 1RM. Moving it faster is the most direct sign of improvement (González-Badillo et al., 2022). Profiles change with training, so repeat the test every few weeks (Pérez-Castilla & García-Ramos, 2020).
- Tests in different units are converted (1 kg = 2.2046 lb).
- Export follows the team filter: with “All”, every team is included. You can export the whole history or a single session (one date).
- CSV columns: Date, Team, Athlete, Exercise, Variable (MPV or MV), Type (Profile or Estimate), Unit, Load and Vel 1-4, V at 1RM (profiles only), Estimated 1RM, R² (profiles with 3-4 loads), 1RM change from the same athlete's previous test on that exercise. To import, do not rename the columns or the exercises.
1 · Athlete and lift
Do you have load-test data?
| %1RM | Peak V. |
|---|
2 · Load test → estimated 1RM
Light: around 50% of 1RM. Heavy: around 80%. With the two-load method, the heavy load should be within 0.30 m/s of the velocity at 1RM, and the light load 0.40-0.60 m/s faster than the heavy one (García-Ramos, 2024). In the snatch, that means a heavy load of 80% or more and a light load of 45-55%.
Intermediate: around 65%; refines the profile. Very heavy: around 90%, only if the athlete has good technique and is in good form; it adds the most precision to the 1RM. Leave them blank if you skip them.
Filled in with the height-based value; change it if you know the athlete's own.
3 · Prescription
1 · Prerequisite
Does the athlete jump at least 30 cm (12 in) in an unloaded CMJ?
According to González-Badillo (2023), athletes who cannot jump 30 cm in an unloaded CMJ should not do the load test. Reassess the CMJ later. For 10-20 lb, use a light bar, dumbbells, or a weight vest: an Olympic or hex bar already weighs about 45 lb (20 kg).
2 · Bar and reference load
All loads in the app are totals: bar + plates. Enter the actual weight of your bar; depending on the model, a hex bar can weigh more than 45 lb (20 kg). The app tells you how many plates to load in each case.
Peak velocity at which the athlete jumps about 20 cm (8 in). Default 2.00 m/s: in the Smith machine back-squat jump squat, the optimum power load moves at about 2.0-2.1 m/s peak velocity and produces jumps of about 20 cm, in sprinters, rugby players, and soccer players (Loturco et al., 2021 and 2023). With a hex bar, peak velocity is higher at the same load: adjust it to your bar and your device.
Have you done the two-load test?
After warming up, do 2-3 jumps with each load and record the peak velocity of the best one. Enter the total load (bar + plates); under each row you will see the plates it takes.
Intermediate loads, between the light and the heavy one; the most useful is the one that moves close to the reference velocity. They refine the profile when you prescribe far from the measured loads. Leave them blank if you skip them.
3 · Prescription
How it's calculated
- González-Badillo's method (2023, pp. 207-209): the reference load is the absolute load with which the athlete jumps about 20 cm (8 in), and training is done at 40 to 80% of that load, always jumping as high as possible. Athletes with lower strength needs go up to 60-70%; the rest, up to 80% if they are experienced.
- Levels: light 1-2 (40%), moderate 3-6 (50-60%), and heavy 7-10 (70-80%). Rest 2-3 s between jumps and 2-3 min between sets (2 min with heavy loads).
- With a test: 2 required loads, one light and one heavy, that fall above and below the reference velocity, and up to 2 optional intermediate loads. The reference load is interpolated between the two loads that bracket the reference velocity, and the target peak velocity comes from the line fitted to all the loads (individual profile). With well-separated loads, the two-load method is as reliable as the multiple-load method (García-Ramos & Jaric, 2018); in the CMJ with peak velocity it was reliable but not valid for extrapolating the ends of the profile (Pérez-Castilla et al., 2023). That is why the app interpolates within the measured range; that this keeps the error small is an inference, not a proven fact.
- Without a test: the reference load is estimated as ~90% of body mass in team sports and ~105% in very powerful athletes (optimum power load in the jump squat: soccer players 88 ± 7%, rugby players 89 ± 7%, sprinters 107 ± 11%; Loturco et al., 2015 and 2021). The target velocity uses the average slope from those data (≈ 0.10 m/s per 10% of body mass), starting from the reference velocity. If you measure the actual peak velocity with the estimated load, the app corrects the load with that same slope; it is a starting point, not a validated method.
- Nearly all the reference data come from men using a barbell on the back in a Smith machine. The load is rounded to 5 lb (2.5 kg) and never goes below the bar weight.
- The optional 10% cutoff is not part of the method and has not been validated for loaded jumps. In the weight room, apply it to the actual velocity of the first jump.
- With a hex bar, athletes jump higher and faster than with a barbell on the back at the same load (Swinton et al., 2012; Weakley et al., 2018), so the test must be done with the same bar used in training. Applying the method to the hex bar is the author's own adaptation.