Unleashing Your Athletic Training: Force Velocity Curve (EconoFit: Opportunity Costs)

Running up and down the field to practice my left-hand pass, the rugby ball seemed to hit everything except the target. Muscled pumped, I looked down at my hands giving them three squeezes. Increasing blood circulation was my intentional remedy to my utterly lousy passing. Unfortunately, however, the more I passed, the further my balls fell from the target.

Disappointed, I trotted back down to the gym to the plyometric box section, only to find myself struggling to jump up an 18 in. box. My face wore a bewildered expression: Doesn’t seem like my day… I murmured under my breath. The reassurance I sought wasn’t enough. I wanted an explanation: What was I doing wrong?

Athletes, specifically, those who train in the gym – lifting heavy loads – are the most common victims of this afflicting hindrance. One minute you’ll be repping 2 plate deadlifts without an issue, while the next you are chucking balls at the willpower of muscles you have no control over.

Many of you are probably victims of this phenomenon. You go for an intense gym session – strength or hypertrophy training – only to be unable to train for your sport after. The idea that your muscles experience less of a negative impact in terms of flexibility and movement is supported by the Force x Velocity conjecture. In addition to that, what better way to look at graphs from an economic perspective?

Force Velocity Curve

Force Velocity Curve

The Force Velocity Curve is an illustrious and fundamental principle that unravels the relationship between the maximal force your body produces in a movement, and the maximal velocity, or speed, in which your muscles attain completion of movement (often sport/athletic specific movements). Briefly put, the greater the force your muscles exert, which is directly correlated to the weight of the mass you are exerting given that high force is equivalent to acceleration, and thus low velocity and high mass.

The repercussion of choosing high-force movements is that the speed of the activity significantly decreases. Nevertheless by decreasing mass the speed of completion can thus forth increase. With max force needing max mass, it reveals the idea that one cannot attain max force, and max velocity simultaneously, but rather pursue a combination of the two to establish what is known as an optimal training sequence (“OTS'')

How to Know Where to Start on The Force Velocity Curve?

Going back to my lousy passing. What you saw was a training sequence (Non-optimal training sequence “NTS?”) that jumped from force (high weight/strength training) to movement/running/passing (velocity training). Upon some research, I can assure you that my lousy passing perhaps wasn’t solely due to my weaker left-hand, but rather through the ubiquitous concept of the opportunity cost, an idea that is commonly referred to as having “no free lunch” or that everything, regardless of how trivial, must come at the expense of an internal or external factor.

In my case, strength training first came at the opportunity cost of training my velocity movements first – my passing. Beyond just this external opportunity cost is the internal cost: Applying more energy and concentration to the weighted exercises at the beginning of my workout leads to perhaps less attention and care to the forthcoming exercises due to my limited attention span.

Simplified, considering just the opportunity costs of my energy, time, care, and attention, this is what economists label a constant opportunity cost, where if I tradeoff a weight training exercise for 10 minutes of passing and speed work, I will lose a constant amount as I increase the number of weighted exercises or vice versa.

Constant Opportunity Cost

That’s Just the Tip of the Iceberg!

Beyond just weight changes, a core differentiator between force and velocity is the way it takes a toll on different parts of the body. Weight lifting, which is more force/heavy load oriented, centralizes muscle growth and protein synthesis. Conversely, velocity work, such as plyometric jumps and Olympic lifting is more focused on working muscle responses like reaction time, muscle flexibility, tendon/ligament adaptations, and much more.

Now say you allocate around 30 minutes of your time to each of the two systematic training sessions. Evidently with speed work being inherently less muscle growth orientated, the intentional muscular tears aren’t as accentuated, and have less of a negative impact on your body's ability to perform a task (say, my left-hand passes). On the flip side, force training (Deadlifts, Squats, Bench presses, etc…) will have a notable effect on how you perform as all of the allocated time goes into muscular development, compared to a mere 20% - 30% for movement-specific exercises.

If we broaden our scope to combine both types of training into a 60-minute workout, force training first has a greater opportunity cost as it’s more taxing on muscle growth, inhibiting our ability to maximize performance in the following velocity exercises. In other words, the opportunity cost – both external and internal – of doing force exercises first concerning overall performance in the workout is referred to as an increasing opportunity cost because the time spent allocating resources such as time and energy to heavy weight lifting, the more your output diminishes for the velocity exercises.

How About We Just Tell You How to Train?

With all that jargon being said, the most effective way to train is to fall back to the force x velocity curve and surf it. Quite literally, surf it! Starting with speed work, your body can perform the task of exerting a muscle response that will not solely revolve around muscular growth, being less taxing on your body's ability to perform upcoming exercises.

By then moving to power and speed strength, Olympic lifts or power cleans are my next up sector. Still, between full force and speed exercises, these lifts can ensure you get both without being exceedingly demanding on your core muscles.

Ultimately, finishing up on your strength and hypertrophy work you will attain the most effective way to train, by ensuring you don’t hold your body back by overshocking through an NTS – yes, I used NTS (Non-optimal training sequence).

Example: Lower Body Workout Framework (OTS!)

Step 1: Velocity/Speed/Speed Strength

Agility, Ladder Runs, Ski Jumps, Broad Jumps, Double/Triple Broad Jumps, 3-Point Extensions, etc

Step 2: Power

Power Clean, Snatch, Power Jerk, etc

Step 3: Maximal Strength/Strength Speed

Back Squat, Front Squat, Deadlift, RDL, Bulgarian Split Squats, Weighted Calf Raises

Key Takeaways

Mastering the force-velocity curve is essential for optimizing athletic performance. Balancing speed and power exercises maximizes results. Start with speed and velocity movements to preserve energy for subsequent exercises. Transition to power and speed strength exercises to bridge the gap between force and velocity. Conclude with maximal strength and hypertrophy work for comprehensive muscle development. Embrace the force-velocity curve to reach fitness goals effectively. Train smart, utilize the curve, and conquer the game! Follow this secret weapon to achieve peak performance in your sport and excel on the field or court.

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