The Enode is a high quality velocity based training device that gives you the data you need to optimize your strength and power training. Learn more about Enode (formerly Vmaxpro) in this article! Check the bottom of this article for 10% off discount code.

Velocity Based Training Devices

In training athletes like sprinters, it is important that all aspects of training are monitored in order to optimize training loads, track progress over time, and to ensure athletes are given the proper balance of training and recovery.

Things have come a long way since the Tendo Unit was the only barbell speed tracker on the market. The VBT sensors of today are smaller, easier to use, and provide more types of data.

Athletes in different sports have different demands and needs, meaning that to get the most out of your training you need to ensure the workouts you perform are relevant to your needs.

For example, someone competing as a powerlifting will need much more training above 90% load than a sprinter, because powerlifters need to be able to produce massive forces, sustain through large time under tension, and to be able to be forceful at low velocities. In contrast, a sprinter needs to exhibit high rates of force development while being strong at both moderately slow and very high velocities. 

Using a velocity based training device can help ensure that the lifts you perform are in-line with your goals, and prevent you from doing training that will not contribute to progress. A bar speed tracker like the Enode will give you useful insights into the quality of your training.

What Does A Bar Speed Tracker Do?

Velocity based training devices such as the Enode are built to sense movement in all three planes. Using accelerometers, the Enode can detect how fast the bar is moving, what bar path or trajectory it followed, and other qualities such as how quickly force was developed during the exercise.

Depending on the software of the specific bar velocity sensor you look at, various data points based on force, power, velocity, or rate of force development may be available. Additionally, products like the Enode can help guide your workout, suggesting you do more or less weight, more or less reps, all based on AI and monitoring of your fatigue.

Bar speed trackers are used widely in professional sport, and the Enode helps bring this high level technology into your own workouts and gym.

Where To Buy Enode Bar Velocity Tracker

I personally bought my Enode from SimpliFaster. I am an affiliate of SimpliFaster, and a huge fan of their great customer service and quick turnaround times. Purchasing an Enode through our link to SimpliFaster helps support my website.

Enode Bar Speed Tracker

The Enode is unique in that is produces reliable and scientifically backed data while being affordable, compact, and easy to use. Furthermore, the team at Enode is constantly updating the software and listening to user feedback, which goes to show that the company is keen on making products that truly help the consumer.

Enode offers two products, the Enode Sensor and the Enode Eleiko Bar Sensor kit. The Enode itself attaches magnetically to the bar or with the use of a strap, while the Eleiko Bar Sensor screws in to the end of an Eleiko barbell. For the sake of this article, we'll be discussing the Enode itself.

Enode Features

The Enode has a number of features which make it a great product in the VBT sensor space.

You can use the Enode to gain data-based insights into the qualities of your movements in the gym, to help decide which velocity based training zones to use on a given day based on your goals, to help decide workloads based on the buildup of fatigue throughout a session, and to track over time whether you are getting better or not.

 

Personally, I like to look at the force/power/velocity charts so I can assess force & power outputs and velocity outcomes at different time points. For example as a sprinter, I need to be producing force withing 50-100ms of the start of the lift, and I can look at these time points using the Enode.

Enode Specifications:

• System dimensions: 44 x 27 x 13 mm
• Weight: 16 grams
• Battery life: 12 hours
• Standby time: 100 days
• Measuring range: > 0.15 m/s
• Range: 10 meters

Data produced by the Enode:

• Peak Velocity
• Average Velocity
• Peak Eccentric Velocity
• Average Eccentric Velocity
• Rate of Force Development
• Eccentric Rate of Force Development
• Mean Propulsive Velocity
• Distance and duration of a lift.
• Velocity charts
• Force & power charts
• Bar trajectory paths
• Synchronized video to view data alongside athlete movement.

Exercises you can track with the Enode:

• Squats and deadlifts
• Bench press and dumbbell lifts
• Bodyweight and loaded jumps.
• Power cleans.
• Any exercise you can strap the bar speed tracker to.

Force, Power & Velocity Charts

One aspect of the Enode that I particularly like is the charts produced within the app. You can look at a graphical representation of your velocity, acceleration, force production, and power output.

As athletes, it is particularly important that we are able to exhibit high rates of force development. For sprinters and other speed athletes, the force and bar velocity we can generate by 100 milliseconds can make or break our ability to run the 100 meter dash.

With the Enode Sensor, you can look at every lift to see when and where the force was generated, as well as how that force production affected power and velocity. You may be doing an exercise that you think contributes to rate of force development, but the Enode bar velocity tracker can show you whether or not that is actually the case.

Tracking Your Training Progress

When I analyze my training, I like to see how certain qualities change over time as a result of the training I perform. For example, if I am trying to improve my time to peak velocity at a certain load, I can look back at my training sessions to see how this has changed.

Similarly, you can track the loads you lift over time, see your estimated 1-rep maximum without having to test it, and build a large database of strength training data which can inform your training as you move forward toward your goals.

Enode for Coaches & Researchers

While the Enode Sensor is a great bar speed tracker for personal use with its velocity based training app, it is also the perfect product for coaches and researchers.

With Enode+, coaches can track strength training data for multiple athletes, export data to various athlete management systems, and create training programs that use AI to determine the right loads for any athlete in any session.

For researchers and coaches, the Vmaxpro Science option allows you to track real-world movements such as a block start, a shot put throw, or a jump, visualizing movement in all three planes.

Maybe you are looking to see how you accelerate from step to step in a sprint, the Vmaxpro Science feature of Vmaxpro+ can be used to look at these qualities without expensive technology. By seeing video paired with movement data, coaches or researchers can gain deeper insights into the performance of athletes. This can be done with lifts using the free app, and in real-world movements with the Science add-on.

Enode Sensor Accessories

In addition to your Enode Sensor, you may have some interest in the following accessories for your Enode:

• Enode Hip Strap: This will allow you to easily measure jump metrics with your Enode Sensor.
• Enode Extended Strap: This gives you the ability to attach the Enode sensor to your wrist, ankle, various bars, etc.
• Enode Exxentric Flywheel Adapter: Attach your Enode to an Eccentric Flywheel machine to collect more data.
• Enode Sensor Charging Case: If you've got multiple Enode Sensors and want to charge them with ease, the Enode Charging Case can come in handy!

User Experience

Personally I have found the Vmaxpro to be fairly easy to use, especially once I got familiar with the user interface of the app.

Connectivity

The bar speed tracker connects quickly to your phone, sometimes requires a brief calibration process. Typically I can get my Vmaxpro connected and ready to use within one minute.

Setting Up Workouts

Building your workout is simple. Simply connect your sensor to the app, select your exercises & exercise goals, attach the sensor to the bar, and you're ready to go.

In the management tab, you can add custom exercises. This allows you to track virtually any exercise.

Reliability

I have found the Vmaxpro to be quite reliable, rarely missing repetitions and most of the data outputs work every time. Occasionally I have issues with collecting data in the eccentric phase, but the recent update fixed most of those issues. Fortunately, the team at Vmaxpro is open to user input and they work hard to fix issues that arise.

Enjoyment

I find that using the Vmaxpro makes training more fun. I am able to see how I am performing, and can always track if I am beating my personal bests or not. I think having performance targets helps improve performance outcomes, so being able to see the outcome of each rep helps me push harder.

Motor Learning

Another great aspect of the Vmaxpro is that the feedback it gives you can help you learn to move more explosively. I find that often times athletes are mistaken about how a certain feeling or sensation relates to a movement outcome. You might think that gritting and trying really hard is how you jump the highest or squat the fastest, when there may be another feeling you need to seek in order to produce the performance outcome you want.

With the Vmaxpro, I can learn to associate certain feelings with certain performance outcomes. I may find that if I try too hard, the bar velocity or rate of force development is not at the time I want it to be in. Or, I may find that I need to apply force differently in order to get the proper force outputs at the right time.

Conclusion

Overall, I think the Vmaxpro is a great product that can help you work toward your goals and track data along the way. Being able to get daily insights into the performance outputs of your movement is very interesting, and helps me guide my training over time from load management to exercise selection.

If you really want to be the best coach or athlete you can be, it would be worth considering picking up a bar speed tracker like the Vmaxpro, so you can get a more clear idea of what is going on in your training at any given time.