Does Grinding Out More Reps Make You Jump Higher? 20% vs 40% Velocity Loss in the Squat

"Every set to the last possible rep" is still a common philosophy in the weight room. A 2017 study challenges it. Athletes who ended each squat set once bar speed had dropped by 20% gained just as much strength as those who kept going to a 40% drop — with roughly 40% fewer reps — and they improved their jump more.

What the study looked at

Pareja-Blanco and colleagues ran a randomized trial with 22 resistance-trained young men. For eight weeks, both groups trained the squat with every rep's velocity measured:

• VL20: each set stopped when velocity fell 20% below the first rep
• VL40: each set continued until velocity had fallen 40%

The only difference between the programs was how much velocity loss was allowed within a set. Outcomes included squat strength, countermovement jump (CMJ) height, muscle size and muscle fiber type composition.

Key findings

• Similar strength gains: both groups improved squat strength to a similar extent
• About 40% fewer reps: total training volume was roughly 40% lower in VL20
• Better jump gains in VL20: CMJ improved by +9.5% in VL20 versus +3.5% in VL40
• More hypertrophy in VL40: both groups grew, but the vastus lateralis and vastus intermedius increased more in VL40
• Fiber type shift: VL40 lost some of its type IIX (fast-twitch) myosin heavy chain proportion, while VL20 preserved it

In short, pushing sets further built more muscle, but at the cost of some of the qualities that transfer to fast movements like jumping and sprinting.

How to read this in practice

The takeaway is not "never train hard" but "decide where to stop the set based on the goal."

• For speed and power sports, ending sets well before failure may build strength and power while keeping fatigue in check
• In blocks where size is the priority, accepting more velocity loss is a reasonable choice
• Even without a velocity device, "end the set when the reps clearly slow down" is a useful principle

The limits are clear. This was 22 trained young men doing one exercise, the squat. We cannot assume the same results in women, youth athletes or other lifts.

Using ATHCON

ATHCON logs weight and reps and automatically estimates each athlete's 1RM, so you can prescribe intensity as %1RM. If you switch to a "stop before you grind" approach, you can follow how estimated 1RM and fitness test results such as jumps change for each athlete over the block.

Combined with the daily wellness check-in, you can also see how athletes' fatigue responded in the weeks you changed the volume.

Takeaways

• Stopping at 20% velocity loss matched the strength gains of 40% with about 40% fewer reps
• Jump performance improved more when sets were not pushed as far (+9.5% vs +3.5%)
• Small sample of trained young men, squat only — choose the stopping point to fit the goal