The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between maximal muscle strength and minimum velocity threshold (MVT), focusing on the body weight ratio of one-repetition maximum (1RM) in the bench press. 1RM measurements were performed on 189 healthy male and female college students. Results indicated a very strong negative correlation between bench press relative intensity and average velocity, and a weak negative correlation between 1RM body weight ratio and MVT. Comparison of the upper and lower 1RM body weight ratio groups showed that the upper group had a significantly larger 1RM body weight ratio than the lower group, and the upper group had a significantly smaller MVT than the lower group. Furthermore, a very strong negative correlation was found between relative muscle intensity and average velocity for both groups, and regression equations were obtained for each. This suggests that although the relationship between relative bench press strength and mean velocity is quite stable, MVT may be influenced by training proficiency factors.

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This study aimed to determine the effect of eccentric (ECC) velocity of the down phase of a jump squat (JSQ) on JSQ performance during the concentric (CON) upward phase under 60% and 70% loads of one repetition maximum (1RM). The subjects were ten university rugby players who took part in both experiments: 1) ECC velocity of 2 seconds (ECC2s), and 2) individual maximum velocity (ECCmax) under 60% and 70% loads of 1RM squat. Measurements were made of jumping height, mean and peak velocity, power, and force exerted during the CON phase. For 60%1RM, peak velocity, mean and peak power, and the mean force exerted by the ECCmax squat was significantly higher than by the ECC2s squat. No significant difference was seen in jump height, mean velocity or peak force. For 70%1RM, the mean velocity and mean power of the ECCmax squat was significantly higher than the ECC2s squat. No significant differences were observed in jumping height, peak velocity, peak power, mean or peak force between the two squat conditions. Individual differences were, however, observed in the effect of ECC velocity on CON performance. ECCmax also varied according to the individual. It appears that subjects with higher ECCmax values had the potential to increase their CON velocity or jump height; on the other hand, those with low ECCmax would not be expected to achieve improved performance.

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