🪀 A Complete Guide to Flywheel Training

In this article, we're breaking down flywheel resistance training technology.

Flywheel resistance training has become more integrated within S&C programs over the past few years.

In large part due to advances in technology and the increase in research supporting its use.

Flywheel technology has been implemented in a variety of sports due to the neuromuscular, strength, and task-specific enhancements reported with this training.

How should flywheel training be implemented?

Study: Current Guidelines for the Implementation of Flywheel Resistance Training Technology in Sports: A Consensus Statement​

Research Overview

• The article presents the consensus reached by internationally recognized researchers (experts) during a meeting on current definitions and guidelines for implementing flywheel resistance technology in sports.
• The researchers synthesized and analyzed the current state of the literature (a systematic review of systematic reviews) to provide an update and recommendations on flywheel use in sports.

Flywheel Facts

The researchers provided 3 statements about flywheel use.

Flywheel Resistance

• Flywheel resistance training is characterized by the use of rotating flywheel discs or cones to provide resistance.
• The concentric action is initiated by pulling the strap connected to the shaft of the device, spinning (accelerating) the flywheel/cone.
• Once the strap rewinds around the shaft, an eccentric action is performed to decelerate the flywheel/cone rotation.

Eccentric Overload

• Eccentric overload is a term frequently misunderstood and misused by researchers and practitioners.
• Although the eccentric phase is frequently the focus of flywheel training, not all exercises, users, or training loads achieve eccentric overload.
• Consequently, practitioners should define this resistance method as ‘flywheel resistance exercise or training’ instead of ‘eccentric overload’.

Training Response

• Reliable flywheel training exercise outputs are contingent upon the user’s effort, training experience (i.e., familiarization), moment of inertia (kg*m^2) selected, and the mechanical characteristics of the devices used.
• To obtain the best training response, the user should focus on the production of (near) maximal effort during each repetition and on the timing/technique of the braking force in the eccentric action, which allow for (near) maximal muscle activation and intensity of the workout.

Flywheel Recommendations

The researchers provided 7 recommendations for flywheel use in sport.

Monitoring Outputs

• Practitioners can use linear and rotary encoders to monitor mechanical outputs (i.e., power, velocity, and force) and design inertia-power, inertia-velocity, and inertia-force curves.

Periodization Model

• Further research should include specific detail around any periodization model (if present) and training plan used in intervention studies to offer insights about the benefits of their use.
• The current literature is not strong enough to define evidence-based recommendations.

Hypertrophy Adaptations

• Practitioners can use flywheel resistance training as a valid method to develop chronic morphological adaptations in both sporting and healthy male or female populations.
• Flywheel training can generate some hypertrophic adaptations in short training periods (from 4 to 8 weeks), with a training frequency usually between two and three sessions a week.

Strength Adaptations

• Practitioners can use flywheel resistance training as a valid method to develop chronic strength adaptations in both sporting and healthy male or female populations.
• Moreover, flywheel resistance training elicits improvements in strength development with different testing methodologies (i.e., isokinetic, isotonic) and muscular contractions (i.e., concentric and eccentric).

Mechanical Power and Jumping

• Practitioners can use flywheel resistance training as a valid method to increase mechanical power and jump performance of male and female populations.
• Enhancements can be seen with interventions that are short and consisting of lower weekly training frequencies.
• However, further research is needed to clearly define the dose response using flywheel resistance training especially when considering differences in response between populations.
• Finally, flywheel resistance exercise can be effectively implemented within post-activation performance enhancement protocols to acutely enhance sport performance.

Braking and Acceleration

• Practitioners can use flywheel resistance training as a valid method to increase athletes’ ability to perform sport-specific braking and accelerating actions.
• Indeed, the systematic use of flywheel training within training will enhance acceleration, deceleration, sprint, and change of direction ability in sporting populations.
• Further studies are needed to evaluate the dose–response relationship between flywheel training and sprint performance amongst sport populations that typically adopt a low resistance training frequency per week (e.g., football).

Injury and Rehab

• Further well-designed intervention studies (i.e., randomized controlled trials) are needed to verify the ability of flywheel resistance technology-based training interventions to reduce the likelihood of muscular (e.g., hamstring) and articular (e.g., anterior cruciate ligament) injuries in sport populations; moreover, further research is needed to evaluate its validity as a rehabilitation tool following an injury.

Coach's Takeaway

• Although the eccentric phase is often the focus of flywheels, not all exercises or training loads impose an eccentric overload.
• Outputs are largely based on athlete effort as the concentric and eccentric loads are linked - poor effort on concentric phase decreases the eccentric load.
• Flywheels are useful but often times can be considered a more advanced training method.

I hope this was helpful.

Ramsey