By Gabe Sanders PhD, NSCA-CSCS
It is well understood that resistance or strength training is a beneficial form of exercise as it can help make you stronger, which can produce a myriad of health benefits. Naturally, when you lift weights, you are engaging in “concentric” muscle actions, meaning that your muscles are doing the work to move the weight or in other words, your muscles are contracting. This type of movement is a fundamental aspect of strength training.
Eccentric training is often overlooked. It’s very beneficial.
However, there is another aspect of strength training, called “eccentric” training, that often gets overlooked, especially in the general population and with older adults. Eccentric muscle actions occur when you lower the resistance and by definition, your muscles lengthen as they resist the weight.
Eccentric training has been shown to be very beneficial for athletes and even older adults. While many people are not aware of this type of training and likely do not know how to do it, eccentric training can help increase your strength while reducing the stress on your cardiovascular system, as opposed to concentric training.
Eccentric training is also very beneficial for your tendons and ligaments and is often a key mode of exercise in therapeutic and rehabilitation settings for patients with a various form of tendonitis and ligament repair.
Train your muscles eccentrically. Simply lower the weight slowly
Engaging in eccentric strength training is actually quite simple and can be easily incorporated into your everyday training regimen. An easy way to train your muscles eccentrically is to simply lower the weight slowly.
For example. Chest press on Machine. Try this!
Chest press on a machine– Push the resistance away from your chest. You are concentrically resisting the weight.
During the chest press- After your arms are extended in front you, begin to lower the weight, the eccentric muscle action occurs. Engage in this action eccentrically, slowly resist the weight on the way back towards your chest.
Slowly lower the weight- Count to four slowly. When you are finished counting to four, you should be back to your initial position.
The fact you are preventing the weight from quickly returning to the beginning position is eccentrically working your muscles and is extremely healthy for you.
Apply this concept to any lift
This concept- eccentric strength training can be applied to any lift, especially machine resistance exercises. Just remember to keep breathing and do not hold your breath. If possible do one to three eccentric reps at the end of each set. If you want more information, be sure to ask your trainer for help and recommendations.
*Before starting an exercise regimen, consult with your physician and/or healthcare provider
**For more examples of other variations/exercises look under Multimedia-VDF Exercise Tips
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Article’s Resources
Gasser, B., & Zosso, M. (2017). Strength training in seniors: The knowledge of positive aspects of eccentric training in elderly is sparse. Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, 12(3), 659-667.