Eccentric Benefits

I bet you didn’t realize that you could bring ‘negativity ‘ into a gym and actually make better results while doing so. It is possible, however, I am not referring to a negative attitude but instead a ‘negative’ movement with an exercise, otherwise known as an eccentric movement.

 For example, while doing a bench press the eccentric phase occurs when you lower the bar down to the chest or when you raise the lat pull down bar back to the starting position. Another way to describe the eccentric phase of an exercise is by simply saying it is the portion of the exercise in which the weight is being lowered. An eccentric movement lengthens the muscle fibers during the exercise while a concentric (raising of the weight) movement is the shortening of the muscle fibers.

 Most people typically only focus on the concentric phase of an exercise but when doing so they are not utilizing all of the benefits of an exercise that they should reap.

Benefits Of Eccentric Training:

-Greater Increases In Strength
-You are able to use a heavier weight with eccentric training causing more muscle trauma to occur which in turn allows you to have greater gains in strength.
-Recruitment Of Type II Muscle Fibers
-Type II muscle fibers are referred to as the fast twitch muscle fibers. These muscle fibers are utilized for more explosive power and speed.
-Longer Gains In Strength
-Studies have shown that individuals who have spent a lot of time focusing on eccentric training are able to      maintain their strength for a longer duration of time if they become sedentary.

You can focus a whole workout around eccentric training, while loading up with heavy weights. If you are going to train solely on eccentric training the eccentric portion should be done at a slower rate, typically at a rate of around 3-10 seconds. If doing this type of training always have a spotter present to take the weight back to the starting position for you to return back to the eccentric phase.

Otherwise while doing any workout just make sure that you are never just letting gravity do its things. Keep everything nice and controlled during the eccentric portion of every exercise and you will be able to show better results!!!