Importance of Eccentric Training

First off let me begin by talking a little about what eccentric training actual is and means.  An eccentric movement is a “yeilding” movement where you are allowing the weight to lower (most of the time).  Concentric is the opposite of eccentric and is actually where you are attempting to overcome the weight in which you are using.  Eccentric movements would be lowering the bar toward your chest during a bench press, lowering your body in a pull up or lowering downward during a squat.  Most of the time we tend to concentrate solely on concentric training since that is when we feel the most stimulus.  Eccentric training is often neglected and can drastically inhibit your ability in overall strength.

Muscles are much stronger during the stretching (eccentric) portion of a lift than they are during the shortening (concentric) portion.  In order to truly strengthen the muscle as a whole we have to find a way to challenge the muscle in an eccentric contraction.  Think about it, if you are bench pressing and can use less effort during the lowering portion of the lift you, will have more effort available in the pressing part of the exercise.  Lets train to get eccentrically strong as well and we will notice increases in overall strength.  Before going any further I would recommend that you are a rather experienced weight lifter before getting into eccentric training as it is highly neurologically taxing.  


There are many different training variations that will focus on eccentric strength, I have a few personal favorites so will talk about them in this article.  

• The first is the most simple change in your current exercises that will allow you to challenge your muscles during the eccentric phase.  I would recommend that everyone do this even if they are a beginner, it is safe and effective.  This method is changing the tempo of a exercise to a more eccentric emphasis.  What do I mean by this?  Simply slow down the rate of which you perform an eccentric contraction.  Using bench as an example again, rather than quickly dropping the bar to your chest, slow down and take 3-5 seconds to lower it.  This can be done in all of your exercises and will be an easy way to get stronger eccentrically.  

• 2/1 technique is one that I have adopted from Christian Thibaudeau, in my opinion the one of the best strength coaches there is.  This is when you use 2 limbs during the concentric phase and only 1 during the eccentric phase.  I love to use this method while performing curls and tricep pushdowns.  Unless you have been training for a while I would not recommend using this method for any of the bigger (multi-joint) lifts as it is easy to become technically sloppy.  If you are doing a bicep curl you will need either a straight bar or two independent rope handles.  Simply lift the weight with both arms than lower with just one arm (alternate arms each rep).  If you are using 50 lbs resistance than the concentric phase each arm will technically be responsible for 25 lbs.  However, the eccentric phase will place all 50 lbs on the arm which you are isolating.  By the end of a set of these I bet you’ll know what I mean by eccentric training.  

• Another form is supra-maximal negative training and is great to do for your big lifts (bench, squat, dead lift...).  It is recommended that you are pretty well experienced before you adapt this method of training. This is when you will use a load that is higher than your current max.  Another words if your 1 RM (rep max) is 300 on the bench press, use a load that is between 300-360 (generally dont go over 120% of your max).  Allow the weight to lower for at least 5 seconds than have someone help lift the weight up.  If you can’t resist the weight for at least 5 seconds than it is too heavy and you need to lower it until you can.  

Many good things can come out of eccentric training and no matter what your goals are in the gym, eccentric training will likely be a key to your success.  The biggest idea is that you are recruiting your type 2 or fast twitch muscle fibers when performing eccentric training.  This is great for athletes that compete in explosive sports, it is also very beneficial to bodybuilders and power lifters.   Throw it into your training and you will blast through plateaus and continuously get stronger.   Watch out though, as stated earlier eccentric training is pretty taxing so make sure you get ample rest and recovery.

John Fontana
Operations Manager
www.ShadowFit.com