Body-builders achieve their muscles through lifting heavy weights, right? Although that is partially true, there is a type of training that takes advantage of a contraction that does not physically lift up weights – eccentric contraction.
As opposed to conventional concentric contractions where muscles shorten to lift up weight, eccentric contraction is the lengthening of a muscle under tension. This can be visualized by lifting a dumbbell in your hand with your arms fully contracted, then slowly allow the dumbbell to lower while maintaining tension in your arm. Your arm muscles will still be contracting and generating force, yet it is lengthening as the force is not enough to overcome the weight of a dumbbell.
It is shown that eccentric training causes more muscle damage than concentric training. In terms of weight training, a workout is designed to create muscle damage in order for a muscle to repair and grow larger. Eccentric training allows us to focus on muscle damage as opposed to just the amount of weight and the speed we are able to lift at. Eccentric contractions also allows us to generate more force with lower energy demand. This allows for greater strength developments for those who are more interested in lifting more weight.
How do we engage the body into eccentric training? We can do so by emphasizing by slowing or braking opposing forces, such as weights or gravity. An example of this would be chin-ups. Instead of emphasizing how many chin-ups you can do, focus on the downward movement where you are lowering your body after a chin-up. Maintain tension throughout your arms and back, and work
Pushup, example of eccentric training. Image: Wikimedia Commons by U.S. Air Force
against gravity to lower your body slowly. Another example would be push-ups. To engage eccentric training on push-ups, focus on slowing down the downward movement where you lower your body towards the ground.
Eccentric training is used not only for weight training, but also for physiotherapy. The natural braking movement of the muscle is naturally used to protect joints. We are able minimizing the amount of force upon joints and
Knee tendon, eccentric training is used for rehabilitation. Image: Wikimedia Commons by Tooshikafs
tendons by slowing down movements. This is especially useful for rehabilitation, and in some studies, eccentric training programs proved better results than standard rehabilitation programs.
For those who are interested, consider adding eccentric training into your workout program. Sometimes it’s not about how much weight you are able to lift, or how many push-ups you are able to do. Eccentric training is an important and effective component of weightlifting.
Daryl
