In other words, after a long period of time carrying out
eccentric strength training, you tend to increase eccentric strength by more than concentric strength.
Concentric strength training just as effective as
eccentric strength training When you're doing strength training, the eccentric and the concentric parts of your reps are equally important, according to a meta - study published by The Brad Schoenfeld.
Athletes embarking on
an eccentric strength training cycle are bound to be exposed to increased connective tissue and myofibrillar damage.
The use of heavy
eccentric strength training exercise together with more explosive, plyometric - like movements, therefore, seems to provide the ideal combination of mechanical load and neuromuscular recruitment needed to improve the rate of force development.
A study in the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery found that six weeks of eccentric exercise improved strength and reduced pain and disability in people with chronic elbow tendonitis better than traditional treatments such as icing, stretching and massage, while another study found that
eccentric strength training significantly reduced the symptoms of Achilles tendonitis and tendonopathy of the knee.
Best results can be achieved by performing slow eccentric - only strength training protocols or heavy and slow concentric /
eccentric strength training protocols.
Not exact matches
This can be prevented by
training your hams with exercises that focus on building the most neglected part of leg
strength —
eccentric strength — and there's no better way to do that than with
eccentric glute hamstring raises.
Since concentric
strength potential is lower than the
eccentric strength potential, any individual looking to create maximum fiber damage should emphasize
eccentric overload in his
training.
The best way to increase functional
strength is by incorporating
training with heavy weights on the
eccentric part of the exercise.
Exercise scientists have been researching the subject since the 70's, repeatedly confirming that
eccentric - only
training regimes produce greater
strength increases than their concentric - only counterparts.
A recent study published in Frontiers in Physiology found that accentuated
eccentric loading (AEL)-- which involves lowering a weight slowly during the lengthening of the muscle, rather than letting it drop — might be more effective in avoiding a plateau then changing a program week to week.Scientists conducted a ten - week experiment involving three
strength -
training groups, with the AEL programming noting an increase in force production, work capacity, muscle activation and resistance compared to the other methods.
Eccentric load in some of the basic, compound
strength training exercises can range anywhere between 120 % and 140 % as a combination of 1/3 of weight on the bar — on an average 45 % to 65 % of 1RM — and 2/3 of weight on each additional plate so that, upon release, an increasing amount of force can be applied against lighter weights.
Although necessary to improve
strength,
eccentric exercises per se have very limited applications in the
training of athletes.
By combining heavy,
eccentric loads (up to 4 times an athlete's body weight) with explosive, violent concentric efforts, overspeed
eccentric training provides the unique opportunity for elite level throwers to increase explosive
strength without placing an excessive amount of stress on the lower extremities.
Eccentric training is, therefore, a necessary component in the development of stronger, more powerful athletes as eccentric strength provides enough structural integrity to store elastic energy during plyometric - like activities such as throwing, jumping and s
Eccentric training is, therefore, a necessary component in the development of stronger, more powerful athletes as
eccentric strength provides enough structural integrity to store elastic energy during plyometric - like activities such as throwing, jumping and s
eccentric strength provides enough structural integrity to store elastic energy during plyometric - like activities such as throwing, jumping and sprinting.
Overspeed
eccentric training is, therefore, nothing but an upgrade of one of the most sophisticated examples of heavy
strength training for sport.
In fact, the late Norwegian
strength expert Per Egil (Pella) Refsnes told me that
eccentric training is the single best method to boost
strength levels in elite
strength athletes.
This is not to say that I do not use other
training methods but simply that none contribute more to the success of my clients» improvements in
strength, power, and hypertrophy than
eccentric isometrics.
Having experimented with nearly every
training modality possible over the last 13 years, I've found few if any techniques more effective for
strength and hypertrophy than
eccentric isometrics.
In European
strength -
training textbooks, precise
eccentric training protocols abound.
In addition to cardiovascular
training, which builds endurance,
strength training is essential in preseason to regaining
eccentric force, power, and isokinetic
strength.
Training with heavier loads (whether eccentric or concentric) leads to greater gains in strength than training with moderate (Schoenfeld et al. 2016) or light (Schoenfeld et al. 2015) loads, even when volume loads are not
Training with heavier loads (whether
eccentric or concentric) leads to greater gains in
strength than
training with moderate (Schoenfeld et al. 2016) or light (Schoenfeld et al. 2015) loads, even when volume loads are not
training with moderate (Schoenfeld et al. 2016) or light (Schoenfeld et al. 2015) loads, even when volume loads are not matched.
An emphasis on increasing muscle fascicle length rather than pennation angle may therefore be beneficial for both
eccentric and concentric
strength, in comparison with concentric
training.
In summary, it seems likely that the increases in muscle fascicle length that happen as a result of
eccentric training lead to greater increases in high - velocity
strength, smaller increases in RFD, and greater increases in
strength at long muscle lengths (by a shift in the optimum angle).
In addition, it is interesting to observe that after programs of unilateral exercise,
eccentric training produces a greater cross-over of
strength gains from the
trained limb to the untrained limb than concentric
training (Hortobágyi et al. 1997; Seger et al. 1998; Nickols - Richardson et al. 2007; Kidgell et al. 2015).
Ultimately, what we can say is that since changes in tendon stiffness do not seem to differ between concentric and
eccentric training, that changes in tendon stiffness are probably not responsible for the specificity of
strength gains after
eccentric training.
In addition, the increases in EMG amplitudes after
eccentric training seem to be greater when tested in
eccentric strength tests, which is a promising sign for explaining
eccentric - specific
strength (Hortobágyi et al. 1996).
Gains in
eccentric - specific
strength after
eccentric training are probably caused by both peripheral and central factors.
This would then explain why
eccentric training tends to produce greater gains in
strength overall, because
eccentric training typically involves greater absolute loads (as well as more muscle damage).
Eccentric training is
strength training using only the lowering phase of an exercise.
Currently, it is unknown whether
eccentric training affects changes in antagonist co-activation differently from concentric
training or standard
strength training, although there is evidence that it can cause reductions (Pensini et al. 2002), as has been reported after some (mostly high - velocity) conventional
strength training programs.
Normal
strength training involves both lowering and lifting a weight, while
eccentric training involves just performing the lowering phase.
This means that the
strength gains after
eccentric training are greater when measured in an
eccentric test of
strength, compared to in a concentric test of
strength.
What happens if we incorporate isometrics all along the
strength training movement pattern through the
eccentric (lowering / yielding) phase.
So although there might be small differences in regional hypertrophy between concentric and
eccentric training (because of the differences in the muscle architecture adaptations), it is still unclear whether this phenomenon is responsible for the specificity of
strength gains after
eccentric training.
Strength training leads to increased tendon stiffness, and although the effects are affected by load (higher loads are better), they do not differ between
eccentric and concentric
training (Bohm et al. 2015).
What this means is that while muscle - tendon stiffness often increases with normal
strength training or with concentric exercise, it does not necessarily increase after
eccentric exercise (Kay et al. 2016).
Some of the methods I utilize with
strength training sessions include: drop - sets, pyramid
training, slowed negatives /
eccentric training.
methods I utilize with
strength training sessions include: drop - sets, pyramid
training, slowed negatives /
eccentric training.
The Advanced Human Performance followed up with the second part on
Eccentric Isometrics The Ultimate Way to
Strength Train — Part 2 — another detailed piece expanding on the benefits of this type of strength training and also providing examples of the practical appl
Strength Train — Part 2 — another detailed piece expanding on the benefits of this type of
strength training and also providing examples of the practical appl
strength training and also providing examples of the practical application.
So here's the good news: if you're dieting you probably will lose muscle and
strength, but
eccentric training helps preserve your gains.
Muscle soreness is a bi-product of overloading the
eccentric or lengthening phase of a
strength training movement, especially as it relates to the final 30 % of the movement.
Let me share some examples of where this «
eccentric phase» is created with traditional
strength training exercises:
To optimally develop
strength all three contraction types must be addressed individually throughout the
training process in an
eccentric → isometric → concentric fashion
Eccentric - specific gains produced by neural mechanisms might not transfer well to COD ability, because of differences between the
strength training exercise and the COD maneuver in terms of both movement pattern, and contraction velocity.
Even so, the adaptations that produce
eccentric - specific
strength after
eccentric training do not appear to be strongly velocity - specific (Alt et al. 2017), and there are indications that athletic populations display smaller differences between maximal involuntary and voluntary
eccentric force, even in unfamiliar movements (Amiridis et al. 1996).
For example,
eccentric - only
training increases our
strength much more in the
eccentric phase, than in the concentric phase.
Since
strength is specific, then:
strength training for the hip extensors and knee extensors with
eccentric - only muscle actions or accentuated
eccentric loading should lead to superior gains in COD ability compared to conventional
strength training.
Eccentric - specific strength is preferentially increased by eccentric - only training or accentuated eccentric
Eccentric - specific
strength is preferentially increased by
eccentric - only training or accentuated eccentric
eccentric - only
training or accentuated
eccentric eccentric training.
Although it is not well - known,
strength training produces adaptations in the endomysium or extracellular matrix of the muscle fiber (Jakobsen et al. 2016), and it is possible that
eccentric training could lead to greater changes in the collagen content of muscles than similar concentric contractions (Heinemeier et al. 2007; Holm et al. 2017), which could in turn alter the properties of the passive elements that underpin
eccentric - specific
strength.