An easy way to make strength training much more effective

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Eccentric exercises can help you build muscle, improve flexibility, and get stronger.

What are eccentric exercises

When a muscle contracts, it either shortens or lengthens. The phase in which the muscle is shortened is called concentric, and the phase in which it lengthens is called eccentric. A simple example: in a biceps exercise, when you bend your arm from the dumbbells, a concentric contraction occurs, and when you extend your arm, an eccentric contraction.

Typically, strength training focuses more on the concentric phase. Whereas for good results it is necessary to work through both phases, and in some cases focus on the eccentric.

Why eccentric exercises are beneficial

1. Help build muscle faster and become stronger

For muscles to grow, they must first be damaged during training and then regenerated during rest. Recovery involves satellite cells, or satellites, located on the outer surface of muscle fibers.

After muscle injury, satellite cells begin to multiply and daughter cells are attracted to the injured area. The satellite cell gives up its nucleus, increasing the amount of actin and myosin in the sarcomere, the basic contractible unit of muscle fibers.

Scientists compared Satellite cell activity is differentially affected by contraction mode in human muscle following a work-matched bout of exercise effect of eccentric and concentric training and found that 24 hours after eccentric exercise, the number of satellite cells increased by 27%, and after concentric exercise. it does not change.

In addition, the number of satellite cells increases Eccentric exercise increases satellite cell content in type II muscle fibers only in type II muscle fibers, which are able to grow strongly in size and provide us with visually large muscles. In type I fibers, the number of satellite cells remains unchanged.

In parallel with the increase in muscle mass, Eccentric exercise: mechanisms and effects when used as training regime or training adjunct also grows strength and power (maximum strength × speed).

A recent study by The Effects of Eccentric Contraction Duration on Muscle Strength, Power Production, Vertical Jump, and Soreness from the University of New Mexico found that four weeks of strength training with an eccentric phase of 2, 4, and 6 seconds significantly increases the strength and power of trained athletes.

2. Increase flexibility

Flexibility is essential in any sport, including strength training. For example, in weightlifting, you cannot snatch or cleanse without sufficient flexibility in the shoulder joint.

Eccentric training increases the effects of eccentric training on lower limb flexibility: a systematic review of muscle length and joint range of motion just as good as static stretching postures.

In Russell T. Nelson's Eccentric Training and Static Stretching Improve Hamstring Flexibility of High School Males study, one group of students did eccentric exercises and the other did static stretching for six weeks. As a result, the first group increased the range of motion by 12.79 °, and the second - by 12.05 °.

3. Protect from injury

Muscle damage from eccentric exercise: mechanism, mechanical signs, adaptation and clinical applications sarcomeres, sensory nerves in muscles, and proprioceptors, which reduce range of motion and strength performance.

However, after a week, adaptation occurs: the muscles are stretched in an optimal way to match the load, which further protects the athlete from injury.

4. Helps overcome plateaus

In the eccentric phase of exercise, the muscles can support more weight than in the concentric phase. For example, when you have taken too much weight in the bench press and you are unable to squeeze the barbell, you can still hold it over your body or slowly lower it back onto the rack.

This feature of eccentric exercise will help you overcome your training plateau. If you can't do concentric exercise with a new weight, try eccentric to prepare your muscles and speed up your progress.

But be careful: be sure to ask for a safety net if you do eccentric exercises with large weights.

5. Accelerate metabolism

If you want to lose weight through strength training, focus on eccentric exercise.

A study on Resting energy expenditure and delayed-onset muscle soreness after full-body resistance training with an eccentric concentration at Wayne University found that eccentric whole-body workouts accelerated resting metabolism for 72 hours after exercise. Moreover, the results are true for both beginners and experienced athletes.

Scientists at the University of Kansas also noted Muscle damage and resting metabolic rate after acute resistance exercise with an eccentric overload a significant increase in resting metabolic rate 24–48 hours after eccentric exercise.

When eccentric training is best to avoid

For all its benefits, eccentric training is not for everyone. In some cases, it is worth refraining from them.

• If you have joint diseases such as osteoarthritis. Eccentric training can increase pain in the injured joint.
• During the recovery period after injury. Since eccentric exercises injure muscles more than concentric ones, you should be especially careful after injuries. Consult a physical therapist before starting exercise.

How to add eccentric exercises to your workout

You can eccentric almost any exercise simply by lengthening the stretch under load. For example, if you are doing a bench press, lower the barbell in 4–6 seconds and lift it in 2 seconds.

Here are some exercises that can be easily eccentric.

1. Push ups … Slowly go down, quickly squeeze yourself up.
2. Pull-ups … This is a lead-up exercise for classic pull-ups. You do a pull-up from a jump, and then extend your arms as slowly as possible, while maintaining your body weight.
3. Split squats on one leg … Slowly go down, quickly go upstairs.
4. Weighted squats … Slowly go down, linger a little at the bottom point and quickly go up. Exercise will help develop hip mobility.
5. Extension of the legs in the simulator … Extend your legs quickly and bend slowly.
6. Dumbbell press up … Raise the dumbbells quickly and lower them slowly.

The concentric phase of the exercise should be fast, but without jerking, otherwise you risk damaging your muscles or ligaments. Try to make the eccentric phase as long as possible: from 4 to 10 seconds.

What awaits you after eccentric training

Eccentric exercise and delayed onset muscle soreness of the quadriceps induce adjustments in agonist-antagonist activity, which are dependent on the motor task and 48 The Effect of Eccentric Exercise-Induced Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness on Positioning Sense and Shooting Percentage in Wheelchair Basketball Players hours after class.

There is no escape from this, but progress follows pain and stiffness. The body quickly adapts Eccentric Exercise Testing and Training N94-28363 to eccentric training, increasing strength and ability to withstand stress without injury or pain.

How often to do eccentric training

Since hard eccentric workouts cause muscle soreness and limit strength and range of motion for up to seven days, it doesn't make sense to do them more than once a week with Eccentric Resistance Exercise for Health and Fitness, or you simply won't have time to recover.

The day after your eccentric workout, do light exercises with an emphasis on the concentric phase. This will speed up Light concentric exercise during recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage recovery.

If you are not going to do heavy eccentric workouts, you can do two or three exercises with an emphasis on the eccentric phase in each workout.