The Eccentric Training Paradigm and Concentric Training
Context
I have to be honest, I never really liked the idea of a slow negative or making the emphasis of my movements. How well you lower yourself does indicate your level of control over a movement. Someone who can lower themselves into the bottom of a pistol squat and can only manage a 10 to 15-second descent will be weaker than one who can take their sweet time and be at the halfway marker at 25 seconds while showing no visible signs of straining. The eccentric also allows one to load up on energy on the way down kind of like a rubber band’s elastic energy and transfer this energy into the concentric(the rising). In addition to this, depending on how you exercise the eccentric is almost impossible to avoid.
However, the eccentric will contribute to DOMS or Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness as well as fatigue much greater than other forms of contraction like concentric or isometric. DOMS is caused by the damage brought about to a muscle and when a muscle is damaged it needs repair. If you eat well, sleep well, and rest well this repair can take a few days. If you have a pretty chill job this doesn’t matter. But if your life depends on it then…
Deployment Story
During my time in the military, I was once stationed over in the middle east. It was a pretty chill gig given that I was a Communications Officer or POG(Person Other than a Grunt) and at one time we went outside the wire and were led around by the local forces on what could be described as a, “Battle sites tour.” If you have ever been on one you will know what I’m talking about. You’re on what was previously a battlefield at one point and a tour guide leads you around and explains the battles to you. But, instead of being separated from the event by decades, or centuries, what occurred happened a few years prior.
Several of the places we went to were on the tops of very large hills some of which had steps leading up to them. That morning I had done a pretty high volume of pistol squats(2 seconds down/2 seconds up) and boy that was a bad idea. Had I known what places we were visiting I would have lowered the reps. A great number of bases out there have these small gyms centered around connex boxes. Training, when you have nothing else to do is pretty enticing. But, if something were to pop off you have to be ready to move, and if you were sore to some degree because you took too long on the eccentric portions of the lift then your performance will be hindered. But this goes for anything, Manual Labor Jobs, Police Officers firefighters.
We like to train but what if the way we train hinders what we can do from day to day?
About a week ago
I had it in my mind the other week to just play around and do nothing but concentrics in addition to my overcoming isometric exercise. I would perform pistols squats but start from the bottom, one-armed push-ups with a wall assist from the bottom, diamond handstand push-ups but from the bottom, and boy was that wonderful. I also tried to go somewhat slow as well. The metabolic exhaustion, the feeling of lactic acid that comes with multiple down and up reps occurred in mere seconds on slow concentric-only reps. The plus is that I was not as soar afterward and had plenty of energy/pep-in-my-step to do other things throughout the day.
It caused me to think, where does all the emphasis on the eccentric come from?
Ancient Warriors
I haven’t found anything in ancient history yet that points to this focus.
Me - *Builds a time machine*
Also Me - “Hey bro make sure to focus on the eccentric for all your training”
Ancient Warrior -
Whether it was chasing down the enemy, striking with your sword, striking with your spear or holding the line…
The battle was either moving forward or holding in place. Concentric and Isometric.
Old School
I haven’t found anything in Physical Culture yet that points to this focus. Surely they would lift something or themselves and lower it under control but never a strong emphasis. In fact you would find the opposite in some cases.
“Concentration and vigor should be put on this upward pull while you should lower yourself in natural, relaxed way. I have seen athletes perform the exercise of chinning the bar and have noticed how slowly they have lowered themselves, seeming to pay special attention to the flexed state of their arms while lowering the body. If they paid more attention to pulling their bodies upward, much better results could be accomplished. ” (Earle Liederman, Muscle Building)
Studies
Some studies have shown that eccentric-emphasized training only has a small advantage over concentric in terms of hypertrophy. But, throw in the fact that greater recovery time will be needed I would think that that would level the playing field.
While others suggest the difference is not as great unless referring to muscle length.
In terms of strength, greater peak contraction can be attained with lighter loads. “This fact has to be taken into account when training efficiency is evaluated, namely, in sports requiring the production of maximal force in a short time.”
“Compared with an initial isometric contraction at short (11.9 ± 2.4 Hz) or long (11.7 ± 2.2 Hz) muscle length, discharge rate increased only slightly and stayed nearly constant throughout the lengthening contraction (12.6 ± 2.0 Hz; P < 0.05) whereas it augmented progressively and more substantially during the shortening contraction, reaching 14.5 ± 2.5 Hz (P < 0.001) at the end of the movement.”
Application
I’ll explore this concept at a later date as right now I”m exploring muscle growth via overcoming isometrics. But when I’m done what it will look like are movements where instead of emphasizing/slowing down the lowering phase I’m gonna do the opposite.
Then I’ll throw in some overcoming isometrics here and there.
The intent is a workout that can provide me strength, coordination, and muscle growth with little damage to my muscle tissue hence less recovery.
Wrap Up
Is there a study out there that may contradict this?
Research studies can be a hot mess sometimes. Heck, some scientists doubt the accuracy of a large majority of this stuff anyways. At the end of the day I use history, studies, and my own experience as a guide on the path toward better fitness.
Thank you for making it to the end and if you have any questions let me know.
Until next time…
