When you think about lifting weights do you picture the eccentric contractions part or the concentric part? What’s the difference? Well, when the muscle shortens with the effort of pushing or pulling that’s concentric. But there’s another crucial part which is often underestimated. The lowering, eccentric phase. This is incredibly important for building strength, muscle and preventing injury. Read on as we break down exactly what eccentric contractions are and why you should be integrating them into your training.
Table Of Contents
What Exactly Are Eccentric Contractions?
Basically an eccentric contraction is when your muscle lengthens while under tension. Let’s use a bicep curl as an example. When you slowly lower the dumbbell and your arm straightens, your bicep is actively resisting gravity as it gets longer . This controlled, resisting movement is the eccentric phase. It’s the “negative” part of an exercise where the muscle is absorbing force rather than generating it to move a load upwards.
Why Eccentrics Are So Effective
Training with eccentric contractions is a powerful stimulus that causes specific adaptations in your body. This is important for anyone looking to optimise their fitness and get the most from their workouts. When you work with me as your personal trainer you’ll learn to master this technique for a host of benefits including:
Superior Muscle Growth (Hypertrophy)
This is one of the most compelling reasons to include eccentrics. When a muscle lengthens under tension, it creates more microscopic tears within the muscle fibres compared to normal lifting. This “good” muscle damage triggers a greater repair and rebuilding process known as adaptation. Your body responds by laying down new muscle, leading to an increases in muscle size(1). Instead of just benefitting from the lift part of the exercise you also benefit from the descent.
Strength And Power
Although eccentric contractions involve lowering, they build incredible strength that directly translates to your ability to lift more. By forcing muscles to resist heavy loads as they lengthen, you improve their capacity to generate maximal force. It teaches your muscles to control a heavy load on the way down so they become more resilient and powerful for the concentric phase on the way up.
Enhanced Injury Prevention And Rehabilitation
Many common athletic and everyday injuries occur during deceleration or impact, which is when eccentric forces are involved. Training your muscles eccentrically strengthens not only the muscle fibres themselves but also the surrounding tendons and ligaments, making them more resilient to sudden stresses. This targeted strengthening reduces the risk of strains, pulls and even more serious issues. For recovery, controlled eccentric contractions are a part of many rehabilitation plans(2). It helps tissues to heal stronger and more functionally.
Work With Heavier Loads (Supramaximal Potential)
Your muscles are capable of resisting significantly more weight eccentrically (20-50% and in some cases far more) than your maximum concentric lift. This physiological advantage means we can apply a unique, powerful stimulus to your muscles during the lowering phase that isn’t possible through concentric-only work. This can lead to breakthroughs in strength and adaptation that might otherwise be unattainable.
Improved Neuromuscular Control
Eccentric training refines the communication between your brain and your muscles. It teaches your nervous system to efficiently recruit muscle fibres and control movements with greater precision. This improves balance, stability and overall body awareness.
As you are using heavier weights than you would normally, a personal trainer is advised to guide you and keep the training safe.
How I Integrate Eccentric Contractions Into Your Training
As a personal trainer, I bring these highly effective methods directly to your home. We don’t just lift, we focus on controlling the entire movement to maximise results for you, whatever your current fitness level.
Controlled Tempo
For most exercises, we’ll implement a slower, deliberate lowering phase. Instead of letting gravity do the work, you’ll actively resist it, typically taking 3-5 seconds to complete the eccentric portion. This simple but profound change drastically increases the effectiveness of each repetition. For example, during a squat, you’ll take 3-4 seconds to slowly lower into the bottom position before driving back up at a normal pace. And when doing a dumbbell row, you’ll pull the weight up to your chest at a normal pace. Then, you’ll take 3-4 seconds to slowly lower the dumbbell back down to the starting position. This controlled descent targets the eccentric portion of the movement, which is crucial for building strength and size in your back muscles.
Targeted Resistance
Where appropriate and safe, we can focus solely on the eccentric portion of an exercise using a weight that might be too heavy for you to lift concentrically. This is particularly effective for building raw strength. In a home setting this means I might assist you on the way up (concentric), allowing you to fully focus on resisting the weight on the way down (eccentric). For example, with a dumbbell chest press I help you push the weights into position at the top, then you slowly and deliberately lower them back to your chest with complete control. This allows us to use a heavier weight for the lowering phase than you could lift on your own, maximising the eccentric load and muscle stimulus.
Bodyweight Eccentric Contractions
Even without heavy gym equipment, bodyweight exercises can be incredibly powerful for eccentric training. Think of slow step-downs from a sturdy surface, diamond push ups that work the triceps, or controlled lunges that emphasise the lowering phase.
A Personal Trainer At Home To Optimise Your Results
As you personal trainer my role is to provide intelligent, results-driven coaching directly to you in your home. By integrating proven concepts, of which eccentric contractions are just one example, we ensure every session is not just effective, but maximises your body’s natural capacity for growth, strength and resilience. You’ll gain both the knowledge and practical application to achieve truly transformative results, right where you’re most comfortable.
Book A Mobile Personal Trainer
If you would like to book a personal training session in the York area please contact me on 07713 250352 or email david@massageinyork.co.uk. For more information on booking click here