• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

  • Fitness
  • Workouts
    • Best Shoulder Workouts
    • Best Chest Workouts
    • Best Leg Workouts
    • Best Leg Exercises
    • Best Biceps Exercises
    • Best Kettlebell Exercises
    • Best Back Workouts
    • Best HIIT Workouts
    • Best Triceps Exercises
    • Best Arm Workouts
  • Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Pre-Workouts
      • Best Whey Protein
    • Equipment
      • Best Home Gym Machines
    • Certifications
      • ISSA Review
  • News
  • Exercise Guides
    • Legs
      • Back Squat
      • Bulgarian Split Squat
      • Goblet Squat
      • Zercher Squat
      • Standing Calf Raise
      • Hack Squat
    • Chest
      • Bench Press
      • Dumbbell Bench Press
      • Close-Grip Bench Press
      • Incline Bench Press
    • Shoulders
      • Overhead Dumbbell Press
      • Lateral Raise
    • Arms
      • Chin-Up
      • Weighted Pull-Up
      • Triceps Pushdown
    • Back
      • Deadlift
      • Trap Bar Deadlift
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Inverted Row
      • Bent-Over Barbell Row
      • Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
      • Pendlay Row
Fitness

Use Eccentric Training to Improve Max Lifts, Says New Study

The eccentric portion of your lifts might be underloaded and holding you back.

Doug Dupont

Written by Doug Dupont Last updated on October 24, 2014

Many lifters acknowledge that eccentric muscle actions may have a greater potential to elicit gains in strength and size. In a recent Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research study, researchers provided some advice to help us design good eccentric lifting programs.

What the research says:

  • Eccentric one-rep-max (1RM) on the bench press was about 50lb heavier on average than the concentric version.
  • At 90% 1RM, subjects could do 3-7 reps on the concentric portion of the bench press, but could do 4–11 reps on the eccentric portion.

The differences between eccentric and concentric actions go beyond the usual explanation of lengthening and shortening of muscles under load. It’s important to know the differences that occur at the filament level during concentric contractions, normal muscle lengthening, and eccentric contractions.

Concentric Muscle Contraction

The muscle is shortened and your body moves the external resistance. A concentric contraction is performed by myosin and actin filaments. The myosin filaments do the heavy lifting, so to speak, by chemically attaching to the actin filaments and then pulling them. This moves the actin filaments and the rest of that region of muscle into a shortened position. At that point, the myosin chemically detaches from the actin, elongates, and starts the process over again.

Normal Muscle Lengthening

Normal lengthening with no load is a gentle process that requires energy to perform. Much like the contraction above, unloaded muscle lengthening requires energy to unbind the myosin from the actin so that the muscle can lengthen smoothly. In fact, the lack of availability of energy to release these bonds is what causes rigor mortis after a person dies.

Eccentric Muscle Contraction

Most people think of the eccentric action process as being like the muscle lengthening described above, but it is not. In an eccentric action the muscle lengthens, but because it is resisting a load, the myosin still binds chemically with the actin. Instead of chemically releasing the crossbridge, or the point of contact between the two, the fibers are mechanically separated. That is to say, they are forcefully ripped apart.

For these reasons, eccentric actions cause more muscle damage and usually more soreness than concentric actions. They may also result in greater strength and size gains, due the increased stimulus. However, the researchers in the Journal study noted that most of the research done on the capabilities of muscles in exercise were done on either concentric-only actions or the standard concentric and eccentric muscle action.

RELATED: 6 Powerful Benefits of Eccentric Training

Study Design

Thirty men were tested for their one-rep-max (1RM) on the bench press, both concentric-only and eccentric-only. Using those maxes, the subjects performed the most reps (again, either concentrically or eccentrically) at 60%, 70%, 80%, and 90% of each action’s respective max.

Results

The eccentric 1RM on the bench press was about 50lb heavier on average than the concentric version. At 90% 1RM, subjects could do 3-7 reps on the concentric portion of the bench press, but could do 4–11 reps on the eccentric portion. Keep in mind, the 4–11 reps was with 90% of the already heavier eccentric max. With the other intensities, the subjects performed roughly the same number of reps on the eccentric and concentric actions.

Based on these results, the researchers concluded:

These data indicate that eccentric muscle actions yield increased force capabilities (~120%) as compared to concentric muscle actions in the bench press and may be less prone to fatigue, especially at higher intensities. These differences suggest a need to develop unique strategies for training eccentrically.

Because normal gym training involves moving a weight eccentrically and concentrically in the same rep, the eccentric portion of the lift is often underloaded. The researchers suggested a portion of the strength and conditioning program be focused on properly loaded eccentric-only actions in order to achieve the greatest results.

References:

1. Stephen Kelly, et. al., “Comparison of Concentric and Eccentric Bench Press Repetitions to Failure,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 2014, DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000713

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Doug Dupont

About Doug Dupont

Having grown up at the foot of a forest covered mountain in rural Vermont, Doug was active from a very young age. Hiking, running, and climbing were a part of everyday life in the Green Mountains. This culture of exercise led to dabbling in martial arts as a teen, and also getting work in a local powerlifting focused gym. Doug continued to pursue knowledge and training in exercise, becoming a certified personal trainer while still a teenager. Once in college he began his hand at the business side of fitness, taking a management position at a large local gym. During that time he became a founding member of the UVM Brazilian Jiu Jitsu club, and was the first among their competition team. After only a few months he was assisting in coaching, and ran conditioning program for the club.

Out of college Doug set up his own training center. He grew his list of clientele including several professional MMA athletes, eventually going so far as to corner a world title fight. He has continued ­­­to develop his business into today.

View All Articles

Recommended Articles

sm10003955742914189082453481868733n|rows
5 Row Variations for Development of Back Muscles
maxgedgestrengthcoach
Conditioning for Strength Athletes
periodizationexamples2
Practical Applications for Periodization Theory
pulloverexercise
Band Pullovers – The Torso Builder

Primary Sidebar

Latest Articles

Iain Valliere Believes the 212 Division Should No Longer Exist in Bodybuilding

Ryan Terry Diagrams His Ambitious 1,874-Calorie Mass-Building Protein Shake

Andrew Jacked’s Trainer Thinks His “Best” Will Come at 2023 Arnold Classic

Bodybuilder Logan Franklin “Cried For 3 Days” After Withdrawing From 2022 Olympia, Outlines 2023 Return

Latest Reviews

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

Best Whey Proteins for Packing on Muscle, Shredding Down, Meal Replacement, and More

Best Pre-Workouts for Building Muscle, Running, Taste, and More

Best Home Gym Machines

Best Home Gym Machines

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

  • Reviews
  • Healthy Eating
  • Workouts
  • Fitness
  • News

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

© 2023 · Breaking Muscle · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Affiliate Disclaimer · Accessibility · About