Standard strength training involves putting tension on a muscle so that the muscle shortens as it contracts. That’s called concentric exercise. For example, when doing a bicep curl, you hold a weight and slowly flex your arm and then quickly return to the starting position.
But what if you did it the opposite way-curled quickly and then slowly extended your arm? Trainers, physical therapists and researchers are finding that such “eccentric” exercise may have special benefits.
Most people focus only on concentric exercise when they do strength training. But consider that most sports have a natural eccentric component, which works the muscle harder than the concentric component and is what contributes to delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS.
Eccentric strength can also improve exercise technique. When performing strength training exercises that contain a stretch-shortening cycle such as the squat and the bench press, technique is critical.
If you’re looking to improve your results in the gym, focusing on eccentric training for a period may yield significant benefits!
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6 сен 2024