For years we have been told the best way to get fitter and stronger is to lift something heavy, whether that’s a barbell or our own bodyweight. What if how we put it down was just as important?
W
e all love a power move, such as running, jumping, throwing balls, swinging kettlebells or scaling walls. In comparison, deliberate, controlled movement can seem a bit boring. But this slower side of exercise is frequently safer and less physically demanding than its more showy rival. And according to the latest research, one form of it is more effective than it has traditionally been given credit for.
“Eccentric exercise training provides numerous benefits for physical fitness and overall health, making it suitable for a wide range of individuals,” Prof Kazunori Nosaka writes in a new paper published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science. It “offers unique advantages over concentric or isometric exercise, particularly in promoting neuromuscular adaptations”.
Eccentric? Concentric? To explain this in slightly friendlier terms, any movement you make with your body involves one or more sort of muscle contraction: concentric (shortening), isometric (generating force to stay in one place, as you’d do in a plank), or eccentric (lengthening). Practically speaking, it’s usually safe to think of what sports scientists call the eccentric phase of a movement as “the lowering bit”. In a press-up or squat, it’s the part where your body’s descending towards the floor; in an overhead press, it’s the part where you’re lowering the weights from the top of the move. Typically, this means that eccentrics feel a bit less sexy than concentrics, but increasingly, it seems they’re an excellent option for almost everyone.
