Eccentric Training Technique

Eccentric training is a powerful burnout technique that can help you push your limits. Utilizing heavy negatives in your workout routine will allow you to gain significant strength over time. Eccentric training is designed to focus on the lengthening phase of any activity, making it ideal for developing strength.

Assuming you are one of them, most weight lifters have occasionally added an eccentric accent to a workout, perhaps by adding an extra negative rep to their final set of bench presses or barbell curls.

This excellent method adds a little more burnout to the set; they are typically thrown in as an afterthought. An excellent approach to utilizing these tough repetitions as a finisher is to do so, but most individuals are unaware of how to do it regularly.

I’m here to inform you that using them in your overall eccentric training schedule may quickly acquire some significant strength. We will apply eccentric training to all major compound lifts for 2 weeks at a time to profit from it.

What is the Eccentric Emphasis?

There are three primary kinds of muscular contractions. Most people think of the concentric kind of contraction when it comes to strength as the “way up,” which is generally the muscle’s shortest length during a movement. When you incorporate “pause reps” on the bench or squat, you are doing an isometric contraction, which happens at a fixed position and is the transition between the concentric and eccentric portions of the movement.

The form of muscular activation known as an eccentric contraction happens as the muscle lengthens and resists a bigger strain. This commonly happens when the movement is being lowered.

Let’s look at two exercises for illustration: the biceps curl to demonstrate the sort of muscular contraction in a single joint and the box jumps to show how various contractions apply to a dynamic, complex exercise.

The biceps muscle group works concentrically when performing a barbell curl exercise, meaning the muscles shorten as you curl the weight up. When your biceps are completely flexed, and the angle at your inner elbow is at its narrowest, this is when the isometric contraction happens. It will stretch the biceps as you lower the weight beneath control to the start position, followed by an eccentric contraction.

The curl bar would fall back with gravity without the eccentric contraction or a feeble one. This is a typical blunder I encountered in the gym. Lifters cannot curl a substantial weight to the top and then merely let it fall, thus defeating the potential benefits of eccentric contraction.

The quadriceps lengthen eccentrically as you descend into a squat before launching into a box jump to prepare for the jump. During an isometric contraction, your body pauses and then changes directions to start the jump. Consider this part of the exercise when the muscles are tense, and the body is “filling up.”

Your quads will then contract concentrically as you rise off the ground. What’s crucial to know about eccentric training in sports performance is that as you land on the box, your body is stabilized, and the eccentric contraction of your quadriceps slows your momentum.

A weak eccentric contraction will not allow you to “stick the landing” and will open you up to knee injuries as you get out of position and try to compensate.

Why Train with an Eccentric Emphasis?

Now that you know about the many forms of muscular contraction, why is it so critical or beneficial to emphasize the eccentric component with heavy negatives?

According to research, this part of the movement is when the muscle experiences the smallest tears. The body then repairs damage and builds new muscle fibers to support the damaged ones, thus increasing strength.

 From a sports performance perspective, a robust eccentric contraction allows you to rapidly slow your movement and alter directions, which is critical for any sport involving running and jumping.

The Eccentric Workout

It’s time to get into programming and discover all the excitement, so let’s get to the fun part. This program entails 5 different days where you focus on a specific area.

Eccentrics emphasis reps are significantly more stressful on your body and nervous system so you will experience increased levels of soreness throughout the first week. I advise completing this program as prescribed for two weeks and then continuing the program without negative reps for another two weeks.

Never do negatives on the large compound exercises (squat, front squat, chest press) without a spotter. Between them, they should use 80 and 85 percent of your maximum weight on the negatives, so you could require help climbing back up. You’ll be shocked at how quickly your strength improves and the extra stability you’ll experience in your lower body during typical reps.

Program Overview

• Weeks 1-2: As directed, complete all the negative reps.
• Weeks 3-4: Without the negatives, complete the task.
• Week 5: Add the negatives back in

Weekly Workout Overview

• Monday: Legs, Back, and Biceps
• Tuesday: Chest, Triceps
• Wednesday: Off
• Thursday: Shoulders
• Friday: Legs, Back
• Saturday: Body weight
• Sunday: Off

Monday

Monday’s routine includes back, legs, and biceps exercises, front squats, pull-ups, rowing motions, curls, and reverse hyperextension. This deviates from the traditional “Monday is chest day” sentiment, but starting the week with a more strenuous workout helps me stay energized and focused.

It’s vital to remember that while I believe deadlifts to be an essential exercise in this workout, I don’t recommend using eccentric emphasis because of the danger of injury. During a deadlift, it’s pretty challenging to detect someone performing “heavy negatives.” You can’t do this with a front squat.

For the eccentric training part of the action, perform a 6-second negative.

Tuesday

Tuesday is dedicated to pushing exercises, which is your chest and triceps day, with hard negatives on the DB bench and a close grip bench scheduled. As you perform the triceps superset, go as heavy as possible for 5 reps. On the last round, you may need to lighten the weight a little bit so you can perform 5 reps plus an additional 3 negatives on each station.

The eccentric part of the action should be subjected to a 6-second negative.

Lower the weight and complete 5 repetitions + 3 negatives on each exercise during the fourth round of the triceps superset (4a–4c).

Wednesday

It’s a rest day! It’s time to relax and refuel.

Thursday

Thursday is the day of the week that I work out my shoulders. Shrugs and DB presses are your bulky, powerful moves. Like the triceps superset from Tuesday, you want to go as heavy as possible for 5 reps during the shoulder superset. However, you will need to reduce the weight somewhat on the last round to complete 5 reps plus an additional 3 negatives on each station.

Reduce the negative to 6 seconds on the eccentric portion of the movement.

Lower the weight for the fourth round of the Shoulder Superset (2a-2c), performing 5 repetitions plus 3 negatives in each exercise.

Friday

On Fridays, we work on leg and back muscles, focusing on back squats and split squats.

For the eccentric portion of the movement, resist the weight for 6 seconds.

Saturday

Saturday is a day to do bodyweight exercises focusing on the pectorals, triceps, and core. Do the first exercise until you can’t do any more reps, then move on to the next one and repeat this process until you reach 100 reps. One 6-second negative is performed on the last rep of each set. After completing 100 repetitions of the current exercise, it is time to move on to another one.

Increase the number of sets until you’ve completed 100 total reps before proceeding to the next exercise. Perform a 6-second negative on the final rep of each set.