Eccentric exercise
CHANGE YOUR TRAINING
Put down that weight! Slowly. Because you’re going to get stronger by doing that than you will by picking it up. Find out more about how eccentric training can boost your performance
Words: Rachel Ifans
When we move, we contract our muscles. During the contraction, the muscles either shorten, lengthen or stay the same. When they lengthen, it’s called an eccentric contraction and that’s the movement we’re focussing on in this feature.
If it already sounds a bit confusing to the hobbyist runner to whom Biology GSCE is confined to the dusty annals of the past, don’t worry. We spoke to Tony Kay, professor of biomechanics from the University of Northampton and he had a simple way of explaining it. He says: “A good way to think of it is that if you’re moving down, it’s an eccentric contraction and if you’re moving up, it’s concentric.”
Let’s consider squats as they’re easy to visualise: on the way down, you’re working eccentrically, using your muscles to prevent you collapsing into the ground. You then shorten the muscle in a concentric contraction to pull back up.
Tony says the same rule of thumb can be used when it comes to running. “Running up a hill is a predominantly concentric exercise,” he says. “Because when you plant your foot on the ground, you have to drive yourself to move your body up the hill, contracting your quadriceps, calf muscles and glutes to move your body forward and up.
“If you run back down the hill, exactly the same muscles will be working but this time they will be lengthening in order to put the brakes on. This is eccentric contraction.”
But why is eccentric training a good thing to be doing? If you’re in the gym doing some strength and conditioning work, it’s likely you’re concentrating more on the weight you can lift rather than the load you can lower, but this is a mistake. Tony explains: “I won’t get into the Molecular Physiology of it but we are actually about 1.3 to 1.6 times stronger when the muscle lengthens – during eccentric contractions.