Eccentric training—the controlled lowering phase of a movement—is one of the most underappreciated tools in a strength athlete’s arsenal. While the concentric phase (lifting the weight) often steals the spotlight, the eccentric phase plays a crucial role in building strength, promoting hypertrophy, enhancing tendon health, and even preventing injuries.
This article dives into the science of eccentric training, its benefits, and how it can be applied across different training levels. Whether you're a beginner, intermediate, or advanced athlete, eccentric tempos can be tailored to maximize your progress and resilience.
What Is Eccentric Training?
Eccentric training refers to emphasizing the portion of a lift where the muscle lengthens under tension—for instance, lowering the barbell during a bench press or descending into a squat. It requires more force to control the lengthening of a muscle than to contract it, making the eccentric phase a powerful tool for adaptation.
Research shows that the eccentric phase can generate up to 1.3 times more force than the concentric phase, creating greater mechanical stress on muscles and connective tissues. This stress is a key driver of hypertrophy, strength, and connective tissue adaptations, making eccentric training invaluable in any strength program.
Key Benefits of Eccentric Training
Hypertrophy (Muscle Growth):
Eccentric training increases time under tension (TUT), a critical factor for hypertrophy. By emphasizing slow and controlled eccentric phases, you maximize the mechanical and metabolic stress that triggers muscle growth.
Strength Development:
Eccentric contractions recruit high-threshold motor units, which are essential for developing maximal strength. Overloaded eccentric training (lowering more weight than your concentric max) is particularly effective at breaking through plateaus.
Injury Prevention:
Controlled eccentric movements build resilience in tendons and ligaments by improving their capacity to absorb force. This makes them especially useful for athletes in high-impact sports or those recovering from injury.
Tendon and Ligament Health:
Eccentric loading stimulates collagen synthesis in connective tissues, enhancing their stiffness and elasticity. This leads to stronger tendons that are better equipped to handle heavy loads and prevent overuse injuries.
Neuromuscular Coordination:
The deliberate control required during eccentric training improves motor control and reinforces proper movement patterns, especially in beginners.
Why Eccentric Training Matters for All Athletes
The effectiveness of eccentric training isn’t limited to elite lifters or bodybuilders. Athletes at all levels can benefit from tailored applications of eccentric tempos. Let’s break it down by training level.
Beginner Athletes (Less than 6 Months of Structured Training)
Purpose: Build foundational strength, motor control, and safe movement patterns. empo Recommendations: 3-5 seconds on the eccentric phase (e.g., 4010 or 3010).
Intensity: Light to moderate loads (50-65% of 1RM).
Focus Areas: Developing neuromuscular coordination, reinforcing proper technique, and building tendon resilience.
Example:
Back Squat @ 4010 for 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps.
Bench Press @ 4010 for 3 sets of 8-10 reps.
Rationale: Beginners lack the motor control and joint stability to handle heavy loads or advanced techniques. Slower tempos provide more time to master mechanics while creating enough tension to build strength and hypertrophy. Overloading is avoided to minimize the risk of injury or reinforcing bad habits.
Intermediate Athletes (6 Months to 2 Years of Structured Training)
Purpose: Maximize strength and hypertrophy adaptations, increase training volume, and introduce moderate overload.
Tempo Recommendations: 2-4 seconds on the eccentric phase (e.g., 3010 or 2011).
Intensity: Moderate to heavy loads (65-80% of 1RM).
Focus Areas: Optimizing hypertrophy and strength, introducing pauses at key positions, and progressively increasing load.
Example:
Romanian Deadlift @ 3010 for 4 sets of 6-8 reps.
Bench Press with Pause @ 3010 for 4 sets of 6-8 reps.
Rationale: Intermediate athletes have a solid foundation of movement patterns and can handle more challenging tempos and higher loads. Eccentric training helps them push past plateaus by increasing tension and activating high-threshold motor units.
Advanced Athletes (2 to 5+ Years of Structured Training)
Purpose: Overload specific weaknesses, enhance maximal strength, and refine movement efficiency.
Tempo Recommendations: 1-3 seconds on the eccentric phase (e.g., 3010 or 2010).
Intensity: High to very high loads (85-120% of 1RM) with methods like overloaded eccentrics or cluster sets.
Focus Areas: Breaking plateaus, targeting weak points, and improving force absorption.
Example:
Overloaded Eccentric Squat @ 2010 for 3-4 sets of 3-5 reps (using 105-120% of 1RM with spotters or safety bars).
Paused Bench Press @ 2010 for 4 sets of 3-5 reps
Rationale: Advanced athletes require highly specific stimuli to continue progressing. Overloaded eccentrics help recruit motor units not normally activated during traditional lifts, while shorter tempos maintain explosive strength.
Integrating Eccentric Training into Programming
Eccentric training should be carefully programmed to align with your goals and training phase. Here’s how.
Training for Hypertrophy
Load: Moderate (65-75% of 1RM).
Tempo: Extended eccentric phases (e.g., 4010 or 3010).
Volume: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps per exercise.
Focus: Maximize time under tension to promote muscle growth.
Example: Dumbbell Bench Press @ 3010 for 4 sets of 10 reps.
Training for Strength
Load: Heavy (75-85% of 1RM).
Tempo: Moderate eccentric phases (e.g., 3010 or 2010).
Volume: 3-5 sets of 3-6 reps per exercise.
Focus: Enhance maximal force production and neural efficiency.
Example: Front Squat @ 3010 for 4 sets of 5 reps.
Injury Prevention and Tendon Health
Load: Light to moderate (50-65% of 1RM).
Tempo: Slow eccentrics (e.g., 5010 or 4010).
Volume: 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps per exercise.
Focus: Improve tendon stiffness and reduce overuse injuries.
Example: Nordic Hamstring Curl @ 4010 for 3 sets of 8 reps.
Common Misconceptions About Eccentric Training
Eccentric training is only for advanced lifters.”
False. Beginners can and should use eccentric training to improve movement mechanics and build resilience.
“Eccentric training is too time-consuming.”
While eccentric-focused reps take longer, they yield greater long-term adaptations, reducing the need for unnecessary volume.
“Eccentric training only builds muscle.”
It’s also a powerful tool for strength, injury prevention, and improving tendon and ligament health.
Practical Tips for Eccentric Training
Eccentric training is an incredibly effective tool, but it must be approached with intention and care to maximize its benefits while minimizing risks. Here are some in-depth practical tips to help you integrate it effectively into your training.
Start Slow
Eccentric training can cause significant delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), especially for those new to it or those increasing the eccentric load for the first time. This soreness results from the greater mechanical stress and muscle damage caused during the lengthening phase of a contraction. While DOMS is a normal part of the adaptation process, excessive soreness can interfere with your ability to train consistently and recover effectively.
How to Start:
Begin with controlled eccentric tempos (e.g., 3-5 seconds) using light to moderate loads (~50-65% of your 1RM). Perform 2-3 sets initially, even if your program calls for more, and gauge how your body feels in the following 48 hours before increasing volume or intensity.
Key Considerations:
If soreness becomes debilitating, it may hinder subsequent training sessions. To manage this, avoid overloading in your first few sessions, and include recovery strategies such as light aerobic work, foam rolling, and stretching to reduce stiffness.
Example: For someone new to eccentric training, perform 3 sets of 8 reps of squats @ 4010 with 50% of your 1RM. Monitor how your legs feel over the next 2-3 days and adjust accordingly.
Prioritize Form
Eccentric training demands precision. Poor form during the eccentric phase not only reduces its effectiveness but also increases the risk of injury. For example, letting the knees cave inward during an eccentric squat can strain ligaments and tendons, while losing scapular control during an eccentric pull-up can overload the shoulder joint.
How to Prioritize Form:
Keep movements slow and deliberate. Focus on maintaining control throughout the entire range of motion, avoiding “freefalling” during the eccentric phase. This is particularly important for exercises like squats, deadlifts, or presses where joint alignment is critical.
Key Considerations:
Consider recording your lifts or working with a coach to identify breakdowns in technique. Use cues like “spread the floor” for squats or “keep the chest tall” for pulling exercises to reinforce proper movement patterns.
Example: In an eccentric bench press @ 4010, lower the bar slowly with your elbows tracking evenly, ensuring the bar touches your chest with control rather than bouncing off it.
Incorporate Strategically
Eccentric training is best used as a focused component of your program rather than an all-encompassing strategy. Incorporating it strategically into specific phases of your training (such as off-season, hypertrophy, or when targeting plateaus) ensures you don’t overstress your body.
How to Incorporate:
In Hypertrophy Phases: Emphasize slow, controlled eccentrics (3-5 seconds) to maximize time under tension and stimulate muscle growth.
In Strength Phases: Shorter eccentrics (1-3 seconds) with heavier loads target force production and help break through sticking points.
In Off-Season: Use eccentric tempos to build tendon and ligament strength, reducing injury risk when volume and intensity ramp up later.
Key Considerations:
Avoid applying eccentric tempos to every exercise in your program simultaneously. Choose 1-2 key movements per session to focus on, as eccentric loading creates significant fatigue.
Example: During a hypertrophy phase, include eccentric Romanian deadlifts @ 4010 for 4 sets of 8 reps, while keeping other movements (e.g., squats or presses) at standard tempos to balance fatigue.
Progress Gradually
The adaptations from eccentric training are significant, but overloading too quickly can lead to setbacks like excessive soreness or injury. Gradual progression ensures sustained improvements in strength, hypertrophy, and resilience.
How to Progress:
Start with lighter loads and longer tempos (e.g., 3-5 seconds).
Gradually increase intensity by adding weight, shortening the tempo, or incorporating overloaded eccentrics (e.g., 105-120% of 1RM).
Monitor your body’s response and adjust accordingly.
Key Considerations:
Advanced techniques like overloaded eccentrics or drop sets should only be introduced once you’ve built a solid foundation of strength and tendon health. Beginners and intermediates should prioritize consistent form and controlled tempos before attempting higher intensities.
Example: Begin with eccentric pull-ups @ 5010 using assistance bands. Over time, reduce assistance and progress to bodyweight or weighted eccentrics.
At Dark Horse Athlete, we believe in training smarter, not always harder. Whether you're a beginner learning the basics or an advanced athlete breaking through plateaus, eccentric training can help you achieve your goals.
Our custom 1:1 online programming tailors every detail of your training plan to your unique needs. From programming eccentric tempos to optimizing recovery, we’ll ensure you get the most out of your efforts. CLICK HERE to apply today. Spots Are limited.
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