Benefits & Risks Of Eccentric Training

Hello Ziddis! Have you heard about eccentric training? I guess most of you might not have come across this concept. Its something like resistance training for your muscles. It has multiple benefits in store for you if you are looking forward to building muscles.

What Is Eccentric Training?

Simplifying the mechanism of eccentric training, when muscle resists force it stretches. Eccentric training helps you pump your muscles based on these same principles. When you do movements that involve lowering motion, be it lowering dumbbells during a bicep curl, getting up from a squat position or even walking downhill, there is resistance by your body in carrying forward this motion. This is called eccentric motion. It helps muscle control that force leading to them stretching.

Eccentric Resistance Training

Eccentric resistance training or ERT takes the movements one notch up by adding an outer resistance to an already resistant activity. Assume that you are lifting weights that are heavier than your usual sets. When you lower them in a slow movement, your muscles experience a downward pull but the response of the muscle is quite opposite where it resists this pull. Instead of jerking the weight off your hands, you end up feeling the tension build up in your arms. This method is commonly used by athletes and physiotherapists to improve performance, reduce the risk of injury and help in healing from any injury.

In place of a dumbbell or weight you could use a resistance band or if you workout from home then a heavy bottle of water could do the trick too.

How Does Eccentric Training Help with Muscle Strength and Rehabilitation

Eccentric training has many benefits in muscle strengthening and rehabilitation. Like:

• It leads to activating more muscle fibre
• It helps improve strength
• It helps maintain muscle hypertrophy wherein your muscles would look pumped for a longer time.
• It helps in recovering from injuries faster
• Using eccentric movement to help in conditions like tendinopathy could help improve tendon strength
• It builds more resilience
• It improves your muscles’ ability to be flexible, especially under load.

Risks of Eccentric Training

Its not come with its own set of risks, such as:

• Higher risk of damaging your muscles if micro-tears are not given enough time to recover
• Severe soreness or DOMS
• Excessive weight or improper form can increase the risk of muscle strain
• Longer recovery period in case of injury.

Read Also: Pilates v/s weight training: Which one is for you?

Benefits of Eccentric Training

There are loads of benefits too to eccentric training, such as:

• More strength gain
• Better output
• Increase in muscle mass
• Greater hypertrophy
• Help strengthen joints and tendons
• Improves athletic performances
• Improves speed, agility and power.
• Helps to recover from injury faster
• It can help in weight loss because of muscle gain

Takeaway

Eccentric training is a powerful tool for building strength and muscle if used correctly. Overdoing any exercise could be harmful and injurious While it come with its set of cons, for a healthy person its pros would definitely outweigh. Understand eccentric exercises better before hopping onto this new regime and make sure you are trained professionally for this routine. But while you are starting this routine make sure to add more protein to your diet like paneer, chicken, fish or protein supplements like oats protein to make the most of this routine. 

Sources:
https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness/eccentric-training

https://www.menshealth.com/uk/building-muscle/a44702696/eccentric-training