One of the best parts of eccentric training from a coaching perspective is that it keeps the athlete safe and helps ensure they do the exercise correctly.
Remember the term eccentric typically means the “down” portion of an exercise. When slowing down this part of a movement to anywhere from 2 to 10+ seconds you will reap many benefits including injury prevention.
One of the easiest ways to have your training thrown off track is by getting hurt. In the long run the person with less injuries will outperform everyone else. Eccentric lifts force beginners and advanced lifters alike to do the exercise properly in a slow and controlled manner.
Feeling the Movement
We teach you to focus on where you feel the movement during the eccentric phase of any exercise. Going slow during this part of a movement allows you to concentrate on using the correct muscles. This not only ensures that you train the proper muscles, but keeps your other joints and muscles from compensating. Compensation like this usually occurs when the focus is simply on getting the weight up using any means necessary.
Without this compensation you are much less likely to get hurt. Think about the deadlift as an example. The primary way people get hurt deadlifting is by using their back instead of their legs. If they went much slower on the way down and focused on the feeling of the movement they would be able to adjust their technique to feel exertion in their the legs instead of their back.
Research is showing the importance of putting your mind into your muscle as well. A 2017 study1 showed that eccentric focused training increases neuromuscular control as opposed to concentrically focused methods. This also leads to further injury prevention.
Less Weight
Another way lifters often get hurt is simply by using too much weight. This can cause compensations as well that lead to injury. With a focus on slow eccentric lifting you do not need as much weight to reap the benefits. The lift can become more challenging simply by adding time under tension. This is extremely helpful to beginners as well who are just learning the movements.
If you struggle with performing movements correctly or just want to make sure you stay safe while lifting add eccentrics to any of your exercises today.
