Negative Weight Training
Posted on May 8th, 2007 by garyPosted in Exercise
We all do eccentric movements every day. We walk down stairs, we sit down in chairs. These movements when done strategically can help build muscle mass. They can also add variety to your workout routine and help speed recovery from injuries.
Eccentric movement is the lowering of weight. A good way to understand is to take a look at a bicep curl. You are holding a weight in your hand with your arm straight by your side. You bend your elbow and flex the biceps while bringing the weight up toward your shoulder. Working against gravity you move the weight. This is the concentric portion of the rep, where you are exerting the most force to move the weight against resistance. It is sometimes referred to as the positive portion.
When you next lower the weight slowly back to the starting position this is the eccentric portion of the rep. This is where you resist the weight’s downward pull. This is sometime referred to as the negative portion. During this phase your muscle fibers are activated to resist the weight’s pull but the muscle lengthens and does not provide enough force to move the weight in the other direction.
Another way to explain eccentrics is to look at a movement like a jump. When you prepare to jump you squat down a bit which is an eccentric move that gathers stored elastic energy) before you leap up. Leaping is a concentric movement. This quick eccentric-concentric combo is known as the stretch-shortening cycle. Using the eccentric move of squatting makes you jump higher.
There are different theories as to what constitutes eccentric training. It can involve three things: lowering a weight more slowly than normal; lowering more weight than you can lift; and making the eccentric component of an exercise more difficult then the concentric movement.
By including eccentric movements to your training program you can enhance performance. Over an extended period of time, eccentric training can help increase your muscle mass and strengthen connective tissue like ligaments and tendons. Practicing the slow lowering of weights can teach people better exercise techniques. They learn to focus on moving through the full range of motion of each repetition in a controlled manner.
Eccentric training improves body control during day to day tasks that may be difficult for the injured or the elderly. Better body control is helpful for protecting your joints as muscle strengthens and motor control improves. Eccentric movements provide variety in your resistance program. Try mixing up eccentric movements to modify familiar exercises and challenge your muscles or change the intensity of a weight set.
Try negative chin ups. To go this, find a low bar or push a bench underneath the chin up bar at the gym. Grab the bar, stand or jump so that your head is above it and your feet are off the floor. Hold steady. That is your start position. Slowly, as slowly as you can, lower yourself down. Focus on lowering yourself with an increasing amount of control. Once you can do five slow, controlled negatives you can probably do a full chin up. Sometimes negative reps can prepare you to do a positive rep on your own.
Go back to that squat jump. During the concentric jump portion your knees, hips and ankle extensor muscles work against gravity and exert much force as possible to push upward. During the eccentric pre-jump your lower body muscles resist the downward pull of gravity. The eccentric portion also maximizes the available power of the muscles during the concentric phase that follows.
Another eccentric move to try is clapping pushups. Start like a regular pushup. Your body should be straight and rigid, your palms on the floor. Lower your body under control, and then rebound upward. Push yourself up as high enough so you can quickly clap your hands together underneath your chest before your palms hit the floor. This exercise helps improve punching, pressing and throwing power.
Eccentrics are often included as part of physical therapy. A well designed eccentric training program can result in a more rapid recovery from injuries. It can also be part of an injury-prevention routine.
An eccentric exercise used as part of rehab programs is heel lowering. It strengthens the Achilles tendon. Stand with the balls of your feet on a stair step and let your heels hang off the edge. Use the uninjured leg to push upward so that you are on the toes of both feet. Then shift your weight over to your injured leg and slower lower your heel down as far as you can stretch it.
While eccentric training can be helpful, you should use it with care. It can result in intense cases of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Eccentric training should be gradually added into your workout program. If you have a medical condition, talk to your doctor before you try eccentric training.
Eccentrics can be a part of a complete fitness program. During the eccentric portion of the rep, you must resist and slow the weight’s pull so your muscle can move more weight. Combine eccentrics with a variety of other strength building tactics and you will turn negative energy into positive fitness results.
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