Flourish Health & Wellbeing eMag - Nov21 - Flipbook - Page 34
fit
When it comes to strength
training, increasing the weight
you lift is the most obvious way
to challenge yourself. But it’s not
the only way! The tempo you
apply to the exercise works too!
Welcome to eccentric strength
training.
Ok, let’s start with some basic
physiology (I promise I’ll keep it
short!) Our muscles perform
three different types of actions:
Concentric
A concentric muscle action is a
contraction or shortening. If you
think of a bicep curl, it’s the
raising action.
Isometric
An isometric action involves your
muscles working while in a still
position. Think of performing a
bicep curl, stopping at the
halfway point and holding that
position for 10 seconds.
Eccentric
An eccentric action is when your
muscles lengthen while they are
under load. It’s like a braking
force that directly opposes the
shortening of a muscle. If we
keep with the bicep curl
example, it’s the lowering phase
of the exercise.
So eccentric training is basically
any type of training that
emphasises the eccentric phase
of a movement / exercise.
Chris Rabba
