Other/Mixed Eccentric v concentric

[ali]

Help, confused.com

For strength, focus on the eccentric. Ah but real gains are had in the concentric phase. Actually focus on the concentric, the eccentric doesn't really matter much unless you want explosive strength, so focus on the eccentric and just forget about the concentric for explosive strength. Oh you want endurance? slow on the eccentric then, slower concentric. Oh hypertrophy, sorry, my mistake, slow on eccentric, fast concentric but then go fast on eccentric but slow on the concentric.......and on and on. And fibres? What about targeting fibres: fast twitch, fast eccentric , slow concentric......no, no, no, it's slow eccentric, fast concentric. Ah but research says.........

Sure I'm not the only one who gets befuddled by various points of view? So is there ANY validity in focus on eccentric or concentric....OR is it more to do with recruitment of muscle fibre type than stage of the movement? Why I like the simple grading in kbs, ballistics: fast, grinds: not fast. And do the movement. And for doing any movement, slow and controlled means potentially quality speed and power expression. Kind of easier model, probably not complete of course but easier to understand without having a PhD in physiology.

Interested to hear views.

 

[Antti]

I prefer to train all kinds. No matter how fast I go up or down, there must be 100% control.

 

[ClaudeR]

to me it comes down to the Strong First motto... be strong first!
to get strong you lift heavy weights, once the weights get heavy enough these things tend to take care of themselves!

 

[Snowman]

I like the simple grading in kbs, ballistics: fast, grinds: not fast

I'm with you! A simple way I've heard it explained is that eccentric movement causes more muscle damage, which induces hypertrophy, and you then get the kinds of strength benefits that are associated with hypertrophy.They both train the neural aspect of strength, but the concentric phase doesn't damage the muscles nearly as much, so you get less soreness and less hypertrophy. Two examples that I can think of of are 1) Many S&C coaches love sleds and prowlers (which have no eccentric loading) because the guys can work hard but there's very little chance of injury or soreness during the next day's practice, and 2) Barry Ross would have his sprinters drop their deadlifts instead of lower them, in order to reduce the risk of injury and ensure that they maintained a lower body weight.

It seems like there's benefits all around, and for an everyday schmuck like me, I just need to move heavy weights. Somewhere on the Youtubes there's a video of Pavel advising people not to get stuck in the comfortable "cruising speed" for their lifts. Do the grinds a little slower than is comfortable, and the ballistics a little quicker.

 

[Stan Kansiewicz]

IMO, focus on moving the weight in the right(for you) pattern. Then you can focus on going slower... or going faster. sloppy is sloppy and sloppy slow is just as bad as sloppy fast.

 

[ali]

Thanks all for your opinions. Seems the way is not to get too bogged down by stuff and just get on and do the movements. This question was brought on after I listened to a podcast and got my head in a spin and I frequently hear and read conflicting info. All very interesting of course but maybe too nuanced an argument if strength with good movement patterns is the primary focus. As always, very appreciated.

 

[JeffC]

I prefer to train all kinds. No matter how fast I go up or down, there must be 100% control.

+1
Control is key. Anyone can load the hell out of an exercise, use poor technique, and get no benefits from it.