Eccentric Contractions for Positive Muscle Growth

If you’re looking to gain strength and have muscle growth quickly after an injury, negative training is one of the best ways to accomplish it at a faster pace. It is also a great way to break through a plateau in your training or increase the effectiveness of your workout.
What Is A Negative Training Or A Negative Rep?
Eccentric contraction, or more commonly known as negative training, involves loading a weight in only the down or muscle-lengthening phase during muscle growth. Concentric muscle action occurs when the muscle contracts (shortens), such as when you raise the bar during a bicep curl. Eccentric muscle action happens when the muscle contracts (lengthens) in a controlled manner. Microtrauma takes place during the eccentric phase; this muscle fiber damage forces the muscles to adapt, building bigger muscles and increasing your strength.
How Do You Incorporate Negative Reps In Your Workout?
The first thing to note is that you only need to do fewer negative reps than you would do positive ones for muscle growth. You can simply add two to three negative reps to the end of a normal set to get a better result from your workout.
Also remember that you need to go through the range of motion slowly. Take at least five to six seconds to complete each rep, and work the entire motion all the way through. Focus on your form to allow your muscle to work effectively during the entire negative rep. Your body can safely lower more weight than it can lift.
When you plan your negative reps, start with a weight that’s 5% heavier than you normally would and slowly work your way up to 40% more than you can normally lift. Three sets of negative reps per muscle group is enough for that target area in one day. Do not push yourself too much as you will breaking your muscle down too much. This makes it difficult for your body to recover and build strength optimally.
Actively Fight Gravity In Each Rep
Don’t just lower the weight as you would in a normal rep. Push (or pull, depending on the exercise) as hard as possible against the weight. Fighting the weight optimises your results. If you don’t feel sore the next day, you probably weren’t fighting the weight.
Related and Popular Articles
- Snapping Ankle - Physiotherapy
- Labour Epidural Cause Chronic Backache?
- The Best Exercises for Trochanteric Bursitis
- Posterior Pelvic Pain (Sacroiliac Joint Pain) in Pregnant Women
- How do I know if I have scoliosis?
- Diastasis Recti Abdominis - Conditions
- Cobb Angle and Scoliosis
- Maybe it isn't Plantar Fasciitis but Heel Fat Pad Syndrome
- What to do when your back hurts so much that you can't get out of bed?
- Multifidus - Smallest Yet Most Powerful Muscle
- Nerve Stretches
- Shoulder Pain - Frequently Asked Questions
- 'Clunking' Shoulders - Part I
- Waking up with neck pain? Find the right pillow.
- Not All Pain In the Back Is Back Pain - It Could Be Rib Pain
- MCL strain not getting better? Because it is Pes Ancerinus Tendinitis.
- Slipped Disc in Singapore - What to Do and Avoid
- Better to break a bone than to tear a ligament or tendon
- Knee Joint & Ankle Pain - Specialist Treatment in Singapore
- Acromion Clavicle Joint - Another source of shoulder pain
- Sway Back No More
- Knock Knees - Can I reverse it? (Part 1)
- Sway back posture: A leading poor posture type causing back pain
- Posterior Capsule stretches