Comments by "" (@MeanBeanComedy) on "Striking Garbage Workers Were Replaced by Prisoners in New Orleans" video.
-
@justinm2697 Yeah, bud. The way it works is you overload the muscle by using weight you can't lift alone, then getting a spotter to get it up and lowering it yourself as slowly as possible. You're stronger on the eccentric portion of the lift (the extending of the muscle as it lengthens, i.e. the lowering portion) than you are on the concentric portion (the contracting of the muscle as it shortens, i.e. the raising portion) by about 10-20%, I think.
So say you can normally bench press 200lbs (not bad! Above average--good for you!) If you have a spotter you can trust, you can tap into more strength on the eccentric (and concentric too, via "Residual Force Enhancement") by loading up the bar with, say, 215 lbs and having some significant help on the concentric portion of the lift with NO help on the eccentric movement while you lower it as slowly as possible. Since it works the muscle fibers differently, it allows you to break up the monotony of your usual workouts as far as your muscle fibers are concerned, and it also allows you to tap into an entirely "new" way of breaking down the muscle so you can build it back stronger! I can't recommend it enough. (Also, just as an addendum, if you don't trust your spotter enough to help you lift weight you normally can't, you can always have him press down on the bar as you're lowering your usual weight, so you get the same amount of increased force on the negative portion of the movement!)
Exercises this works well on would be bench press (preferably barbell, but dumbbells work too), shoulder press, pulldowns, pullups (especially for the ladies!), French presses (you might know them as skullcrushers!), barbell curls, tricep pressdowns, leg presses, leg curls, leg extensions, (etc.)
Exercises this does NOT work well with would be squats, deadlifts, snatches, cleans and jerks, (etc.)
Hope that answered your question and gave you a fun new challenging idea for your next workout and an invaluable technique to utilize the next time you hit the gym! (Whenever they actually open again!)
Sauces:
Here's a good paper explaining the mechanics and physiology of how and why eccentric action is stronger and different than concentric: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095254618300462
And here's a bloke talking about implementing these techniques into training and results you can expect: https://medium.com/@SandCResearch/do-eccentric-and-concentric-training-produce-different-types-of-muscle-growth-ec66197b0f5c
8
-
7
-
5
-
4
-
4
-
3
-
3
-
2
-
2