Eccentric vs. Concentric Training: Which is Better?
Key Takeaways
- Eccentric muscle contractions happen when the muscle lengthens. This happens when you lower the dumbbell when performing a biceps curl.
- Concentric muscle contractions happen when the muscle shortens. Using the same example, the concentric movement is during the upward phase of a biceps curl.
- Concentric moves have been known to help build speed and improve muscle mass and strength. Use these movements to push harder in the bench press, explode up in squats, and provide improved straightening in deadlifts.
- Sometimes, eccentric movements improve muscle mass faster and reduce fat-free mass. Eccentric training can also improve insulin resistance and prevent muscle wasting in elderly and chronically sick patients.
When you think of concentric vs eccentric, what comes to mind? Maybe a concentric vs eccentric reducer? Or how about concentric vs eccentric circles?
Today, we wonāt be talking about pipe systems, geometry or astronomy. However, we will discuss the difference between eccentric vs concentric training and exercises.
Whether you realize it or not, youāre doing concentric and eccentric moves daily. This is not just limited to your time in the gym. Going about your day-to-day life means you are performing concentric and eccentric moves frequently.
Bodybuilders, including those in the Golden Era, used these types of contractions to improve their strength and muscle mass. Knowing what they are and how they can benefit you may help you improve and overcome plateaus.
Not sure what the difference is between the two? Well, youāre going to learn all about it right now.
- The difference between the contractions
- Which is best for muscle growth
- What to choose if you have a limitation or an injury
- Which is best to lose weight
- The best movements to build power
- How to put them together for a quick and challenging workout
Isometric vs Concentric vs Eccentric
When it comes to muscle contractions, there are three different types. Here are the differences between them:
- Isometric: The muscle contracts but does not lengthen or shorten. A great example of an isometric contraction is holding a plank. While your body remains stationary, your muscles are still using energy and contracting to hold you up.
- Concentric: The muscle contracts and shortens, moving against the force of gravity. To visualize this contraction, imagine that youāre holding a dumbbell and completing a biceps curl. As you raise the dumbbell, your bicep shortens, creating a concentric contraction.
- Eccentric: The muscle contracts and lengthens, moving with the force of gravity. Use the same biceps curl visual from before. When completing the downward phase of the dumbbell curl, your bicep lengthens to lower the weight.
When it comes to comparing them in resistance training, letās look at the stress on the muscle:
- Isometric = the least amount of stress
- Concentric = the middle ground of muscle stress
- Eccentric = the most amount of stress
Stressing a muscle is the same as holding a muscle under tension. By doing this during a workout routine, your muscles are able to get bigger faster. That can mean spending less time working out for the same result.
Concentric vs Eccentric for Muscle Hypertrophy
When growing your muscle mass to improve your gains, which do you think will produce the best results? Is it the concentric movement or the eccentric movement of an exercise?
You just learned that the eccentric movement is the greatest muscle stressor. Most training programs will have you move the slowest through the eccentric vs concentric of any exercise.
Spending the most amount of time in the eccentric phase will work the muscle the hardest. This will cause the muscle fibers to tear the most, which will then require them to repair. The muscle will expand as they repair, creating muscle hypertrophy.
Exercise Examples
So, if youāre looking to get muscle gains at a faster pace, consider doing more eccentric exercises. Here are some examples of eccentric contraction:
- Split squat (upward motion)
- Push up (upward motion)
- Glute bridge (downward motion)
- Dumbbell curl (downward motion)
- Step down (downward motion)
- Romanian deadlift (using kettlebell, downward motion)
These are just a few to give you an idea of what to include in your eccentric movements.
The key to improving your functional strength faster is to slow down the tempo during the eccentric phase.
Challenge yourself to complete the eccentric movement three to six times slower than the concentric to improve hypertrophy. This is called the eccentric tempo. The more time your muscle is under tension, the greater the muscle growth.
However, donāt focus just on the eccentric movement all the time. Concentric motions will still help build muscle mass, just not as fast. And if you use one consistently more than the other, you may end up with an injury.
Concentric vs Eccentric for Limitations or Injury
It almost never fails: you get into a great rhythm at the gym and then something happens. Whether or not itās workout related, youāre now dealing with an injury or other form of limitation. That doesnāt mean you canāt work out at all, but you have to limit what youāre doing until you heal.
When it comes to comparing eccentric vs concentric in this situation, which do you think would be better? If you think eccentric, then youād be right. Surprised by this? Well, letās see what the research says.
A randomized study on 120 people suffering from tennis elbow for three months or more was done. Half completed eccentric and half concentric exercises at their homes for 12 weeks. After two months, the eccentric group showed a 10% higher respondent rate of pain reduction, also noting an increase in muscle strength.
In this study, 24 older men in their 60s completed an eccentric training regimen for knee rehabilitation. The workload was increased regularly throughout the 12-week program with appropriate rest periods. In the end, they showed improved strength in the knee flexor muscles (quadriceps).
This study discussed the use of eccentric exercises in ACL injuries. The minimal load on the joints still allows for muscle strength and volume improvement, even with moderate weight loads.
When comparing eccentric lengthening to conventional exercises, eccentric may work better for hamstring injuries. This was the case for European football players who completed rehabilitation. They also progressed faster than those who did conventional exercises.
A 58-year-old male suffered from bilateral knee osteoarthritis in this study. He underwent a 12-week eccentric strengthening program as part of his rehabilitation. He was able to improve performance and peak knee extensor torque by 253% without increasing his pain.
Does that mean concentric exercises have no place in rehabilitation? Not necessarily. Letās review someoneās personal experience with concentric only training.
A Case for Concentric Only Training
Chris Duffin was recovering from major surgery and ready to get back into the gym. He had torn two heads on his left pec following a gymnastics accident (ouch!). His surgeon advised he would need at least 12 months to recover and not to expect reaching pre-surgery levels, ever.
However, this wasnāt satisfactory to Chris. As an athlete, he was ready to get back out there as soon as possible. He did his research and started a concentric only protocol just six months after his surgery.
He could perform high reps this way, which improved the blood flow throughout his body. It helped to quicken his recovery and allow him to regain his mobility faster. Just nine months after his surgery, he was once again competing.
In his competition, he was able to get a personal best on both the bench press and squat. His favorite movement? The sled face pull using the concentric movement only.
This move and similar concentric only moves can also improve stretching in the shoulder and scapular region. If you need to improve your bench press, consider the concentric move vs eccentric to help bust your plateau.
Other Benefits to Concentric vs Eccentric Exercises
Another benefit of concentric exercises? You wonāt have to worry about delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) like you do with eccentric movements.
Whatās DOMS? This is when muscle soreness doesnāt kick in until a day or two after you work out. Then it can take up to three days to go away without intervention. For athletes, this means hindering your training or throwing off your schedule when it matters most.
Reduce the risk of DOMS by gradually incorporating eccentric focused moves over a period of two weeks. Especially if youāre just getting into the season and getting serious about your training schedule.
Other reasons to focus on concentric exercises?
- Youāre a sprinter: If this is your sport, then you may want to focus on concentric movements. While eccentric movements can build strength faster, youāre also at greater risk of injury.
- Concentric movements wonāt allow muscle mass to build as fast, which is a good thing for sprinters. Youāll also improve your speed, which is exactly what you want to happen.
- If the squat jump is more your thing, the eccentric moves might be the way to go to improve your jump.
- When soreness canāt happen: As you just learned, DOMS is a real possibility with eccentric movements. If you canāt risk being sore, say for a competition, then just do the concentric portion of a movement.
- You might see this in preparing for a CrossFit or other competition. Rather than lower the barbell to the ground, the user will just drop it.
- Perfecting form: If youāre struggling to get the form of a move down, you may want to focus on just the sticking point. For many, this is the concentric part of the move.
- Working with a trainer to improve form usually means youāll perform just the concentric move.
Concentric vs Eccentric to Reduce Fat Mass
If youāre looking to reduce your body fat percentage, which movement do you think would provide better results?
Between eccentric and concentric, eccentric training would provide better results. Studies have been done on overweight and obese individuals with promising results.
The journal Frontiers in Physiology did a study that included 13 obese teens. They all completed three 30-minute cycle-ergometer sessions weekly for 12 weeks. Half the group did eccentric training while the other completed concentric training.
At the end of the study, both groups showed a similar whole-body fat loss. The eccentric group showed significant improvement in quad strength and lean muscle mass. The same group also saw a significant reduction in insulin resistance vs the concentric group.
The ability to increase and prolong post-exercise resting energy expenditure is also a plus for eccentric training. REE is responsible for sending satellite cells to the muscle fibers to help them rebuild after exercise. The increase aids muscle repair and recovers to create muscle hypertrophy.
Sarcomere & Connective Tissue
Another reason for improved strength and mass during eccentric exercise is because of the effects on sarcomere and connective tissue.
The ability to handle a greater muscle load during eccentric movements also benefits more than just the overweight. The elderly and even cancer patients with limited strength and energy can benefit from eccentric muscle movements.
Low cardiopulmonary demand and metabolic strain are more reasons why eccentric is preferred vs concentric. Eccentric exercises have also been shown to potentially create higher cognitive demand in motor tasks than concentric movements.
For the obese, elderly, and others with chronic conditions that cause muscle wasting, eccentric exercises may help.
Concentric vs Eccentric for Power
As you may have already guessed while reading this article, concentric wins when building power. Have you ever had this happen and wonder how it works?
Youāre in the gym, watching a bodybuilder, weightlifter, and powerlifter do their thing. Physically, the bodybuilder might have bigger muscles than the weightlifter and powerlifter. By just looking at them, you believe the bodybuilder will be able to lift heavier.
However, youāre surprised to see the powerlifter will easily be able to outlift both of them. But how, when theyāve got a smaller physique and overall muscle definition?
It all comes down to the concentric movement. Many powerlifters focus only on the concentric phase. Have you watched a competition where they do the lift and then just drop the weight to the ground? They donāt even bother with the eccentric movement, they just let gravity take over.
Bodybuilders, on the other hand, focus more on the eccentric movements. They tend to increase the time under tension to build their muscles faster. This is another reason why powerlifters tend to have high volume, low reps, and bodybuilders the opposite.
Building Power
While eccentric movements will increase your muscle mass, concentric will help you build power. This is important for athletes and people who lift weights in competitions. Concentric movements will help improve:
- Jumping
- Sprinting
- Lifting
- Pushing
- Pulling
If youāre having trouble with a sticking point for one of these motions, focus on the concentric movement. Youāll also get the benefit of improved speed, which can give you the edge if youāre a sprinter or athlete.
Putting It All Together
Do you want an exercise routine that uses all three types of movements to get a killer workout? Weāve put together one that will help you achieve just that.
First, start out with isometric exercises. Isometric training is also called static strength training because you are tensing the muscles rather than moving them.
Try three to five of these exercises and complete them for a total of 30 seconds. You can take a break or two if needed if you canāt do 30 seconds all at once.
Choose at least three of the following:
- Wall sit
- Plank
- Side dip
- Handlock stretch
- Shoulder blade stretch
- Standing calf stretch
- Wrist stretch
Adding in the stretches will also get you ready to perform some of the next exercises.
Now, weāre going to do some lifts that will have to perform the concentric phase as you normally would. Once you hit the eccentric phase, youāll want to slow down your tempo. Count out three to five seconds as you slowly lower the weight down to complete the eccentric movement.
5 Exercises
Choose three to five of these. Do at least three sets and do five to ten reps per set. If rest is needed, limit it to 30 ā 45 seconds between sets.
- Dumbbell curl
- Weighted squat (your choice on variation)
- Walking lunges (weight optional)
- Pull-ups
- Triceps extensions
- Glute bridges (can do weighted)
- Step ups
As always, make sure that your form is perfect for each of these workouts.
If you canāt get through the pull-ups, keep practicing normally until you can. The slower tempo focusing on the eccentric movement will really make your muscles fire.
Thatās it! This can be a pretty quick workout that will still provide a great muscle burn. Make sure to get plenty of rest and recovery afterward.
The Bottom Line
While it seems the eccentric movement has more benefit, you canāt rule out concentric movements. After all, theyāre responsible for the ability to carry and hold, essential to daily living for many.
If you want to get the ultimate benefit from your workout, make sure to incorporate all three muscle movements. That means getting in enough isometric, concentric, and eccentric exercises with each workout.
Certain injuries and limitations may mean itās better to focus on eccentric moves for some time. And if youāre looking to reduce fat mass, you may want to spend more time there as well. However, if you want to improve your bench, jump or squat speed, concentric wins vs eccentric.
If you need some help with recovery and getting enough rest for muscle repair, try Vintage Blissā¢. It helps your nerves unwind so you can fall asleep faster and uninterrupted, and enjoy better sleep overall. Plus, itās not habit-forming so you can use it as often as you need.
What are your thoughts on the battle between eccentric vs concentric exercises? Do you agree that they both play different roles in a workout routine? What is your favorite exercise for each movement (if you have one? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.