How to Get Strong and Healthy With Slow Eccentric Training

Slow reps can make for fast gains.

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Whether we’ve taught ourselves how to lift weights, or worse yet, hired a personal trainer that didn’t care enough to educate us on the fine details; an often overlooked component of strength training is learning how to truly master every centimetre of an exercise before adding progressively heavier weight.

This leads to a house being built on a shaky foundation, and it’s not a matter of if, but how long until you begin to see cracks in that foundation by way of injury.

That’s why taking a step back, slowing things down and making sure your foundation of strength is truly rock solid will keep you healthy and ensure that you’re not leaving any gains on the table.

Slowing down the eccentric component of every exercise you do is a very effective way to do that.

“What’s an eccentric?”

There are three phases involved with lifting a weight:

• The eccentric (lowering) phase.
• The isometric (pausing) phase.
• The concentric (lifting) phase.

For example, in the case of a biceps curl; while you’re lowering the weight towards the ground, you’re performing the eccentric component of the lift. As you begin to lift the weight up back towards your body, you’re performing the concentric component. Taking a pause anywhere in between would be an isometric component.

Most people that don’t know better will rush through the eccentric portion of the lift — taking 1 second or even less to lower the weight back down — in an attempt to “get it over with” and move onto their next set. That’s a big mistake for a variety of reasons; you’re neglecting to stress the muscle optimally, you’re leaving strength gains on the table, and you’re putting the brunt of the work on the joints. It’s just not the best use of your valuable time and energy.

Why you‘ll benefit from slowing down the eccentric:

There are three key reasons why anyone could benefit from performing a 3 to 5 second eccentric on any given exercise — whether you’re still in your first 1 to 2…