Exercise Progression - Tidbits

To all, I just passed another certification for my field that involves the foundations of human movement. Basically it was certification that involves knowing how human movement works and methodically utilizing the way muscles and joints work to get optimal benefits for an exercise program. I am sure it will only strengthen my knowledge helping you all.

I am going to make this a shorter post since some of you have asked me to post in smaller fashion. Not all of us have all the time in the world to read long posts. I will try my best for you - just realize that some topics really need a long winded explanation. I will do my best. Thank you for the comments/suggestions.

So rather then make this a two part post(this being the second half). I will make it it longer(more posts) in more digestible chunks.

Okay, you have been curling the same weight in your exercise routine forever and just cannot increase the weight. What can you do to pass this roadblock?

Well there are quite a few ways but lets just address one here first.

First some definitions you need to know:
1) Concentric movement - the action that causes the muscle to shorten during a given movement. Example: Bringing a curl up to your chest.
2) Eccentric movement - the action that causes the muscle to lengthen during a given movement. Bringing a curl back down to the start position.
3) Hypertrophy - increasing the muscle mass from its present state to a bigger more "pumped" up appearance.
4) Isometric movement - you stress the muscle but the muscle neither lengthens or shortens under your guidance. Example: Holding the weight in the starting position or in the return position.

Eccentric or negative resistance is an exercise technique that utilizes the way the body handles stress to a muscle.

When you do a concentric movement you do not get the full benefits of muscle fiber stimulation. Though we have all been taught that "lifting" the weight was the primary way of building muscles - me included, we have been taught wrong. You get the most hypertrophy from eccentric conditioning in your exercise routine.

So what does this mean to a simple exercise such as a bicep curl. Well, it means that you lower the weight slowly (sometimes more then you took to lift it).

Why is this beneficial? It is through eccentric motions that the body breaks down the most muscle to hypertrophy.

Here is the science behind it: When you do an eccentric movement you cause the most resistance within a muscle. You have to control the slowing down of the movement as well as control the weight through a muscle fatigued already. The latest research shows .... that eccentric motions cause micro tears of the connective tissue and possibly the muscle fibers themselves. This means that the greatest gains are achieved through eccentric movements. And here we were all taught the exact opposite. We concentrated on just getting that weight up and just kind of letting the weight fall back to the start position without really knowing. Right? I was a victim of this logic as well. Wrong - Wrong!

When you design your exercise programs include one day of eccentric work per week for most exercises. I would not do eccentric work every workout since you really want your muscles healed 100% after eccentric motions. Eccentric work really traumatizes the muscle and to get the most benefits you really want to rest those muscles. I also would say NEVER start doing eccentric work until you have done your exercise program for a month. Again, you want your muscles ready and prepared for a gut wrenching eccentric workout.

When doing your eccentric contraction (coming back to starting point) make sure it takes at least 6 seconds to be back at the starting point. There is alot of talk in the industry about how long that eccentric movement should last but I feel a 6 second movement gives you just enough to achieve the expected results. This is my personal opinion based on my knowledge. Experiment if you want to see what works for you. I would not go over 10 seconds though or you risk an isometric contraction that kills what you were trying to accomplish.

You may be saying to yourself then how long should I do the concentric and isometric contractions during my workout. It is generally accepted that a tempo of 4 seconds concentric movement followed by a 1 second isometric contraction(you bring the curl to your chest then hold 1 second) suits most general population participants. If you are not doing your eccentric movement workout you should return the weight to the starting point within 2 seconds.

After an eccentric workout you may experience alot more muscle soreness during the workout and up to 75 minutes after due to lactic acid buildup) or after 24-48 hours have passed(DOMS - Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). When you do eccentric movements you really are breaking down the muscle in a efficient fashion. And that efficiency comes at a price but with incredible gains in mass.

If you have questions on this please reach out to me - in fact I encourage anyone thinking about this type of workout to talk to me first. Eccentric workouts can be very rewarding but they are not for everyone. You really need to assess alot of areas to see if it is a good fit.


As always - I am available for personal training either in person (if in NJ) or over the web. My rates are $75.00 per hour for in-person training and $25.00 per hour for email personal training. If you feel you have stalled in your pursuit of fitness and need some expert knowledge to get you on track reach out to me.

Regards,

Eddie Camaroto CPT