By: Kimberly Wolf-King, PT, DPT

Think about the activities you do every day – getting up and out of bed, lowering yourself to sit, grabbing a dish from the cabinet and putting it gently down onto the counter. All of these tasks require you to work against gravity, meaning they are all eccentric.

What Is Eccentric Movement?

Eccentric movement is when the muscle is lengthening under tension. It’s a controlled movement against gravity.

Let’s take our quads in isolation. The quads extend the knee and flex the hip. If you are sitting in your chair right now, and you extend your leg in front of you, you are squeezing your quad muscle. That contraction is concentric – shortening the muscle. If you then slowly move your foot back down to the ground, instead of just collapsing the leg and letting the muscle relax, that is eccentric movement. You are resisting gravity as the knee is going into flexion.

What Makes an Exercise Eccentric?

Whatever way gravity wants to pull you, you are resisting that. Let’s stick with your quads and look at how to make squats eccentric.

As you are lowering down into a squat, gravity wants your knees and your hips to collapse onto the floor. You control the motion by lowering yourself slowly, lengthening the quad muscle. Then, you dynamically explode up into the concentric portion of the exercise, shortening and squeezing your quads at the top.

A pullup, on the other hand, seems opposite to squatting. You begin with the concentric movement – pulling yourself up. The muscles are shortening, and you’re lifting. The eccentric part is, instead of collapsing back down to the floor, you lower yourself down slowly. Gravity wants to pull you down, but you are resisting that gravitational force.

Benefits of Eccentric Exercise

Eccentric exercise is one of the number one ways to help prevent injury.

1) You Can Decelerate Efficiently.
When participating in a sport or an activity that is continuous motion – running, playing in a soccer game, dancing, boxing – we have to control those motions. There’s a speed up point, and there’s a slow-down point. For example, when throwing a baseball, if the pitcher did not have eccentric control of his shoulder and opposite leg, his whole body would just keep moving toward the mound. That energy force has to be absorbed somewhere. The eccentric part of our movement is what helps us decelerate.
2) You Can Prepare for Load.
With that deceleration, eccentric movement allows us to load in preparation for the next movement. If you are running and you are preparing to cut really quick to change directions, everything loads eccentrically in the cut. It slows us down so now our body can change directions, and it makes everything more efficient.
3) Eccentric Exercise Decreases Inflammation.
Eccentric exercise also helps decrease inflammation. While performing exercises eccentrically, your body sends signals to your brain to produce certain anti-inflammatory chemicals. This aids in your overall performance and recovery.
4) You Can Gain Strength.
It also helps increase the strength of the musculotendinous junctions. Our muscles are connected to our bones via a tendon. Eccentric exercises, especially if done correctly and at the right angle, will strengthen that area. In turn, movement is more efficient and risk of injury is decreased.

Even when we are not exercising, our daily tasks are eccentric in nature. It is great to think about eccentric movement in the gym since there is an inherent focus on concentric movement (like bicep curls). We need to train how our body functions. Gravity is never going away. We can’t do anything without an eccentric movement, so why don’t we train the way that we function?

For more information about eccentric exercise, check out Kimberly Wolf-King’s, PT, DPT, contribution to 7 Best Eccentric Exercise Exercises To Add To Your Workout, According To Trainers in Women’s Health Magazine

If you are struggling with performance, or if you have any aches, pains, or an injury, schedule an appointment with a Spooner therapist today! We want to help you get stronger to move and feel your best.