Get Big Fast with Eccentric Training
Eccentric Training is one of the most effective methods to get big and much stronger fast.
Eccentrics, also called “Negatives”, are the lowering portion of the lift.
Let’s take the Bench Press for example:
You press the weight to top position, or “arm’s length”, that’s the concentric, or “positive” part.
When you then lower the barbell to your chest, this is the eccentric part of the repetition.
The gym is one place where it can pay to “focus on the negative” … reps, that is! 
Being eccentric can pay off big time ... at least in the weights-room! 
Eccentric Training is generally not necessary –and maybe shouldn’t even be used– before you have some 3+ years of good training under your belt.
But as we all know there’s exceptions to most rules, as well as this one!
Say you’re a beginner who understands the value of proper chin-ups, but can’t even do one yet?
Eccentric body weight repetitions can be the answer.
Or maybe you’ve done some years of pro training and are a little stuck, on a “plateau”, as they say?
Here really heavy, loaded eccentric reps will propel you onwards and upwards! (or rather downwards in this case! )
For Advanced Eccentrics on Chins, you want to be "Well Hung"! 
But before I go into how it’s all done, let’s take a quick look at why eccentric training will boost your strength and hypertrophy (muscle growth/mass) levels, and in record time:
Some sources claim that you’re as much as 160% stronger eccentrically than concentrically, whilst some others say in a trained athlete, it can be as much as 175%!
That means that if you bench 200 pounds, you should be able to lower up to 350 in a controlled manner.
“Controlled Manner” meaning to lower the weight smoothly for 6-8 seconds!
Now that is important, because I guess anybody could “lower” a ton of weight with warp-speed, leaving a hole in the floor!
A safety tip in this regard: if you plan to do eccentric reps with a heavy weight, say 6 second-reps each for some 5-6 reps, and by for example the 3rd repetition you cannot slow the weight down sufficiently, then you stop the set right there.
Otherwise it’s just waaaay too dangerous!
OK, back to eccentric strength. So this means a lifter can use much heavier loads than usual, switching on quite different motor-units than normally.
All that translates into new strength and muscle mass gains.
But enough of the fancy talk, here’s a protocol for the beginner, followed by a more advanced one, for those on a strength/mass plateau.
BEGINNER:
Say you can’t do a single chin up? Easy. Climb into the top-position (with a well-established grip), chin well over the bar. Now lower yourself controlledly over 30 seconds! That’s one set. So by 10 seconds you should be a third down, 15 seconds at half-point, 20s. two thirds of the way, and arms fully extended by 30 seconds.
If you don’t get in 30 full seconds yet; don’t worry! Just do what you can, like 20s. or whatever, and work your way up to 30s. from workout to workout. Once there, you’re not far from your very first full rep!
INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED:
Strap some serious weight around your waist, climb up there, and lower for some 6-8 seconds, repeat for 3-5 reps and multiple sets. This will build your upper back and biceps like nobody’s business!
| Important Safety Considerations: Beginners shouldn’t really do eccentrics with heavy weights. It’s really not necessary and you’re body is not prepared for these loads … injury might take place! Regarding injury: Eccentrics are definitely for compound moves only. Make sure you can control the weight over the prescribed tempo (like 8 or even 20 to 30 seconds). Eccentrics require a long recovery time. You should warm up extra well! |
Eccentric Exercises you can safely and effectively do on your own:
I used this technique for example when I was stuck on the bench, with the help of two training partners, one each side of the bar. They lifted it, I lowered it. That works well, IF you got two guys who don’t mind doing an extra workout just to help you out! It’s hard work for them, hauling that bar up how many times per set …
So here are some things you can do by yourself, caution provided.
- Chins and Pull-Ups
- Dips (like the chins with weights strapped around the waist)
- Shoulder Press (Push-Press the weight up, then lower under control)
- Squats (only in a power rack with safety pins)
- Bench Press (only in a power rack with safety pins)
- Deadlifts (From a half rack, from blocks or in a power rack)
Either way you’ll need to get that weight back up there, so it’s a lot of extra work.
BUT, if you’re stuck it’s definitely worth it as eccentric training will no doubt make you big and strong WAY fast!
Good Luck in your training dudes, and why not lemme know in comments how it goes and if you got any questions, just don’t hesitate to ask?
Mark
17 Comments
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Thanks for great article Mark !
one question before i go testing this.
For more advanced:Do 3-5 reps on tempo 6-8 sek in eccentric part. and multiple sets. what about the rest between sets ?
Emil
Hey Emil thanks man!
Rest is complete, so say you don’t alternate body parts (like for instance Chin-Ups with Presses), so if you do Chin-Ups only, you’d take AT LEAST 3 minutes rest between sets.
If you alternate, you might take 2 minutes, like for example:
Chins, 2 minutes rest, Bench, 2 minutes rest, back to chins, repeat, etc.
Sound good?
Mark
Sounds good Mark.
Hey could you check out Nick question again, especially his last word
Hey Emil, did you mean the Deadlifts? Yeah they’re OK, if you’re healthy in the back …
I strongly agree with going Big w/ eccentric training!! I love to use negatives to overload on a heavy weight that is my 1RM or greater than. What are your thoughts on doing negatives for deadlifts?
Hey Nick thanks for the comment man!
Yeah absolutely, Eccentrics are great for fast gains for sure.
When working with athletes we limit exposure to about 4 x per year though, as to not overdo it and as to have enough room for all the other important stuff we need to do to improve their performance!
But heck yeah, negatives are the business!
Thanks dude!
Mark
Hey Nick,
yeah definitely, no reason not to if your back –especially the lower back– is stable and healthy. Like I said in the post, a half rack or power rack, or some blocks/boxes would be necessary …
Mark
Nice article. I have been a big fan of eccentrics since I came across the work of Arthur Jones. Like you say, the safety element is important, I know a lot of guys are looking for the ego boost of moving heavier weight, but what matters is to do it properly like you say.
Michael
Hey Michael!
Thanks for the comment man.
Yeah for sure, extra important here. Like using a 100 kg for eccentric biceps curls? I don’t think so …
There’s tons of other really effective and much safer ways to improve small muscle groups in isolation movements, like for example my Best Bicep Workout here:
http://www.tsmethod.com/blog/the-best-bicep-workout/
Thanks Dude!
Mark
What a true words about eccentrics training! You sure do know your stuff!
Elite !
Hey Thanks Oscar!
Muchos Appreciatos!
Mark
Hi Mark
I have read all the information you have posted about negative training. I am currently student of exercise science and have been asked to do research on negative training(advantages and disadvantages of negative training). I was hoping u could assist me in pointing out the disadvantages of negative training besides the longer lasting effect of DOMS and the injury factor. Also,who would u advise to use negative training,and who would be advise against using it? If u could please briefly answer these questiöns,i would be very gratefull:)
Hey Prags,
thanks for the question!:-)
Really that’s basically all: it can get you sore for up to 2 weeks+ in the worst case scenario, the recovery can possibly take even longer…
So this is not something you want to do anywhere near any kind of a competition/event, maybe even discontinue some 3 months before a major one like the Olympics.
One little known factor about this is that it increases the strength deficit, which is good at the beginning of a program, and not towards the end/close to the season for example.
So you’d do it at the beginning, increase the deficit, then work on closing the gap. maintaining eccentric strength levels of course, and getting concentric strength as close a s possible to the eccentric ones.
Elite level athletes sometimes have a strength deficit that is really small, just before the event when they’re peaking.
Who should do it? Advanced athletes, some say not before 3 years of pro training. Before that you don’t really need it. I personally used it a little earlier and it worked well for me, thing is that if you know what you’re doing you don’t need to pack out these super power tools before it’s necessary… Why use eccentric training if you can have as good results with some standard protocol?
So around 3 years plus, and not too close to any important events.
Another one is body builders that have hit a plateau and nothing else will budge it… but careful! The more advanced, the higher the injury risk, so please never ever even think about eccentrics for things like biceps curls or skull crushers, that’s one of he best ways to really hurt your joints and maybe even tear a muscle!!!
Hope that helps man!
Mark
Thanks so much for getting back to me Mark:).All the information you gave me was insightfull. I might be back on ur blog for assistance with my other assignment questions.haha.kidding. Not only did your info help me with my assignment,but im thinking of incorporating negative training into my workout as well,and although i am female,i do want quite alot of muscle definition,so im ready to try anything training wise:)
Anyways,thanks again for all ur help!
Whoops, heehee!
Sorry!
Couldn’t tell from your name…
No please keep ‘em coming, no problem, it’s fun for me!
Yeah eccentrics are one of the most effective training methods for improving both strength and lean mass fast.
But, you know it: easy does it, there’s a high injury risk and it’s best to restrict this kind of stuff to 3-4 x per year.
Looking forward to hearing from you again Prags!
Mark
No worries about my name,its not a common name at all:)
Thanks for the offer of helping out,hope u dont regret it.lol. But with exercise science,its not as easy as it seems,so i gladly take any help i get. Also i love to get as much ideas to incorporate into my own training to make it fun and see results at the end of the day,so im always keeping an eye on articles about new research/new innovations. And i appreciate that established people like yourself are willing to advise the general public:)
I have joined your facebook page,(which i hope is urs,haha).its just more convenient to post a question,etc,compared to visiting this blog.
Thanks once again:)
Alright, cool…
Sure thing, anytime!
And thanks for the comment!
Talk soon,
Mark