Strength Training out, Eccentric Exercise In

By Jim Rollince of Gym Source, a vendor of home fitness equipment, including bikes, arc trainers, treadmills, ellipticals and more!

For most gym dwellers, it is believed that strength training is the ultimate way to “get in shape.” However, recent studies have show that a decent amount of eccentric exercise may provide serious benefits.

If you aren’t already familiar with eccentric exercises, they consist of lengthening the muscles. Leg extensions are a fine example of this type of exercise. The more popular concentric exercises consist of things like curling, whereas your contracting muscles to lift something.

A study that will appear in the January issue of the journal of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, there will be significant evidence that supports the theory of eccentric exercise as more beneficial. In this study, twenty women were randomly doled out various exercise groups that performed either concentric or eccentric movements once a week, for eight weeks. Congruently, each exercise group was tasked to perform leg extensions (targeting the quadriceps). The results were quite shocking!

According to the researchers conducting the study, the eccentric group displayed the following:

Increased muscle strength and performance
Decrease insulin resistance
Improved blood lipid profiles

In fact, each category of improvement was significantly higher than that of the concentric group of exercisers. But it didn’t end there, they found that after two months the eccentric group’s resting energy expenditure (calories burned) increased 5 percent – Very similar to what’s normally seen during an immense bout of endurance training.

Not only does this provide beneficial for gym junkies and those looking to stay in shape, but it also gives athletes and intramural players a competitive advantage. Keeping up with seasonal sports like soccer and basketball can be extremely tough during the off-season, and this is a great way to smoothly kick it back into gear.

Accordingly, these doctors and examiners came to the conclusion that entertaining these ‘bouts’ of eccentric exercise each week may certainly gain better results than that of traditional concentric practices.