Eccentric

When you contract a muscle so that it lengthens, as opposed to a concentric contraction where it shortens. An eccentric muscle contraction usually involves a weight moving downwards.

This is sometimes know as 'the negative', with a concentric contraction called 'the positive'.

Muscles are able to exert more force and use less metabolic energy when contracting eccentrically. Eccentric (or negative) focussed exercises, movements and training can therefore help you gain more strength and mass with less effort. The downside (of course there's always a downside) is that there are very few specifically eccentric exercises (where there is no or little load with the concentric movement). One way around this problem is to use both hands for the concentric movement and only one for the eccentric, or simply to use an assistant. Some examples are;

• bench press: have someone assist you with pushing the bar up and stop assisting when you slowly lower the bar
• pull ups: use a step to get into the up/top position and then slowly lower yourself into the down/bottom position without using it
• any barbell exercise: use two hands for the concentric movement but only one for the eccentric

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Last Updated: 2026-03-03