Bigger muscles? Download reps

RM Trainer  brings you another training tip that can be very interesting for anyone who wants to gain muscle mass.

It may seem contradictory, but according to Cardoso, C. in an article in Visão Saúde magazine, it is even possible to achieve good results in less time with this technique.

According to that article, new research from the Australian University of Edith has concluded that a specific type of muscle contraction, the eccentric, will be most effective at increasing the strength and size of your muscles.

The team that carried out the study divided the participants into three groups, tasked with doing a “bicep curl” twice a week. In addition to these three, a quarter, the control group, did not do any exercise.

The experience showed that those who lowered weights obtained the same result as those who lifted them, but with half the number of repetitions.

This conclusion, as highlighted by one of the authors of the study, Ken Nosaka, reinforces what previous research had already pointed out: that the focus of eccentric contractions is more relevant to increasing the size and strength of muscles than the amount of training.

Simply put, if you take a dumbbell and keep your arm raised at about 90 degrees, the muscle is doing an isometric contraction, with no movement. If you bring the dumbbell to shoulder height, we are already facing a concentric contraction. When lowering the weight again, with the stretching of the muscle, the contraction will already be eccentric.

One of the groups of participants only lowered the load, another raised it and the other alternated between the two forms of training. Everyone saw improvements in their concentric strength, but this was the only one for those who only increased weights. The members of the other two groups also improved their static and eccentric strength.

The most significant “detail”: the eccentric strength group was only doing half the repetitions the others did, and the gains in strength were similar.“We already knew that just one eccentric contraction a day can increase strength if performed five days a week – even if only for three seconds a day – but a concentric [lifting weight] or isometric contraction doesn’t have that effect,” explains Nosaka, adding that "this latest study shows that we can be much more efficient in terms of time spent training and still see significant results if we focus on eccentric muscle contractions.

"In case you are wondering how it is possible to lower a weight without lifting it first, Nosaka exemplifies: lifting a dumbbell with both hands but lowering it with only one. And this can apply to the biceps curl as well as other exercises, the overhead triceps extension or the shoulder press.

RM Trainer advises you, if you haven't already, to try putting more emphasis on the eccentric phase of the movements with less reps and see how you feel. Evaluate some time later and check your progress.

If you don't know the best way to do it, you can consult a Personal Trainer to help you.

“There are no right or wrong training methodologies, there are those you believe in or not.”