Insight | The lowering phase counts: why eccentric strength deserves its own training

The Short Version

The lowering half of a movement, the eccentric phase, is the part most people let gravity do for them, and three very different conversations make the case that it deserves deliberate training. On The Mel Robbins Podcast, researcher Tracey reports a study in which a single slow, three-second lowering contraction a day increased muscle strength, and Mel Robbins tries it live by hovering an inch above her chair [1]. Track coach Stuart McMillan tells Andrew Huberman that eccentric force capacity, not concentric, is what separated elite from sub-elite athletes in his testing, and that it is also what ordinary people lose most with age, which is why he prescribes skipping and striding [2]. Strength coach Pavel Tsatsouline offers a safer way to train heavy eccentrics with a spotter, and places them alongside concentric-only and isometric work as distinct tools for distinct goals [3]. The sources differ on how much the lifting half still matters, but each treats the lowering half as a tool in its own right [1][2][3].

What They Said

Tracey and Mel Robbins: three seconds of lowering a day

The first source is the most minimal. Tracey, who leads the research behind Mel Robbins's podcast, courses, Audible productions and books, introduces a study she calls "Less Gym Time, Same Results," from researchers at Edith Cowan University in Australia working with teams in Japan and Brazil [1]. She puts the finding directly: "All you need to do to build your strength is do what's called the eccentric muscle contraction, aka the second half of any exercise" [1]. When Mel admits she does not know what that means, Tracey gives the everyday version: imagine standing up to sit down in your chair, and "It's simply the motion of the sitting down part, not the standing up" [1].

The dose is what makes the study striking. According to Tracey, the research "says that one muscle contraction in this downward movement for just three seconds a day can increase muscle strength if you do it each day" [1]. The researchers used bicep curls, finding that people who did only the downward part of the curl got the benefit [1]. Tracey draws two conclusions. In the gym, "they're saying you can cut your routine in half by just doing the second half of each exercise," and outside it, "you can apply this in your life for passive exercise" [1].

Mel tests it on air. Instead of plopping into her chair as usual (when, as the conversation jokes, "the chair took the beating"), she lowers herself very slowly, hovers about an inch above the seat, and holds for three seconds [1]. Her report from the hover: "My butt is like an inch above the chair. And this is like a squat" [1]. She notes that her quads are fully engaged [1]. One of them also reflects on their own lifting habits, saying that when they strength train, "I focus on lifting up," and that they do not get intentional about resisting the weight on the way down [1].

Both are honest that the idea sounds too small. Tracey says, "I know this research might sound silly," then grounds it in a broader principle: "the best exercise is the one that you do" [1]. Her pitch is that adding one very small daily movement can bring some of the benefits of strength training, including more muscle mass [1]. Mel, who calls herself "a big strength trainer," says muscles have been described as "the engine of your entire body's systems," and that for people who already lift, "doing more emphasis into those downward movements is also going to make the biggest difference, the bang for your buck" [1].

Stuart McMillan: eccentric force is the differentiator, in sport and in aging

McMillan, a track and field coach who has worked with more than 70 Olympians across nine Olympic Games, comes to the eccentric phase through running [2]. In the conversation, concentric is described as generally associated with the lifting phase, and eccentric as "the lowering phase of some movement" [2]. McMillan then maps those phases onto gait. Jogging and running happen largely behind the center of mass, with a long concentric push-off, while striding and sprinting happen in front of it and are dominated by braking, or eccentric, forces [2].

His strongest evidence is from his own testing. Working with hundreds of athletes across 27 national teams at Calgary's sport center from 1994 onward, he found that concentric force capacity did not distinguish elite from sub-elite performers in almost any sport, while eccentric capacity did across the board [2]. As he puts it, "the differentiator is always in the eccentric force capacities" [2]. At true sprint speeds, he adds, research by his friend Dr. Ken Clark shows the shank and foot acting as a second mass hitting the ground, something most people, including most pro athletes, cannot generate [2]. Elite sprinters land with a stiff foot and ankle, like a boxer's rigid wrist, against forces over five times body weight [2].

McMillan then turns from elites to everyone else. Asked about people over 60 skipping, he answers: "That eccentric control or the eccentric capacity is the one that we really lose" [2]. His explanation is about modern life: "The ability to handle ourselves eccentrically is just, we don't do that work anymore. Everything that we do is concentric in nature" [2]. And it is not only athletes: "Also, in us, in GenPOP, we lose the ability to apply eccentric force, whether it's faster or maximal" [2]. Huberman connects this to longevity, noting that falls are a major cause of decline in older adults and that landing well is eccentric control, and McMillan agrees [2].

His tool for training it is skipping, which he treats as adult plyometrics [2]. Skipping trains what sprinting trains, more safely: getting the knee behind the body for hip extension, coordinating ankle, knee and hip so the leg works like a spring, and absorbing force [2]. He is pointed about the alternative many people reach for, arguing that box jumps, being mostly concentric, are nearly useless as plyometrics [2]. And he explains why so many adults get hurt when they return to sprinting: although their cardiovascular engine may still be good into their 50s, their tissues and joints cannot handle sprinting forces, which is why weekend basketball and backyard football so often end with pulled hamstrings or calves [2]. His gentler options are hill sprints and, above all, skipping [2].

His own father shows what this looks like late in life. At 78, a former elite athlete who ran the 2019 New York City Marathon in about five hours still runs four days a week, and two of those sessions rotate 30 seconds of walking, 30 seconds of skipping and 30 seconds of striding as fast as he can [2].

Pavel Tsatsouline: eccentrics as one of three tools, done safely

Tsatsouline, a strength coach, former special forces training instructor, author and founder of StrongFirst, treats the lowering phase as one option among three, each with its own job [3]. Concentric-only lifting, where you lift and then drop or set the weight down, is useful when you want to get stronger without adding muscle or soreness; he notes that coach Barry Ross had sprinter Allyson Felix do concentric-only deadlifts when she was 17 [3].

For eccentric work, he steers people away from reckless heavy negatives and toward a safer method [3]. After your normal heavy sets, with a competent spotter, lower a weight slightly above your max at your normal max tempo, pause on the chest as if you are about to press it, and let the spotter take it, for two or three reps [3]. A variant has a training partner give just enough assistance on the press that it feels like about 90%, so you experience a supramaximal weight without psychological stress [3]. He links this to a Soviet gymnastics method of giving athletes perfect assistance so they could "live" their future skill [3].

The third tool is isometrics, which he says are powerful for fixing sticking points, optimizing positions and producing disinhibition, releasing the brakes the nervous system puts on strength [3]. A simple way to use them is pause reps: lower into a squat, hold tight for three to five seconds, then explode up [3].

Tsatsouline also brings a warning that touches the eccentric phase directly. Soreness, he explains, comes not only from eccentric work but also from excess acid, which promotes free radicals and tissue breakdown, and some people who are always sore never progress [3]. Chasing soreness is one of the fitness confusions he and Huberman agree people should drop [3].

Where They Agree, and Where They Don't

All three sources treat the lowering phase as something to do on purpose rather than something that just happens. Tracey and Mel describe resisting gravity on the way down instead of plopping [1]; McMillan describes eccentric capacity as a quality we stop training because modern life is concentric [2]; and Tsatsouline describes a specific, supervised way to load the lowering phase [3].

They also agree that control and quality matter more than fatigue. The three-second hover is gentle by design [1]. McMillan says of plyometric work that "the quality of the movement has to be the governor," and that you should finish feeling good rather than wrecked [2]. Tsatsouline steers people away from reckless negatives and from chasing soreness [3].

The clearest disagreement is about the lifting half. In the Robbins episode, the study is presented as showing that people who did only the lowering part of a curl got the benefit, and Tracey says you could cut a routine in half by doing just the second half of each exercise [1]; one of them goes further, saying that "the lifting up doesn't seem to matter that much according to the research" [1]. Tsatsouline, by contrast, uses concentric-only lifting deliberately, as a way to get stronger without adding muscle or soreness [3]. McMillan sits between them. In his testing, concentric force capacity did not separate elite from sub-elite athletes, but he still trains positions with heavy single-leg isometrics and resisted sprints for force transmission [2]. Their goals differ too: a busy person looking for any strength stimulus at all [1], a sprinter needing to brake and rebound against huge forces [2], and a lifter managing size, soreness and maximal strength [3].

They also differ on dose and intensity. The Robbins study's dose is one three-second contraction a day [1]. McMillan's skipping session is 10 to 15 maximal skips over about 50 meters after a 10-to-15-minute warm-up [2]. Tsatsouline's eccentrics use weights slightly above a one-rep max, for two or three reps, only with a competent spotter [3].

Why It Works

The sources offer mechanisms at different levels. In the Robbins episode, the explanation is the study itself: a single daily lowering contraction increased muscle strength, and Tracey ties this to the broader benefit of strength training in building muscle mass, which Mel describes as "the engine of your entire body's systems" [1].

McMillan's mechanism is mechanical. Striding and sprinting happen in front of the center of mass and are dominated by braking forces, so the athlete who can absorb and redirect force best is the one who performs [2]. At sprint speeds, the shank and foot act as a second mass hitting the ground, and elite sprinters meet forces over five times body weight with a stiff foot and ankle [2]. Skipping trains the leg to work like a spring and to absorb force [2]. For aging, the logic is the same in reverse: eccentric capacity is what we lose most because we stop using it, and landing well, as in avoiding a fall, is an eccentric skill [2].

Tsatsouline's mechanism is about the nervous system. Lowering a supramaximal weight with a spotter lets a lifter feel a heavier load than they can press, without psychological stress, much as Soviet gymnastics coaches gave perfect assistance so athletes could rehearse a future skill [3]. Isometric holds release the nervous system's brakes on strength and teach you not to give up when a heavy rep slows down [3]. His account of soreness is the caution on the other side: eccentric work is one of its sources [3].

Where It Applies, and Where It Doesn't

The three-second chair lower suits people with little time or no gym habit, since Tracey's point is that the best exercise is the one you will actually do [1]. Mel, half joking, notes the limit: she would love to think she could be in amazing shape just by hovering over a chair, and Tracey's own claim is that it brings some of the benefits of strength training, not all of them [1].

Skipping and striding suit adults who used to run or play sports and want speed and spring back without the injury risk of sudden all-out sprints [2]. McMillan's on-ramp is gradual, and his warning about weekend athletes pulling hamstrings and calves shows where the approach does not apply: jumping straight into maximal sprinting with tissues that have not been prepared [2]. For people over 60, he calls skipping "so important" because eccentric control is what we lose [2].

Tsatsouline's heavy eccentrics come after normal heavy sets and only with a competent spotter, and he explicitly frames his method as an alternative to reckless heavy negatives [3]. If your goal is strength without extra muscle or soreness, his concentric-only approach may suit you better [3]. If you are older, have joint problems or are coming back from injury, check with a qualified professional before adding heavy eccentric or plyometric work.

What To Do With It

1. Lower yourself into your chair once a day. Stand, sit down very slowly, hover about an inch above the seat and hold for three seconds before sitting, as Mel demonstrates from the study Tracey describes [1].
2. Slow the lowering half of your lifts. If you already strength train, put deliberate effort into resisting the weight on the way down, which Mel says gives the most bang for your buck [1].
3. Add skipping to an easy jog. Alternate about 30 seconds of skipping with 30 seconds of jogging or walking, McMillan's on-ramp [2].
4. Build to a short skipping session. After a 10-to-15-minute warm-up of low-amplitude skips, easy jogging and stretching, do 10 to 15 maximal skips over about 50 meters, walking back and resting 90 seconds to three minutes between efforts [2].
5. Let quality govern. Stop when the movement degrades and finish feeling good rather than wrecked, McMillan's rule for plyometric work [2].
6. Progress toward strides, not straight to sprints. McMillan's father rotates 30 seconds each of walking, skipping and striding; hill sprints are another gentler option [2].
7. Use pause reps. Lower into a squat, hold tight for three to five seconds, then drive up, one of Tsatsouline's simple uses of isometrics [3].
8. Try spotted supramaximal lowers. After normal heavy sets, with a competent spotter, lower a weight slightly above your max at normal tempo, pause on the chest, and hand it off, for two or three reps [3].
9. Do not chase soreness. Eccentric work can make you sore, and Tsatsouline warns that soreness is not a sign of progress [3].

Sources

1. 8 Simple, Science-Backed Changes to Improve Your Life: Mel Robbins and Researcher Tracey on Brand New Studies · The Mel Robbins Podcast
2. Stuart McMillan on Skipping, Striding and Sprinting for Speed, Mobility and Longevity · Huberman Lab
3. How to Build Strength, Endurance & Flexibility at Any Age · Huberman Lab