Insight | The lowering phase counts: why eccentric strength deserves its own training
Mel Robbins and Tracey report a study of three seconds of eccentric exercise, Stuart McMillan ties eccentric strength to striding and aging, and Pavel Tsatsouline compares concentric, eccentric and isometric work. The lowering half of a movement is often rushed, and these sources show it as a tool in its own right.
The lowering half of a movement, the eccentric phase, deserves training of its own. Most people let gravity do that part for them, yet three very different conversations treat it as a tool worth using on purpose: for everyday strength, for athletic speed and for staying capable with age.
On The Mel Robbins Podcast, Tracey, who leads the research behind the show, describes a study from Edith Cowan University in Australia. In it, one slow lowering contraction of three seconds a day increased muscle strength, and people who did only the downward part of a bicep curl got the benefit. Her everyday version is the moment of sitting down in a chair rather than standing up. Mel tries it live, lowering herself very slowly and hovering about an inch above her seat for three seconds, and notices her quads fully engaged. Tracey admits the idea may sound silly, but her point is that the best exercise is the one you actually do. Mel, who strength trains, says putting more emphasis on the downward movement gives the most bang for your buck.
Stuart McMillan, a track and field coach who has worked with more than 70 Olympians, comes at it through running. In his testing of hundreds of athletes across 27 national teams in Calgary, concentric force barely separated elite from sub-elite performers, while eccentric capacity did in every sport. As he puts it, "the differentiator is always in the eccentric force capacities." He says the same quality is what ordinary people lose most with age, because almost everything modern life asks of us is concentric. Huberman links this to falls in older adults, since landing well is eccentric control. McMillan's tool is skipping, which trains the leg to work like a spring and absorb force more safely than sprinting. He calls box jumps, being mostly concentric, nearly useless as plyometrics.
Pavel Tsatsouline, a strength coach and founder of StrongFirst, treats eccentrics as one of three tools. Instead of reckless heavy negatives, he suggests lowering a weight slightly above your max with a competent spotter, after your normal heavy sets, for two or three reps. Concentric-only lifting suits people who want strength without extra muscle or soreness, and isometric pause reps help with sticking points. He warns that chasing soreness is a mistake, since eccentric work is one of its sources and some people who are always sore never progress.
The sources disagree on the lifting half. The Robbins episode suggests a routine could be cut in half by doing only the lowering part, while Tsatsouline uses concentric-only lifting deliberately. McMillan sits between them: concentric force did not separate athletes in his testing, but he still trains positions and force transmission. Their goals differ too, from a busy person seeking any strength stimulus to a sprinter braking against huge forces to a lifter managing size and soreness.
What to do with it: lower yourself slowly into your chair once a day and hover for three seconds. If you lift, slow the lowering half. Add skipping to an easy jog, build gradually toward a short session of maximal skips and stop when the movement gets worse. Use pause reps, try supramaximal lowers only with a spotter, and do not chase soreness. 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.
