Eccentric contractions = BEST for growth?
- Thread starter Jens
- Start date
I
imported_dkm1987
Guest
Yes. Eccentric actions cause the most tension and damage.
I
imported_da1andonlychacha
Guest
That's interesting, b/c as has been pointed out many times before here, strength is primarily decided by the diameter of the cross section of the muscle fiber. However, it's been shown that eccentric-only exercise does little to influence concentric strength. Pardon me for not remembering the names of the studies, but I'm sure you have them anyway, Dan. 
So how is it that all this hypertrophy doesn't factor into strength?
So how is it that all this hypertrophy doesn't factor into strength?
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imported_dkm1987
Guest
Specificity, when you use concentric your concentric strength improves. When you use Eccentric your eccentric strength improves.
Also about CSA, yes, increased CSA increases the amount of FORCE the muscle can produce, but strength itself also has to do with Rate Coding, Frequency, other neural factors, leverage, specificity, nutrition, fatique, among others. So even though we can ID force production by CSA we can't entirely ID true Strength by CSA.
Available force is also variable based on how many cross bridges are formed, length of muscle (Length Tension Curve), diameter of fibers (as the muscle is lengthened the diameter of the fiber reduces making full activation during crossbridging more difficult because of the lessened room for myosin head tilt).
Suffice it to say that more trauma is produced by Eccentric actions than concentric actions. More trauma means more remodeling of the sarcomeric structure.
Also about CSA, yes, increased CSA increases the amount of FORCE the muscle can produce, but strength itself also has to do with Rate Coding, Frequency, other neural factors, leverage, specificity, nutrition, fatique, among others. So even though we can ID force production by CSA we can't entirely ID true Strength by CSA.
Available force is also variable based on how many cross bridges are formed, length of muscle (Length Tension Curve), diameter of fibers (as the muscle is lengthened the diameter of the fiber reduces making full activation during crossbridging more difficult because of the lessened room for myosin head tilt).
Suffice it to say that more trauma is produced by Eccentric actions than concentric actions. More trauma means more remodeling of the sarcomeric structure.
I
imported_da1andonlychacha
Guest
Hmm... looks like I'm going to have to change "Who's the strongest guy in here?" to "Who has the most potential for non-specific muscular force production?"