The pain is the cost of an interesting benefit: eccentric contractions are a more efficient way to exercise muscles than concentric. That is, they work the muscle harder with less energy than concentric contractions. But that also means it’s easy to overdo it.

An eccentric (lengthening) muscle contraction occurs when a force applied to the muscle exceeds the momentary force produced by the muscle itself, resulting in the forced lengthening of the muscle-tendon system while contracting (Lindstedt et al., 2001).

An eccentric contraction results in the elongation of a muscle. Such contractions decelerate the muscle joints (acting as “brakes” to concentric contractions) and can alter the position of the load force. These contractions can be both voluntary and involuntary.

Eccentric contractions play an important role in everyday human movements, including mobility, stability, and muscle strength. Shortly after the sliding filament theory of muscle contraction was introduced, there was a reluctant recognition that muscle behaved as if it contained an “elastic” filament.

One popular example is the biceps curl; lifting the dumbbell is due to concentric contraction of the biceps brachii muscle, while lowering the dumbbell is the result of eccentric contraction. In alpine skiing, eccentric contraction of quadriceps femoris is important for a turning cycle.

Eccentric-enhanced lifting creates greater hypertrophy than conventional training. By programming the eccentric motion of your exercises, you can achieve the greatest muscle growth by making certain you have the right intensity of load and the ideal time under tension to cause maximal muscle fiber damage.

Eccentric contractions can produce greater force than concentric contractions through different mechanisms of force generation.

Repeated overextension of sarcomeres leads to their disruption. Muscle fibres with disrupted sarcomeres in series with still-functioning sarcomeres show a shift in optimum length for tension in the direction of longer muscle lengths. When the region of disruption is large enough it leads to membrane damage.

The more time your muscle is under tension, the greater the muscle growth. However, don’t focus just on the eccentric movement all the time. Concentric motions will still help build muscle mass, just not as fast. And if you use one consistently more than the other, you may end up with an injury.

More importantly, recent research has shown that eccentric-only strength training causes greater gains in muscle fiber length, while concentric-only strength training leads to greater increases in muscle fiber diameter, even while overall increases in muscle volume are similar.

Concentric contractions

A concentric contraction is a type of muscle activation that causes tension on your muscle as it shortens. As your muscle shortens, it generates enough force to move an object. This is the most popular type of muscle contraction. In weight training, a bicep curl is an easy-to-recognize concentric movement.

The eccentric only push up is a push up variation that serves as a stepping stone to progress lifters to being able to perform the bodyweight push up. By performing the eccentric only push up you will build the pushing muscles (chest, shoulders, triceps) necessary to perform a bodyweight push up.

What are some forms of isotonic exercise? Aerobic exercises like walking, running, hiking, swimming, skiing, and dancing are all considered isotonic exercise. So are resistance training exercises that involve movement, such as squats, pushups, pull ups, bench presses, deadlifts, and bicep curls.

Here’s a guide to the classic push-up and our 12 favorite variations, in more or less ascending order of difficulty.

• Strict (Military) Push-Up.
• Wide Hands Push-Up.
• Triangle (Diamond) Push-Up.
• Pike Push-Up.
• Super (Hindu) Push-Up.
• Staggered Hands Push-Up.
• Sphinx Push-Up (Triceps Extension)
• Spiderman (Side Kick) Push-Up.

In the standard pushup, the following muscles are targeted:

• chest muscles, or pectorals.
• shoulders, or deltoids.
• back of your arms, or triceps.
• abdominals.
• the “wing” muscles directly under your armpit, called the serratus anterior.

Doing pushups without proper form can lead to an injury. For example, you may experience lower back or shoulder pain if you don’t do pushups properly. If pushups are too difficult at first, modify the exercise. Do them on your knees or against a wall.

Push-up benefits include increased muscle mass, strength and endurance. The push-up primarily works the triceps and chest but also activates many other muscles in your arms, shoulders, core and legs. Gaining muscle mass does not happen overnight.

You’ll Gain Upper-Body Strength Thirty push-ups a day will build your chest, add definition to your arms and increase your muscle mass. It’s real-life upper body strength, too, facilitating movements that range from carrying in the groceries to pushing a lawnmower.