Eccentric training needs a clear prescription. Lowering a weight for four seconds, pausing during the last descent and lowering a load above concentric 1RM create different demands. Choose the method around the capacity you want to develop, then define how the trainee will perform and progress it.
The mistake is treating every eccentric method as interchangeable. If a client needs to establish control through a movement, adding more weight may solve the wrong problem. If an experienced athlete needs greater eccentric force capacity, simply making every descent slower may not provide the loading emphasis you want.
The framework below draws on the eccentric training ebook I am developing. It moves from standard tempos through extended submaximal work, last-repetition pauses, concentric–eccentric combinations and heavier eccentric loading. This is how I organise the methods in my coaching. The exact sequence and time targets are coaching decisions, rather than a progression validated as a complete package in a research trial.
First, separate load from lowering time
An eccentric muscle action involves an active muscle lengthening. In the gym, we commonly use “eccentric phase” to describe the lowering portion of an exercise, although individual muscles and tendons do not all behave identically throughout a multijoint lift.
For programming, three distinctions matter:
- Submaximal eccentric loading: the external load is below the concentric 1RM for the specified exercise and range.
- Accentuated eccentric loading: the lowering phase uses a greater external load than the lifting phase. Both loads can still be below concentric 1RM.
- Supramaximal eccentric loading: the lowering load exceeds the relevant concentric 1RM.
Lowering duration is another variable. A slow descent does not automatically make a load supramaximal, and a heavy eccentric repetition does not automatically need a very long descent.
Eccentric strength generally exceeds concentric strength under comparable testing conditions. The size of that difference varies with the task and speed. You cannot use a pooled research ratio as a personal loading multiplier for a trainee’s barbell maximum. [1]
1. Establish standard eccentric tempos
My starting point is to define the ordinary repetition. Two baseline tempos I use are 40X0 and 3010.
At 40X0, the trainee lowers for four seconds, adds no deliberate pause at the transition, attempts to lift as rapidly as possible, and adds no deliberate pause at the finish. At 3010, the descent takes three seconds and the lifting phase takes one second.
X describes intent. A heavy load may move slowly even when the trainee is trying to accelerate it. Zero means no deliberately prescribed pause; it still requires a controlled change of direction.
The practical value is consistency. If the descent becomes progressively faster every time the load increases, you have changed the execution as well as the resistance. That makes progress harder to interpret.
Choose a load that permits the prescribed range, positions and timing. A four-second descent should remain controlled through the movement, rather than spending three seconds in an easy position and dropping through the final portion.
There is no requirement to progress beyond this while the current prescription continues to serve the trainee. For the notation itself, see my guide to tempo prescription.
2. Extend submaximal eccentric work
Extended submaximal eccentrics deliberately lengthen the descent while keeping the load below concentric 1RM. They change how long the trainee must control the chosen movement and how much work can be completed under that requirement.
In my framework, the planned set time-under-tension targets move through 30, 20, 15 and 10 seconds. These describe the complete set. A 30-second set target does not mean a single 30-second descent.
For example, three repetitions at 80X0 contain:
- 3 × 8 seconds of lowering = 24 seconds of eccentric time.
- A one-second planning allowance for each concentric = 3 additional seconds.
- 27 seconds of planned total set TUT.
The allowance makes planning consistent. It does not redefine X as a measured one-second lift, and 27 seconds should be recorded as 27 rather than presented as an exact 30-second set.
At each later target, write the actual repetitions, tempo and load. Reducing the number of repetitions changes the set differently from shortening every descent. If you intend to increase load as the set becomes shorter, specify that increase separately.
Longer lowering also does not automatically mean greater force. For the same mass moving downwards at approximately constant speed, the support force still approximately balances its weight. The trainee sustains the task for longer; that is a different demand from increasing the external resistance.
End the set when the prescribed lowering, range or position can no longer be maintained. Being able to perform more ordinary repetitions does not mean the extended eccentric prescription is still being completed.
3. Add pauses during the final eccentric repetition
This method keeps the earlier repetitions at the baseline tempo and adds specified holds during the last descent. It allows the coach to emphasise control at selected positions after the preceding work.
A pause introduces an approximately isometric task at the joint position being held. Describe it separately from the moving portions of the descent.
Write the position, duration and order of the pauses, then explain how the trainee resumes lowering and finishes the repetition. “Pause on the last rep” leaves too much open to interpretation.
For illustration, an instruction could read: “On the final descent, hold for two seconds at the agreed landmark, then resume controlled lowering.” That explains the added task; the load and preceding repetition count still need to suit it.
Progress can mean holding the same position more accurately, completing the specified duration, or using more load under the same conditions. Increasing the load, number of pauses and hold duration together makes the change much harder to assess.
Stop if the trainee drifts through the intended hold, changes posture to escape the demand or drops the load when the pause ends. Decide the return or termination arrangement before starting the set.
4. Combine complete repetitions with eccentric-only repetitions
The 6+2 and 4+2 methods add eccentric-only repetitions after a set of complete repetitions.
- 6+2: six complete eccentric–concentric repetitions, followed by two additional eccentric-only repetitions with a separate return.
- 4+2: four complete eccentric–concentric repetitions, followed by two additional eccentric-only repetitions with a separate return.
The first number includes both lowering and lifting. The plus sign does not specify the load or lowering duration for the final two repetitions.
For 4+2, the trainee completes six active descents and four unassisted concentric actions. The return after each additional descent requires the planned assistance or equipment arrangement.
The rationale is to add eccentric work after substantial complete-repetition work. Eccentric capacity can permit further lowering when another unassisted lift is unavailable. However, the preceding repetitions also create fatigue, so the ability to control those additional descents must be assessed.
Record the load for both parts of the set, any load change, the lowering duration and the assistance. If the assistant begins helping during the descent, the trainee is no longer independently controlling the full external load.
Treat the eccentric finish as work that must meet its own standard. Completing the initial four repetitions does not automatically qualify the trainee to complete two more controlled descents.
5. Progress towards supramaximal eccentric loading
The heavier progression in my framework begins around 100% of the relevant concentric 1RM, using longer exposures and more repetitions relative to the later prescriptions. From there, the direction is towards greater percentages with fewer repetitions and shorter set TUT.
Exactly 100% is the concentric maximum. The eccentric load becomes supramaximal when it exceeds that reference.
The reference must match the exercise. On a two-up, one-down leg curl, compare the lowering load with the working leg’s unilateral concentric maximum on the same machine, with the same setup and range. Dividing a bilateral maximum by two does not establish that value.
The 2–1 arrangement can also be used below maximum. It describes how the load is lifted and lowered; the load determines its classification.
Choose equipment and assistance that allow a repeatable start, controlled descent and dependable termination if the repetition fails. The ability to lift a machine load with two legs does not establish the ability to lower it with one.
Research supports investigating greater eccentric phase loading in trained lifters, while keeping the actual protocol in view. Walker and colleagues studied ten weeks of lower-body training in strength-trained men. The accentuated group lowered loads 40% greater than its concentric training loads and showed benefits in selected strength measures; muscle-size changes were similar between the supervised training groups. [2]
That extra 40% referred to the lifting load used in the session. It did not mean every descent used 140% of concentric 1RM. The trial also did not test the five-method sequence described here.
Fit the method into the whole program
Choose the movement that needs a different eccentric demand, then consider what the rest of the week requires. A demanding eccentric prescription on one exercise does not require every accessory movement to receive the same treatment.
Before progressing, check:
- Execution: were the range, duration, positions and assistance reproduced?
- Recovery: could the trainee perform the subsequent important sessions as intended?
- Adaptation: is the targeted strength or performance measure improving over time?
If a heavier load brings an involuntarily faster descent, a shorter range or more assistance, record those changes. The kilogram increase alone does not establish improvement in the original task.
For athletes, assess the sporting outcome separately. Controlling a prolonged loaded descent and braking rapidly during sport impose different time constraints. Each needs an appropriate place in the plan.
The next eccentric method should address a clear training need. Define the exercise, load reference, repetitions, duration, return, sets, rest and progression before handing the program to the trainee. Then use the response to decide what changes in the next meso.
Develop the reasoning behind your prescriptions
If you want to improve how you select methods and connect them across a longer training plan, my Program Design Mentorship provides eight weeks of one-on-one education built around your clients, programs and questions.
References
- Nuzzo JL, Pinto MD, Nosaka K, Steele J. (2023). The Eccentric:Concentric Strength Ratio of Human Skeletal Muscle In Vivo: Meta-analysis of the Influences of Sex, Age, Joint Action, and Velocity. Sports Medicine, 53, 1125–1136.
- Walker S, Blazevich AJ, Haff GG, Tufano JJ, Newton RU, Häkkinen K. (2016). Greater Strength Gains after Training with Accentuated Eccentric than Traditional Isoinertial Loads in Already Strength-Trained Men. Frontiers in Physiology, 7, 149.
