Eccentric exercise: mechanisms and effects when used as training regime or training adjunct

Eccentric muscle contractions are important for enhancing performance in sports that involve sprinting, jumping, and throwing.

• Eccentric exercise can improve performance during the concentric phase of stretch-shortening cycles.
• Lengthening muscle contractions may help absorb shock and manage high external loads in activities such as landing and skiing.
• Limited studies suggest that eccentric training can increase maximal muscle strength and power in trained athletes.
• Eccentric training may optimize muscle length for maximum tension development at greater degrees of extension.
• Functional adaptations in skeletal muscles include increases in muscle mass, fascicle length, and cross-sectional area of type II fibers.
• Current modalities for eccentric loading in athletes include classical isotonic exercises and eccentric overloading exercises.

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