@CT
Hey coach,
i was wondering what your thoughts are on this;
(thinking mainly about bench press here)
when using pins, you have the option of lowering the weight fast back down onto the pins (not dropping it though!), do you think this is a good idea to minimize CNS fatigue DURING the session and allow for more work to be done concentrically?
There are two sides to this… doing eccentric can be a double edged sword depending on exercise parameters.
a little details about the CNS part… motor nerves are the ones which stimulates muscle contraction.at the nerve muscle junction there are certain chemicals which leaves the nerve endings to reach the muscle cells and initiate the contraction process .these are called neuro-transmitters. suppose for a single twitch of the muscle 100 molecules are released from the nerve endings , but these 100 mols. are then destroyed once the contraction signal has passed to the muscle and the nerve must newly synthesize the neurotransmitter for re-use. now we have a reserve of this molecules .with more exhaustion , more of the reserve is depleted.
doing eccentric work, keeps the muscle under tension for a longer time , so more of the NT(neuro-transmitter) is depleted. this means, if you are doing eccentrics regularly on bench or any other exercise, you are proceeding towards “CNS exhaustion” , commonly called over-training. so its best to limit eccentric reps only to the last set of an exercise and to do it in only a single set per body part.
on the flip side, eccentrics does two things- 1.creats more micro-trauma to the muscle fibres than concentrics,thus inducing signals for repair and hence nypertrophy 2. if done in a periodic manner , results in huge strength gains.
i will not go into details of the last part though.
BUT ECCENTRIC REPS IN A COMPOUND EXERCISE LIKE BENCH PRESS CAN LEAD TO SERIOUS TENDON PROBLEMS SPECIALLY IN THE SHOULDER JOINT COMPLEX. SO ITS BETTER NOT TO DO ECCENTRICS IN A COMPUND EXERCISE AND IF DONE ITS BETTER TO KEEP THE LOAD TO LESS THAN 80% OF 1RM
IN SHORT: 1.Limit eccentric reps to a] max 5 reps b]not more than 5secs c]isolation exercise
d]70pc of 1RM in compund exercise e]a single set per body part
2.Eccentric work when done in a wax-wane pattern- eg, 2 weeks ur are doing eccentrics in all sessions next 2 weeks u are off it and more into concentric-this will lead to noticeable strength gains
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