The word "eccentric" when used in conjunction with exercise is a fancy word for negative. What do I mean and why do I like it? Please allow me to explain:
All strength training reps consist of 3 parts.
1) The first is the positive. In a chest press, that means where the Trainee moves the weight away from his body. For a pulldown, it's when he brings the weight into the body. If you measure by the amount of weight one can move and the duration they can handle, then this is the weakest part of the exercise. When I say weakest I don't mean it derogatorily. What I mean is that it is the first place where you can fail.
2) The second part is the static. Basically that means you can simply hold the weight. The Trainee might have lost his ability to move the weight forward, but he can still hold it. One of the unique aspects of the training philosophy of CWSS is we take you to failure on the positive and then force you to hold the weight for 10 seconds. Most people would call that combo pretty devastating and it promotes tremendous success.
3) But what if you want to bump it up one more notch? That's where the negative comes in. The Trainee has failed on the positive and pretty much failed on the static; but they can still control the weight on the way down. That's the negative. If the Trainer can assist the client to get the weight out, the client can control it on the way back. If this is done 2-3 times the Trainee will soon be unable to even handle controlling the weight on the way down. What it means is they have failed on the strongest part of the exercise. It's hard to explain how demanding this is on the body. It is definitely not for everyone and not for the faint of heart. But, if you’re up for the challenge, the results are amazing.
