OK, since I did not post a word of the day yesterday, I will be doing three words today to make up for it. The three words today are eccentric, isometric, and concentric.
Eccentric - When a muscle contraction is exerting less force than is being placed on it.
When this happens it results in the lengthening of the muscle. Do not think of lengthening as in being stretched. In this case, lengthening is referring to the muscle's return to resting length. Eccentric is also known as "a negative". This meaning that the work is actually being done to the muscle rather than by the muscle.
Isometric - When a muscle is exerting force equal to that placed on it.
When this happens, no lengthening of the muscle takes place. Isometric actions are used to stabilize the body. An example of this would be during a dumbbell bench press. The rotator cuff musculature stabilizes the shoulder joint.
Concentric - When a muscle is exerting more force than is being placed on it.
When this happens it results in the shortening of the muscle.
It is easy to think that muscles predominantly work concentrically, but this is wrong. By thinking this way, you are really limiting yourself and your workouts. You have to view muscles functioning in all planes of motion. By doing this, you will be able to design a program for yourself that trains, reconditions, and rehabilitates.
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