If you train by lowering weights slowly, you get stronger at lowering them—not at pushing them up—and vice versa, even if you do the same total amount of work.

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Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

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Eccentric exercise per se does not affect muscle damage biomarkers: early and late phase adaptations

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2021 Feb

People who trained by pushing weights up got stronger at pushing up, and those who trained by lowering weights slowly got stronger at lowering—each group got best at the exact movement they practiced, even though they did the same total amount of work.

Contradicting (0)

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No contradicting evidence found

Source Study

Eccentric exercise per se does not affect muscle damage biomarkers: early and late phase adaptations

Score: 58

DOI: 10.1007/s00421-020-04528-w

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If you train by lowering weights slowly (eccentric), you’ll get stronger at lowering weights; if you train by lifting weights up (concentric), you’ll get stronger at lifting them up — and this happens no matter how sore your muscles get.

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Lowering weights slowly makes muscle fibers longer, while lifting them quickly makes them thicker and more angled—both make muscles bigger, but in different ways.

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Whether you push weights up or lower them slowly, if you do the same amount of total work, your muscles grow about the same size.

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