Muscles get used to hard workouts
Eccentric exercise per se does not affect muscle damage biomarkers: early and late phase adaptations
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Muscle damage biomarkers (CK, DOMS, ROM loss) disappeared completely after 10 weeks—even though participants were still performing maximal-effort eccentric contractions.
It contradicts the long-held belief that eccentric exercise inherently causes muscle damage. The fact that damage vanished despite identical mechanical load suggests the body adapts at a systemic level, not just locally.
Practical Takeaways
If you're new to eccentric training (e.g., slow lowers in squats or pull-ups), don’t panic if you’re sore after the first session—it’s normal. But after 3–4 sessions, the soreness should fade, and you’ll still be getting stronger.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Muscle damage biomarkers (CK, DOMS, ROM loss) disappeared completely after 10 weeks—even though participants were still performing maximal-effort eccentric contractions.
It contradicts the long-held belief that eccentric exercise inherently causes muscle damage. The fact that damage vanished despite identical mechanical load suggests the body adapts at a systemic level, not just locally.
Practical Takeaways
If you're new to eccentric training (e.g., slow lowers in squats or pull-ups), don’t panic if you’re sore after the first session—it’s normal. But after 3–4 sessions, the soreness should fade, and you’ll still be getting stronger.
Publication
Journal
European Journal of Applied Physiology
Year
2020
Authors
Nikos V. Margaritelis, A. Theodorou, P. Chatzinikolaou, A. Kyparos, M. Nikolaidis, V. Paschalis
Related Content
Claims (10)
Your body learns to handle hard eccentric exercises so well that after 10 weeks, it doesn’t even react as if it’s damaged—even though you’re still doing the same hard movements.
You can get stronger by doing hard exercises just once a week—even if they’re tough—without your muscles staying damaged or sore.
Your body’s inflammation response to hard eccentric exercise fades quickly after the first time—you don’t stay inflamed if you keep doing it.
You can get just as strong by pushing weights up as by lowering them slowly—even if lowering them doesn’t make your muscles sore or damaged.
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.