Eccentric Overload

What It Is

How much weight you lower compared with what you lift.

Why It Matters

Eccentric overload means lowering more weight than you lift, using weight releasers, a partner, or a machine that adds load on the way down. Against ordinary sets of the same exercise at the same lifting load, it may make little to no difference to the strength you build.^1,2 The few trials that measured muscle size or jumping found no difference either, and almost all of this work is in young lifters who already train, with none in older adults.¹

The case for eccentrics comes from a different comparison. The field's current position stand counts eccentric contractions among the few things that build more muscle, but on reviews that compared training that only lowers a weight with training that only lifts it.³ Those reviews found a modest, uncertain edge in muscle for the lowering and no difference in strength.⁴ Training the lowering on its own is awkward outside a lab, since heavy eccentrics need special equipment or a spotter.⁴ Flywheel machines, which overload the lowering by design, are less settled: the position stand credits them with more strength and power,³ while the newest network meta-analysis finds strength about level and only a small edge for jumping, one that faded in longer, higher-volume programs.²

What overloading the lowering does change is how hard the work feels: sets feel considerably harder, and the authors of a review of these trials suggest longer rests between sets and more recovery between sessions to match.¹ Keep lowering each repetition under control, and put that effort into load, volume, and progression instead. If you have weight releasers or a flywheel and enjoy them, they are a fine way to vary your training, not a way to build more.

• 1 Zhang, X. et al. (2026). Acute and Chronic Effects of Accentuated Eccentric Loading vs. Constant-Load Resistance Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Sports Medicine. doi.org/10.1007/s40279-026-02422-7
• 2 Cowley, N. et al. (2026). The Effects of Advanced Resistance Training Prescription Methods on Strength, Power, Hypertrophy, and Performance Adaptations in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review and Bayesian Network Meta-analysis. Sports Medicine. doi.org/10.1007/s40279-026-02428-1
• 3 Currier, B.S. et al. (2026). American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand. Resistance Training Prescription for Muscle Function, Hypertrophy, and Physical Performance in Healthy Adults: An Overview of Reviews. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000003897
• 4 McLeod, J.C. et al. (2023). The influence of resistance exercise training prescription variables on skeletal muscle mass, strength, and physical function in healthy adults: An umbrella review. Journal of Sport and Health Science. doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2023.06.005