The Colorado Experiment
by Arthur Jones
The following is a brief, preliminary report of an experiment conducted at Colorado State University in May of 1973.
Chronic Eccentric Exercise: improvements in muscle
strength can occur with little demand for oxygen.
When Active Muscles Lengthen
Properties and Consequences of Eccentric Contractions
Do Muscles Function as Adaptable Locomotor Springs?
During normal animal movements, the forces produced by the locomotor muscles may be greater than, equal to or less than the forces acting on those muscles...
The Positive Effects of
Negative Work
Increased muscle strength and decreased fall risk in a frail elderly population
Muscles as Springs
Energy Storage in Muscle
One continuing research interest in our laboratory is the adaptive plasticity of vertebrate skeletal muscle
Acute Adaptation to Low Volume Eccentric Exercise
Many symptoms of eccentric muscle damage can be substantially reduced if a similar eccentric bout is repeated within several weeks of the initial bout.
 

Acute adaptation to low volume eccentric exercise.
Paddon-Jones D, Abernethy PJ.

School of Human Movement Studies, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia. djpaddon@utmb.edu

PURPOSE: Many symptoms of eccentric muscle damage can be substantially reduced if a similar eccentric bout is repeated within several weeks of the initial bout. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a nondamaging, low repetition, low volume eccentric exercise bout could also provide a protective/adaptive effect. METHODS: Subjects were assigned to a control (CON), eccentric exercise (ECC), or low volume familiarized eccentric exercise group (LV+ECC).

Before the study, the LV+ECC group performed six maximal eccentric contractions during two familiarization sessions. The main eccentric bout targeted the elbow flexor muscle group and consisted of 36 maximal eccentric contractions. Muscle soreness, upper arm girth, elbow angle, creatine kinase activity, isometric torque, and concentric and eccentric torque at 0.52 and 3.14 rad.s-1 were assessed 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 10 d postexercise. RESULTS: No evidence of muscle damage was observed as a result of the low volume eccentric bouts. Nevertheless, with the exception of muscle soreness and concentric torque, all variables recovered more rapidly in the LV+ECC group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Adaptation to eccentric exercise can occur in the absence of significant muscle damage. Exposure to a small number of nondamaging eccentric contractions can significantly improve recovery after a subsequent damaging eccentric bout. Furthermore, this adaptation appears to be mode-specific and not applicable to concentric contractions.