Still lifting weights? Why lowering weights is the key to boosting muscle strength

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And the third group performed only eccentric contractions. An inactive group served as a control group.

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Still lifting weights? Why lowering weights is the key to boosting muscle strength

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BY AYESHA GULZAR

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A team of researchers from Australia’s Edith Cowan University (ECU) demonstrated that lowering weights rather than lifting them may be a more efficient way to increase muscle mass.

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The study may allow time-poor fitness enthusiasts to cut their weightlifting routine in half and still see the same muscle-building results.

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Researchers from several universities and the team at ECU recruited three groups of people to perform different types of dumbbell curls twice a week for five weeks.

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One group performed both concentric and eccentric contractions. Another focused exclusively on concentric contractions.

And the third group performed only eccentric contractions. An inactive group served as a control group.

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Results showed that those who only lowered the weights saw the same muscle improvements as participants who both raised and lowered the weights.

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Even more interesting is that the eccentric-only group exhibited greater increases in muscle thickness, 7.2% compared to 5.4% seen in the concentric-eccentric group.

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More is in the article.

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