Eccentric exercise is not an oddity and should become a conventional part of your well-armed attack on muscle weakness and poor balance. It can also help lower blood pressure and improve other markers of cardiovascular health, according to one review of studies in the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials.

What is Eccentric Exercise?

Eccentric exercise targets the lengthening phase of a movement, putting increased tension and pressure on specific muscles. For example, it’s accomplished while lowering a dumbbell or hand weight, walking downhill and doing a squat, which lengthens the muscles along the back of your leg and butt.

You can get eccentric using lower- and upper-body weight machines in the gym, with handheld weights or your own body weight. Start practicing these muscle extensions slowly. And tune into the amount of weight you can use (it may be more than when you’re focusing on muscle contraction). Then you can move on to plyometric exercises that rapidly combine eccentric motion with contraction.

Original reporting: Texarkana Gazette — read the source article.