People lifting weights in the gym should focus harder while putting the weights down, rather than simply during lifting them, reveals a new study by researchers at Australia’s Edith Cowan University, reported first by Futurism.
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As per the research, those who just lower weights can achieve the same results as those who both lift and lower them, even after doing just half of the work.
The findings support previous research by ECU that showed low-rep but regular or lengthening muscle contraction as opposed to simply lifting and holding a weight is the best way to increase muscle strength and size.
For their most recent study, researchers segregated participants into four groups of 14. From these, three groups were asked to perform dumbbell curls just twice a week over a five-week period, but with some variation. One group was asked to just lower the weights, while the other was just asked to lift them and the third group did the conventional lifting and lowering. The fourth group was a control, tasked with doing nothing.
The results were surprising. Even though all groups gained some kind of benefit, the team that only lifted saw improvements only in their concentric strength. The other two groups — the group that only lowered the dumbbells and the group that did both — improved in their concentric, eccentric and isometric strength.
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However, from the two, the team that only lowered the dumbbells boasted a 7.2 percent gain in swelling compared to the 5.4 percent increase in the group that did both.
ECU Professor and study co-author Ken Nosaka said in a statement, “In the case of a dumbbell curl many people may believe the lifting action provides the most benefit or at least some benefit, but we found concentric muscle contractions contributed little to the training effects.”
Nosaka added, “With the small amount of daily exercise needed to see results, people don’t necessarily even have to go to the gym. They can incorporate eccentric exercise into their everyday routine.”
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