All About Eccentric Exercise: Get Stronger Doing Half Of An Exercise

Jun 25, 2025

Pack Matthews, founder of Ikaria Design and creator of the innovative Soul Seat, joins to discuss eccentric exercise, a method that enables you to gain strength efficiently. He and Katy explore how focusing on just the lowering phase of an exercise can lead to significant strength gains without the energy drain of full movements. They also dive into the design evolution of the Soul Seat, highlighting its role in promoting movement in daily life. This conversation blends biomechanics with practical advice, making strength training accessible for everyone.

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INSIGHT

Types of Muscle Contractions

Muscles contract concentrically by shortening as their attachment points come closer.
Eccentric contraction happens as muscles lengthen under control to resist movement while lowering a load.

INSIGHT

Muscle Sarcomere Mechanics

Muscle fibers slide like two hair combs, overlapping or extending to enable contraction or lengthening.
The sarcomere's actin, myosin, and titin proteins regulate how muscles generate force during these processes.

INSIGHT

Role of Titin in Eccentrics

Titin, a third protein in muscles, acts like a spring to protect muscles during controlled lengthening.
More muscle parts activate during eccentric contractions, enabling greater force generation than concentric ones.

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This Episode's Show Notes
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If you have heard about eccentric exercise but are unsure of the benefits, what it is or how to do it, this episode is your primer!

Eccentric muscle contractions generate more force with less energy than other types of muscle contraction and are therefore one of the best ways to get stronger. The mechanism of eccentric contraction within the muscle is a little complicated but Katy offers a simple analogy involving two hair combs!

Katy and Jeannette offer some examples of how you can incorporate eccentrics into your movement plan with the empowering message that you can get a lot stronger doing only half an exercise. Can’t do a pull-up? Not a problem, train the eccentric half of the movement—lowering down from the pull-up bar—and you will reap the strength rewards. ¢

Also in this episode, Katy speaks with Pack Matthews of Ikaria Design and creator of the Soul Seat®, the original and adjustable cross-legged chair. Katy is using one for her podcast set up and she and Pack talk about the origin of the chair, how the design has changed over time and Katy’s experience with it.

CHAPTERS

(0:07:08) - Muscle Contraction: Three types

(0:15:56) - Sarcomere: Actin, Myosin, and Titin

(0:26:57) - Get Stronger Doing Half of an Exercise

(0:41:00) - Listener Question: 'use it or lose it' brought to you by Earth Runners

(0:47:40) - Interview with Pack Matthews of Ikaria Design

BOOKS, ARTICLES AND RESEARCH MENTIONED

Want to Get Stronger and Avoid Injury, Try This, New York Times article on eccentrics
Eccentrics: Get Stronger Doing Half Of An Exercise, Katy Bowman
The Chair by Galen Cranz

MADE POSSIBLE BY OUR SPONSORS:

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