A resistance exercise has two portions, the positive, or concentric, and the negative, or eccentric. The concentrate is when the agonist, or the muscle which is the prime mover in the motion, is contracting, or shortening. The negative is when the agonist is lengthening. A simple example of negative resistance is when you are lowering a barbell curl. Before beginning any exercise, consult a physician.
Examples
More specific examples of negative resistance are when you are descending on the squat, lowering the bar when dead lifting, bench pressing, or performing the military press, and lowering yourself when you are performing the chin-up. It is important to lower under control, and not bounce out of the bottom of a movement. A slower negative will increase the time under tension of the exercise, which subjects your muscles to more stress that they will have to work harder to recover from.
Benefits
In addition to increased time under tension, the obvious benefit is that you can use more weight, which allows you to provide additional stress to the larger, stronger muscle fibers. More weight being moved can also improve your skill via improvements in coordination not only between the muscles, but also in muscle fiber recruitment. If you have to recruit more muscle fibers, which occurs under greater load, over time your ability to do so increases, which can lead to an increase in strength.
Disadvantages
The increase in both load and time under tension can have a negative affect on your recovery. Not only do negatives increase the degree of microtrauma to your muscle fibers, but they also place a greater strain on your endocrine system. This greater strain can result in a decrease in the production of testosterone, which is the primary anabolic, or growth, hormone. Therefore they need to be used sparingly. Also, you are handling weights which you really cannot lift, so there is an increased risk of injury, even with good technique. Remember, you are not just strengthening your muscles, but the connective tissue as well. Therefore negatives must be used with caution.
Uses
Do not design a program based entirely on negative resistance training because it is a quick way to not only over-train, but quite possibly also injure yourself. Ideally, if you are going to use them, simply go to positive failure on a set, when you can no longer raise the weight on your own, and have a spotter assist you in raising it, then lower it yourself under control. This will allow you to get in some additional work and time under tension without destroying your recovery ability. Some athletes should avoid them, as the increased need for recovery might compromise other training, which again puts you at risk for injury, which is something you should avoid at all costs.
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