Eccentric Only Push Up Overview
The eccentric only push up is a chest move. It works your chest. It also works your shoulders and triceps. The triceps are on the back of your arms. You need no gear at all. You lower yourself down very slowly. Then you reset on your knees and start again. The eccentric only push up is a great step toward full push-ups. The slow lower makes your muscles strong. It builds the strength to press your own weight. It is good for people who cannot do many push-ups yet. Use it on push day or chest day. It also fits at the end of a workout.
What Is The Point of the Eccentric Only Push Up?
The eccentric only push up exercise builds massive chest strength by focusing only on the lowering phase. You'll develop better muscle control and break through plateaus.
How To Do The Eccentric Only Push Up
- Start in a standard push-up position with your hands about shoulder width apart and your body in a straight line. Set your shoulders, brace your core, and squeeze your glutes so your body forms a rigid plank.
- Spread your fingers and grip the floor, and pull your shoulder blades down and slightly back. This stable setup protects your shoulders and gives you a strong base to lower from.
- Take a breath and brace your midsection hard before you begin. Your whole body should move as one unit, with no sagging hips or piking up.
- Begin lowering your chest toward the floor slowly, aiming for a three to five second descent. Fight gravity the whole way and keep your elbows tucked to about 45 degrees rather than flared wide.
- Keep your body in a straight line as you descend, resisting the urge to let your hips drop first. Feel your chest, shoulders, and triceps working hard to control the lowering.
- Continue until your chest lightly touches the floor, staying tight and controlled the entire way. Do not just collapse at the bottom, but own the descent all the way down.
- Once your chest reaches the floor, drop your knees and push back up from your knees to reset. This lets you skip the hard pressing phase and focus purely on the eccentric.
- Return to the full plank position and repeat the slow lowering for controlled reps. Aim for 5 to 10 quality descents, and stop when you can no longer control the tempo.
Eccentric Only Push Up Form Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line as you lower.
- Keep your core tight so your hips do not sag.
- Lower for a slow count of three to five.
- Keep your elbows at a safe angle, not flared wide.
- Lower your chest all the way to the floor.
- Reset on your knees, not with your feet.
- Keep your neck long, in line with your back.
- Breathe in as you lower. Breathe out as you reset.
- Squeeze your chest and arms to slow the drop.
Common Mistakes to Avoid for the Eccentric Only Push Up
- Lowering too fast instead of resisting gravity. The entire value of this exercise is the slow descent, so a quick drop wastes the rep. Aim for a controlled three to five second lowering and fight the whole way down.
- Letting your hips sag or pike. When your midsection gives out, your hips drop or rise and you lose the straight-line tension. Brace your core and squeeze your glutes so your body stays a rigid plank throughout.
- Flaring your elbows straight out to the sides. Wide elbows dump stress onto your shoulders and take work off your chest and triceps. Keep your elbows tucked to about 45 degrees as you lower.
- Not setting your shoulders before lowering. Starting with loose, shrugged shoulders puts the joint in a weak position under the slow load. Pull your shoulder blades down and back and keep your chest proud.
- Collapsing at the bottom instead of controlling it. Letting yourself crash the last few inches skips the hardest part of the descent. Stay tight and controlled all the way until your chest lightly touches the floor.
- Doing too many reps and losing quality. Grinding out fifteen fast, sloppy descents does far less than a few slow, hard ones. Cap the set around 5 to 10 controlled reps and stop when your tempo breaks down.
- Pressing back up from your feet and defeating the purpose. Pushing up in full plank turns it into a regular push-up and skips the eccentric focus. Drop to your knees to reset so you can save your energy for the descents.
- Rushing the reset and losing tension. Flopping back to the top position sloppily makes the next rep start from a poor position. Reset your plank, shoulders, and brace deliberately before each descent.
- Holding your breath through the long descent. Going breathless on a five second rep makes you tense and shaky. Exhale slowly and steadily as you lower so your brace stays intact.
- Dropping your head or looking forward. Craning your neck strains it and usually means your upper back has rounded. Keep your neck long and your gaze at the floor just ahead of your hands.
- Ignoring this as a path to full push-ups. Some people dismiss eccentrics as not real reps, but they build the exact strength you need. Treat them as serious training and your full push-ups will come faster.
Eccentric Only Push Up Workout Tips
- Aim for a slow three to five second descent every rep. The controlled lowering is the entire point and builds the strength that leads to full push-ups.
- Keep your body rigid from head to heels. Bracing your core and squeezing your glutes stops your hips from sagging and keeps tension where it belongs.
- Set your shoulders down and back before lowering. A stable shoulder position protects the joint and keeps you strong through the descent.
- Keep your elbows tucked to about 45 degrees. This angle protects your shoulders and loads your chest and triceps properly.
- Drop to your knees to reset after each rep. Pushing up from your knees lets you save your energy for the slow eccentrics that matter.
- Use eccentrics to build toward your first full push-up. Fighting gravity on the way down develops the exact strength you need to press up.
- Cap your sets at 5 to 10 quality reps. Once you can no longer control the descent, the set is done, since sloppy drops add little.
- Lower all the way until your chest lightly touches. A full range trains your chest through its complete stretch on every rep.
- Program it early in a session when you are fresh. Eccentrics are demanding, so do them before other pressing work while your strength is high.
- Exhale slowly through each descent. Controlled breathing keeps your brace tight over the full slow rep.
- Progress by slowing the descent further over time. Adding a second or two to your tempo is a simple way to keep overloading the movement.
- Pair them with knee push-ups or incline push-ups. Combining eccentrics with easier full-range presses attacks the push-up from both directions.
- Expect strength to build quickly from eccentric overload. You can control more on the way down than you can press up, which drives fast progress.
- Keep your neck long and gaze just ahead of your hands. A neutral neck protects it and keeps your upper back from rounding.
- Feel your chest, shoulders, and triceps controlling the descent. A strong mind-muscle connection makes each slow rep more effective.
- Stay consistent and your first full push-up will come. Trust the slow descents, and the pressing strength will follow with steady practice.
Questions & Comments
Be the first to ask a question about this exercise.