Hypertrophic Effects of Concentric vs. Eccentric Muscle Actions: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Abstract
Schoenfeld, BJ, Ogborn, DI, Vigotsky, AD, Franchi, MV, and Krieger, JW. Hypertrophic effects of concentric vs. eccentric muscle actions: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Strength Cond Res 31(9): 2599-2608, 2017-Controversy exists as to whether different dynamic muscle actions produce divergent hypertrophic responses. The purpose of this paper was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials comparing the hypertrophic effects of concentric vs. eccentric training in healthy adults after regimented resistance training (RT). Studies were deemed eligible for inclusion if they met the following criteria: (a) were an experimental trial published in an English-language refereed journal; (b) directly compared concentric and eccentric actions without the use of external implements (i.e., blood pressure cuffs) and all other RT variables equivalent; (c) measured morphologic changes using biopsy, imaging (magnetic resonance imaging, computerized tomography, or ultrasound), bioelectrical impedance, and/or densitometry; (d) had a minimum duration of 6 weeks; and (e) used human participants without musculoskeletal injury or any health condition that could directly, or through the medications associated with the management of said condition, be expected to impact the hypertrophic response to resistance exercise. A systematic literature search determined that 15 studies met inclusion criteria. Results showed that eccentric muscle actions resulted in…
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Muscle hypertrophy is enhanced by eccentric overload.
“Muscle hypertrophy was enhanced by higher volumes (≥10 sets/wk) and eccentric overload.”
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“weight/load [10], volume/sets [11,12], rest intervals between sets [13,14], repetition duration [15,16], muscle action [17], failure [18].”
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ResultEccentric Exercise and Muscle Damage: An Introductory Guide
Paschalis, V., Margaritelis, N., Chatzinikolaou, P., Theodorou, A., & Nikolaidis, M. (2026) · Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology · doi:10.3390/jfmk11020139 · Cited by 2
Kadota, M., Nakamura, M., Yoshida, R., & Takeuchi, K. (2025) · Frontiers in Sports and Active Living · doi:10.3389/fspor.2025.1640202 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Kirk, B. J. C., Mavropalias, G., Blazevich, A., Wilkie, J. C., Molan, A., & Nosaka, K. (2025) · European Journal of Applied Physiology · doi:10.1007/s00421-025-05989-7 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Eccentric exercise has been shown to improve muscle strength (Roig et al. 2009; Schoenfeld et al. 2017) and flexibility (Kay et al. 2023; Diong et al. 2022), with lower cardiovascular strain and perceived effort compared to concentric-focused or traditional resistance training (Hol-lander et al.…”
Beato, M., Hughes, J., Taber, C. B., Baumert, P., & Suchomel, T. J. (2025) · Strength & Conditioning Journal · doi:10.1519/ssc.0000000000000896 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
da Silva, L. S. L., Gonçalves, L. D. S., Campos, P. H. A., Benjamim, C. J. R., Tasinafo, M., de Lima, L. D., Bueno, C., & Alves, C. P. D. L. (2025) · Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research · doi:10.1519/jsc.0000000000004981 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“In this sense, our study contrasts with the previous meta-analysis of Schoenfeld et al. (55), which differs in the number of studies included ( n 5 15), inclusion criteria (especially regarding hypertrophy measures), number of subgroup/sensitivity analysis, and the main effects (ES: 2 0.27 [95% CI:…”
InfluentialModalities of Exercise Training in Cardiac Rehabilitation
Vanhees, L., & Hansen, D. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-35374-2_42
Tons of Resistance Exercise Research, But Does it Apply to Highly Trained Athletes?
Fry, A. C., Schechter, E. G. K., Johnson, Q. R., & Čabarkapa, D. (2026) · Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research · doi:10.1519/jsc.0000000000005603 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Maia, C., Pérez, D. I. V., Teixeira, R. P. A., Brito, C., Aedo-Muñoz, E., & Miarka, B. (2026) · Sports · doi:10.3390/sports14030119 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Schoenfeld et al. [33] reported greater hypertrophic effects with ECC training, reinforcing our pooled evidence of structural advantages across clinical and athletic cohorts.”
Preferred reporting items for resistance exercise studies (PRIRES) explanation and elaboration
Lin, T.-Y., Chueh, T.-Y., & Hung, T.-M. (2025) · Jurnal sport science · doi:10.1080/02640414.2025.2578030 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Leitão, B. F., Albarello, J., Halmenschlager, G. H., Mannarino, P., Nunes, J. P., de Salles, B. D., & Matta, T. T. (2025) · Sport Sciences for Health · doi:10.1007/s11332-025-01530-7 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Likewise, eccentric contractions induce equal or greater hypertrophy than concentric ones [49, 51], yet concentric movements induce greater swelling [30].”
Nunes, J. P., Nosaka, K., & Blazevich, A. (2025) · medRxiv · doi:10.1111/sms.70166 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Unlike reports in muscles such as the vastus lateralis [7, 10, 12], no training mode-dependent region-specific growth was found, possibly because regional hypertrophy seems more pronounced in muscles with greater architectural variation (e.g., vastus lateralis [13]), where distinct regions…”
Evidence-Based Strength Training: Best Practices for Enhancing Athletic Performance
Cao, Y.-L., & Li, J.-W. (2025) · International Journal of Education and Humanities · doi:10.58557/(ijeh).v5i2.298 · Cited by 1
“However, statistical significance was not reached (Schoenfeld et al., 2017).”
InfluentialWeldon, A., Dos'santos, T., Bright, T. E., Sapstead, G., Beato, M., & Lincoln, M. A. (2025) · Strength & Conditioning Journal · doi:10.1519/ssc.0000000000000875 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Ferreira, R. M., Martins, P. N., Nunes, H., Fernandes, L. G., Amorim, C., & Ferreira, L. M. A. (2024) · Muscles · doi:10.3390/muscles3030023 · Cited by 1
Papst, R. R., Ribeiro, A. S., & Polito, M. D. (2024) · Science & Sports · doi:10.1016/j.scispo.2023.07.003 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Epidemiology of injuries in resistance training practitioners - a prospective study
Batista, G. D. S., Galvão, L. L., da Silva, W. F., Morais, N., Viana, R., dos Santos, R. D., de Lira, C. D., & Santos, D. D. A. T. (2025) · Revista Brasileira de Cineantropometria & Desempenho Humano · doi:10.1590/1980-0037.2025v27e99383 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Shibata, K., Yamaguchi, T., Takizawa, K., & Nosaka, K. (2026) · Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research · doi:10.1519/jsc.0000000000005685
Hao, M.-S., Qi, H.-N., Zhao, L., & Han, W. (2026) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0354725
“…studies have mostly focused on the effects of TUT in each phase on strength, with eccentric contraction tempo receiving particular atten-tion—owing to its higher efficiency in promoting protein synthesis responses and positively regulating anabolic signaling pathways and gene expression [23].”
Irawan, R., Dewi, R. C., Bakti, A. P., Rimawati, N., Tualeka, A., & Alayyannur, P. (2026) · Physical Education Theory and Methodology · doi:10.17309/tmfv.2026.3.20
Vila, H., Ferragut, C., Chirosa, L., Serrano-Gómez, V., García-García, Ó., Jérez-Mayorga, D., Rodríguez-Perea, Á., & Cancela, J. (2026) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare14030303
“The eccentric phase allows training with heavier loads—20% to 50% greater than the concentric contractions [19].”
Jeong, N., Kim, D., Hwang, S., & Son, J. (2025) · Sensors · doi:10.3390/s25082455
“However, recent studies have started exploring its potential for inducing eccentric contractions, a mode of muscle activation known for its superior effects on strength and hypertrophy [10,11].”
Muscle Volume Gain Following 20 Training Sessions on an Eccentric Arm-Crank Ergometer
Pfrunder, L., Vallesi, V., Hertig-Godeschalk, A., Zito, G., Verma, R. K., Perret, C., & Ammann, F. (2025) · International Journal of Sports Medicine · doi:10.1055/a-2688-7592
Lower Extremity Electromyography During Submaximal Squats with Varying Moments of Inertia
Mitchinson, C. J., Caruso, J. F., Best, S. A., & Bollinger, L. M. (2025) · Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance · doi:10.3357/amhp.6373.2025 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Dutaillis, B., Maniar, N., Opar, D., Hickey, J., & Timmins, R. (2021) · Sports Medicine · doi:10.1007/s40279-021-01577-9
Piri, H. (2019) · doi:10.22054/nass.2019.10531
“Previous studies have shown that ET is more effective at increasing muscle strength and hypertrophy in comparison to concentric training (Kaminski et al., 1998; Roig et al., 2009; Schoenfeld et al., 2017).”
BackgroundÜnlü, G., & Koçak, S. (2018) · Turkish Journal of Sport and Exercise · doi:10.15314/tsed.487925
“(22) suggested in the most recent review study that training at volitionally very slow durations (>10s per repetition) is inferior from a hypertrophy standpoint, although a lack of controlled studies on the topic makes it difficult to draw definitive conclusions.”
Background
- Authors
- Schoenfeld, B. J., Ogborn, D. I., Vigotsky, A. D., Franchi, M. V., & Krieger, J. W.
- Affiliations
- Lehman College (US)
- Total Rehabilitation and Sports Injuries Clinic, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada;
- Northwestern University (US)
- University of Nottingham (GB)
- Weightology, LLC, Issaquah, Washington
- Corresponding author
- Schoenfeld, Brad J.
- Venue
- Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
- Published
- 2017-09
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 2599-2608
- ISSN
- 1064-8011 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2611116270
- Cited by
- 122
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 3
- FWCI
- 1.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Padua Research Archive (University of Padova) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports Performance and Training
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Muscle metabolism and nutrition
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
- Keywords
- muscle hypertrophy, eccentric training, concentric training, resistance training, muscle growth, muscle fiber cross-sectional area
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Biopsy, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Exercise, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Electric Impedance, Muscle, Skeletal, Resistance Training
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