Eccentric exercise in rehabilitation: safety, feasibility, and application

Abstract

This nonexhaustive mini-review reports on the application of eccentric exercise in various rehabilitation populations. The two defining properties of eccentric muscle contractions—a potential for high muscle-force production at an energy cost that is uniquely low—are revisited and formatted as exercise countermeasures to muscle atrophy, weakness, and deficits in physical function. Following a dual-phase implementation, eccentric exercise that induces rehabilitation benefits without muscle damage, thereby making it both safe and feasible in rehabilitation, is described. Clinical considerations, algorithms of exercise progression, and suggested modes of eccentric exercise are presented.