What kind of contraction is a push up

The origin and the insertion move further away from each other. An eccentric contraction provides the control of a movement on the downward phase and it works to resist the force of gravity.

Left: Concentric contraction - the biceps are contracting concentrically to move the weights upwards; Right: Eccentric contraction - the biceps are contracting eccentrically to lower the weights against resistance Isometric contraction — this involves a muscle producing tension but staying the same length. A wider hand placement, and your shoulders and triceps are unable to contribute to the same degree, thus placing greater emphasis on your chest.

Do pushups with your feet elevated, and you place a greater load on our upper chest and shoulders. Kim Nunley has been screenwriting and working as an online health and fitness writer since Prior to writing full-time, she worked as a strength coach, athletic coach and college instructor. She holds a master's degree in kinesiology from California State University, Fullerton.

Live Healthy Fitness. So while the quadriceps muscles are contracting concentrically during the upward phase of the squat, and eccentrically during the downward phase, many of the deeper muscles of the hip contract isometrically to stabilise the hip joint during the movement.

Concentric and eccentric are also terms used to describe the phase of a movement. The concentric phase is the phase of the movement that is overcoming gravity or load, while the eccentric phase is the phase resisting gravity or load. So for push ups the concentric phase is the up phase where gravity is overcome, and the eccentric phase is the downward phase where gravity is resisted.

Make writing personal training programs easy with these custom designed exercise templates, and keep your clients focused and progressing. Pain-free clients are happy clients. Claim your free copy of the client back care guide today. Your clients will thank you for it! Link to Client Back Care Guide. All rights reserved. Search Site only in current section. Advanced Search…. Concentric, eccentric and isometric? Agonist, antagonist, synergist and fixator? If you want to know what these terms mean in 'plain english' then it is all revealed right here.