No one wants to deal with an injury.

Whether you're an athlete, weekend warrior, or active ager, the one thing that can derail your routine more than anything is an injury.

Not only do injuries limit sport participation for athletes, but did you know that accidental injury is one of the leading causes of death in the developed world?

One of the most important things you can do to limit injury is to make sure you are including eccentric focused strength training drills.

What is eccentric strength training?

Simply put, eccentric refers to the muscle being strengthened WHILE the muscle is lengthening.

Imagine you're performing a biceps curl. When you lift the dumbbell, the biceps muscle is contracting (shortening). However, when you lower the weight, the biceps muscle is lengthening. When this happens, this is known as the eccentric portion of the strength exercise. In order to lower the weight with control, it requires the muscles to actively fight against gravity.

One of the key benefits of focusing on this type of work is that it trains the muscles to become more resilient. Eccentric training helps train the muscles to absorb more stress, strain, and shock. In other words, it's kind of like beefing up the brakes on your system. Eccentric training allows you to decelerate faster and absorb forces more readily.

For example, did you know when you descend the stairs or you are walking down a slope, it requires a good amount of eccentric quad strength? Without that strength, you're more prone to fall and have an accident. The same is true for a high level athlete. If you're sprinting really fast and need to stop on a dime, your lower body muscles need to be able to eccentrically load and slow your body down to change direction.