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Bench Press AEL: Heavier Eccentrics Don’t Automatically Mean Better Concentrics

Bench Press AEL: Heavier Eccentrics Don’t Automatically Mean Better Concentrics

Coaches love AEL for its promise: overload the eccentric to prime a faster, more powerful concentric.

This paper tests that idea on the bench press with realistic training loads.

Eccentric overloading has demonstrated potentiating effects on subsequent concentric performance in previous research, although reported effects are inconsistent.

This study used a clean loading design to test the effects of weight releasers on bench press performance.