Written by Finlay Mead

In the world of men’s fitness, the quest for achieving optimal muscle growth is of paramount importance. Within said quest, one particular hormone is the proverbial holy grail: the imaginatively named ‘Growth Hormone’ (GH). Lifters have long sought out ways to enhance the levels of growth hormone in their bodies, but a study conducted by Brazilian scientists has revealed a surprisingly simple technique that can amplify GH levels by a staggering 1,700%.

If you want to look anything like Chris Hemsworth or Arnold Schwarzenegger — two titans of the movie industry who were recently seen working out together in a blossoming bromance — then you’ll want to make sure that not only are you working out regularly, eating all the best stuff, and getting requisite sleep, but that every aspect of your training is optimised for muscle growth. Well, this little-known piece of scientific data could be the boost to your bulk that you’ve been waiting for.

It turns out that the key to all of this could be as simple as your lifting speed: Brazilian researchers have discovered that the impact of the eccentric part of every weighted rep — for those unfamiliar with the terminology, the ‘eccentric phase’ refers to the lowering of weights, while the ‘concentric phase’ corresponds to the lifting motion — could be the ultimate catalyst for GH levels and subsequent muscle growth.

GH, whether created naturally or ingested via supplements has a number of potential benefits, including rapid fat loss as well as the aforementioned muscle growth, but while previous studies had already suggested that controlled eccentric movements yielded superior results in terms of protein synthesis and recruitment of new muscle cells, this takes things to an entirely different level.

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Here’s how the study worked: to investigate the extent of GH release and the ideal pace of lowering weights, scientists enlisted sixteen experienced weightlifters before dividing them into two groups. Both groups performed four sets of bench press exercises at 70% of their one-repetition maximum.

The first group executed the reps in the manner that most of us do, taking roughly one second to lower the weight. Meanwhile, the second group adopted a far slower, more deliberate pace, extending the eccentric phase to three whole seconds.

And the results pretty much speak for themselves: the researchers measured lactic acid and GH levels in all participants before and after the workout. Astonishingly, the group employing the slower eccentric phase enjoyed massively increased levels of GH; fifteen minutes post-workout, the GH levels of the eccentric lifters were seventeen times greater than those of their quick-lifting counterparts. So, for those looking for a quick fix for packing on the pounds, this really might just be your lucky day.

Though the implications for muscle growth may seem obvious, it’s worth teasing them out: drawing on their findings, scientists concluded that manipulating eccentric movement speed could induce a greater acute metabolic stress and GH response, leading to faster, more intense muscular change.

So, if you’re willing to experiment with your training plan, why not try integrating two- to six-week workout phases featuring three-second eccentrics? If you’re looking to blow up one particular body part, then you could just incorporate this technique for specific exercises. Or, if you’re looking for a whole-body effect, you can try it from start to finish. Either way, you’re in for some easy gains.