Isometrics and How We Use Them

     Isometric training has been practiced for centuries. The earliest adopters included martial artists in India, China, and Japan, as well as Buddhist monks and yogis. Evidence suggests that isometric exercises date back as far as 3000 BC, with ancient practitioners developing static postures for both physical conditioning and spiritual or ritual purposes. Today, isometric exercises are widely used in rehabilitation and are a standard approach in physical therapy. Recent research supports the idea that this safe training method can promote muscle growth and improve joint and tendon health. If you train at the studio, you have experienced some form of isometric training within your program.

     Isometric training involves exercises in which muscles contract and generate force without changing length or causing movement at the joint. In other words, the muscle remains at a constant length under tension, and the joint angle does not change during the contraction. The term "isometric" comes from the Greek words isos (equal) and metria (measuring). One benefit of isometric exercise is that it requires minimal, if any, equipment, making it accessible and commonly used in school gym classes. For many, their first exposure to isometrics is the wall sit. In this exercise, you position your back against a wall with your knees and hips at a ninety-degree angle and your thighs parallel to the floor. The resistance comes from gravity. You hold this position for a set period, starting at 10 seconds and potentially exceeding one minute.

Within isometric training, there are three primary types of muscle contractions. These can be combined to significantly increase neurological response and muscle fiber recruitment, leading to greater force production:

Static Contraction: In this type, you contract the muscle without moving or pushing against anything. Bodybuilders often use this when posing.

Yielding Contraction: This involves holding a position against resistance, stimulating higher muscle fiber recruitment. Examples include holding the top position of a pull-up or a plank.

Overcoming Contraction: The most powerful type, this involves pushing or pulling against an immovable object, such as pressing against a wall.

     Isometric exercises have also shown positive results in increasing mobility. In Supertraining: A Scientific Teaching Method for Strength, Endurance, and Weight Training, author Mel Siff, PhD, cites research with renowned Russian sports scientist Yuri Verkhoshansky: “All fitness conditioning, including flexibility enhancement, relies predominantly on neuromuscular stimulation.” Professional athletes across multiple sports now incorporate isometric stretching to increase mobility and minimize injury risk.

     A few examples of how we use isometrics at the studio are:

• Holding the top position (hip extension) of a single leg bridge for five seconds. Many people never reach full hip extension when performing bridges. The usage of isometrics in this drill allows the user to reach full hip extension, which generate a full contraction of the glutes.

• Holding the bottom position of a lunge for thirty seconds. Lunges, and all their variations, are one of the more challenging drills we program into workouts. What makes them a good exercise, deceleration, is also what makes it tough for people to perform them with good technique. Using an isometric in the mid-range of the drill allows people to “put the brakes on” and execute with perfect form.

•  Using Mobility Sticks, holding and pressing your foot against the stick laterally for a five second hold. It’s common for people to have trouble engaging some of their smaller muscle groups, such as gluteus medius. What these smaller muscles lack in shear size, they make up for in responsibility. The gluteus medius is a key stabilizer of the pelvis. Its main function, beyond hip abduction and rotation, is to maintain pelvic stability, especially during activities that involve single-leg weight bearing such as walking, running, and standing on one leg. An internationally recognized physical therapist, Diane Lee, writes in her book, The Pelvic Girdle, the importance of training the gluteus medius for optimal function and stability of the lumbopelvic-hip complex. She highlights that the primary function of this region is to safely transfer loads, while meeting the demands of movement and control.

     Another critical reason we like to use isometrics at the studio is because they are a tool we can use with anyone. They play a role with helping beginners, those nursing an injury, to increasing difficulty in an exercise for the advanced. That’s important because part of our job is to meet our members where they are.