Isometrics: Strength Made Simple

Isometric exercises have almost become a lost art so to speak.  They are incredibly effective exercises that can lead to big increases in strength, require little to no equipment, are very safe, and can be easily incorporated into almost any fitness routine.  So, what are they?

Isometrics are maximal contractions of a muscle or group without a lengthening or shortening of the actual muscle fiber.  ​

​Imagine you are pressing as hard as you can against a wall or you’re pressing your hands together as hard as you can, these are isometric exercises.  What I love about isometrics is that they can teach you to use maximal force in ways that other exercises might not challenge you to do.  For example, if you’re doing a bicep curl with a bar for reps with good form, you’ll probably eventually fatigue the bicep muscles.  Now, imagine if you were told to get in a curl position and curl up as hard as you possibly could for 30 seconds on a bar that was fixed into a position that would not move.  First, your prime movers the biceps will likely fatigue, then secondary muscles and stabilizers like the brachialis, brachioradialis, and forearm muscles will start to be utilized with maximum intensity until they too fatigue or until the 30 seconds is up.  

So what’s the difference here?  Well, with the traditional bicep curls, these secondary muscles are still being used but not to the extent that they are with the isometric curl.  What the isometric curl is teaching you to do is contract ALL muscles used in a concentric curling motion to their maximum output.  This is where the strength gains come from and really are much more applicable in activities of daily living.  If you’re carrying multiple bags of groceries on each arm because an extra trip to the car just isn’t how you roll, then you better believe you’ll be using more muscles in the arm than just your biceps.  In fact, most activities that we do in our daily lives require the use of multiple muscles working together at once to produce strength and force.  Hence, exercises that train the body to respond in this manner are great at increasing strength, i.e., isometrics.  


I actually like to use isometrics in conjunction with other exercises to help facilitate fatigue and build strength.  For example, if I’m using a cable pulley machine and am doing curls with it, I might move the pin to the bottom of the weight stack to where I cannot move it and hold that curl position, curling upward as hard as I possibly can for 30 seconds.  Immediately as soon as that 30 seconds is up, I’ll lower the weight and then perform 10 regular curls.  Try doing this 3 times through and experience a burn unlike any other.  Another added benefit to incorporating these type of isometric movements into a routine is that since they do help facilitate fatigue by increasing the muscles time under tension, they can be great if you don’t have a whole lot of time to workout but still want to get the most bang for your buck.

You can use this same format for all of the muscle groups of the body.  For example, using the same cable pulley machine as the one for the biceps  you could easily do triceps pulldowns.  Set the pin at the bottom of the weight stack and contact the triceps as hard as you can pulling down, then lighten the weight and knock out 10 reps.  Wanna burn out the shoulders? Grab you a pair of dumbbells and find you a doorway.  Standing in the middle of the doorway, press the tops of your hands and wrist as hard as you can to your sides and hold it for 10-30 seconds then immediately grab your dumbbells and rep off 10 lateral raises.  What about the lower body?  Easy.  Find you a wall and do a wall sit for 30 seconds- 1 minute, and then either grab you a barbell or some dumbbells, and rep off 10 squats.  Abs?  Why certainly.  A plank hold is nothing more than an isometric contraction of the abs.  Trying holding plank for 30 seconds, then from that position, raise your butt and hips up and down for 10 reps, and if you’re still feeling strong after that, hold for another 30 seconds or until failure.  The other two big, major muscle groups of the chest and back aren’t exceptions either.  For the chest you could go down into the push-up position, and then lower yourself halfway and hold for 30 seconds, followed immediately by 10 push-ups or 10 bench presses.  Need more resistance?  Put your feet in a chair or even go down half way from a hand stand push-up position.  The back isn’t immune to the effects of a good isometric hold either.  There are lots of different positions one could do to target the upper, middle, and lower back.  For example, you could do a double arm row with the cable machine.  Set the weight pin to where those stacks will not move and pull with all of your might.  Then drop the weight and get your 10 reps in.  You could even do a row with the TRX cables, holding at the top of the row for 30 seconds and then lowering yourself up and down for 10 reps.  I recommend doing any of these sequences at 3 times through with as little rest in between sets as you can manage. 

Overall, these exercises are very easy to do, in terms of not needing much space or equipment, and can really take your strength to the next level.  If you feel like you’ve hit a plateau in your current routine or just can’t seem to break your current PR, I suggest working in isometrics somewhere in your routine, you just might be pleasantly surprised with the results.