Isometric Wisdom
Isometrics are a vastly underused form of strength training, and we are aiming to change that.
Not only do they typically require no equipment or tools, allowing them to be performed almost anywhere, they are a great way for people to get familiar with the often unfamiliar feeling of a contraction that is so critical to every form of strength training.
For these reasons, among many others, we recommend that both beginning and experienced exercisers alike start utilizing this database with isometrics.
“Iso-metric” can seem like a daunting word to some, but in reality all it means is “a non-moving exercise.” You have almost certainly done isometrics before, with common examples being things like planks and wall sits.
They are dangerously simple - take up and maintain a position for a predetermined amount of time (5sec, 10sec, 30sec, 45sec, etc.), all the while squeezing the important muscle groups you are trying to target in that isometric, and funneling that contraction force into a direction where you meet an immovable object.
There are still pitfalls to watch out for, and crucial details to keep in mind which can either ruin or maximize an isometric (also referred to as an iso), respectively.
#1 - intention
Intention, intention, intention - this is perhaps the most crucial part of the isometric, of any exercise really! This can make or break the exercise entirely.
Be wary of just trying to push into something without any definite idea of what muscles you are using. I can lay on my back, pushing my leg into a doorframe, and perform that push with at least a dozen different intentions. Make sure to have a clear definition of what muscles you want to use to generate that force, how you are trying to generate that push, before you perform the isometric.
For example, in the above situation, of laying on my back pushing my leg into a doorframe attempting to do an isometric for my abductors (glute med and minimus, outside of the hip). If I meet the door frame with my lower leg, I could mistakenly bend my knee while pushing, distributing the force around through my quads, my hip rotators, and my hip flexors. I could hike my pelvis up to generate more force, thereby taking more responsibility onto my obliques and side benders rather than my lateral glutes.
Get very clear on what muscle you want to target, use the Visuals section here to understand how that muscle works and how it performs that isometric, and stay tuned over the duration of the isometric(s) to make sure that muscle stays in the firing line the entire time!
#2 - Direction of push/pull
This kinda goes with intention, but is important enough to have its own subheading.
Because you are not actually moving anywhere during an iso, it is really easy to lose just enough focus and start pushing or pulling in a direction that can entirely change the muscles involved. Be aware that even though you are in the same position throughout the iso, it becomes increasingly likely that your body will try to push slightly different ways the longer you hold it as fatigue sets in and your brain tries to bring other muscles in to spread the responsibility.
Additionally, if you start the iso without pushing/pulling the correct direction, it is very difficult to change that during the iso and you would be best suited restarting from a relaxed position. This is one of the main reasons why we strongly suggest beginning the iso with a very low amount of effort and slowly ramping it up to the desired effort over the duration of the exercise, rather than jumping straight in trying to push with 100%, 75%, even as low as 20%.
#3 - Intensity
Iso positions, directions of push/pull, contractions, etc. will remain largely the same. However, intensity choices are up to you, based on how you feel in general as well as how you feel on the first set of an iso. Progression will be based on increasing intensity of your isos.
Intensity can be manipulated in two main ways.
Amount of time
Amount of effort
We strongly suggest NOT upping both time and effort in the same iso. Choose one of the two to increase if the first set of an iso felt really good: you felt the contraction in the desired area without any negative sensations like pain, tightness, pinchy-ness, etc.
If you did feel any negative sensations, try decreasing both time and effort until you can complete a set of whatever duration and intensity, no matter how minimal, without any of those negative sensations. Then, slowly increase one of the two as long as it continues to feel good.
You can choose to make your goal with an iso to reach a certain amount of time, call it 45seconds, consistently feeling good without increasing the intensity and slowly upping the time as you get stronger.
Alternatively, you can choose to make your goal to be able to push 100% for 10 seconds and slowly increase the effort without increasing the duration. Once you reach that goal, you would then want to set a new goal with more time or effort (whichever one previously remained consistent) and take the previous goal back down to a reasonable amount.
For example, if your goal was to reach 60sec of a trunk rotation isometric with 25% intensity, and you are currently at 30 seconds before something goes array, you would slowly begin increasing that duration little by little (as long as it feels good increasing it, and we are talking about doing so over the course of several weeks or months) WITHOUT increasing the intensity above 25%.
Upon reaching 60seconds, you would then make sure you can execute that consistently (say 5-7 different days, different workouts, etc.) and then you could take the duration back down to 30sec and make your new goal to reach 60sec with 50% intensity, beginning with 30sec again and following that same trajectory.
#4 - Position
An iso, as mentioned before, is performed in the same position throughout the duration of the exercise.
There are two facets to this important concept:
The position you choose to execute the iso
Maintaining the position you chose throughout the iso
One way to think of isometrics are as a single frame of a video. A video is a collection of pictures in sequence, just like a motion is a collection of positions in sequence.
In most of the iso videos, we recommend doing the iso from the MIDDLE of the range of motion. For example, if you can slide your leg out to the side (abduction) 30 degrees from resting, and can slide it in (adduction) 10 degrees from resting, you would have 40 degrees of available motion to do an isometric in both adduction and abduction.
Especially in the beginning, there is more likelihood that something will go array as you get closer to the end of a motion. To use the previous example, it is going to be easier and safer to perform an abduction isometric from the middle of that 40 degree range.
As you start approaching the end of the motion of abduction (leg slid more out to the side) it becomes increasingly likely that you will get pain, crampy sensations, or be unable to find the contraction.
Now, as you begin to develop consistency, familiarity, and strength in doing that abduction iso, you can start to progress the iso by GRADUALLY getting closer to the end of the motion (leg slid more out to the side) before making contact with the wall and beginning the contraction count.
Don’t rush this. If you have been performing the abduction iso with your leg in the middle of that 40 degree total range, and you can have been consistently successful in that position, you can explore performing the iso from maybe 4-5 degrees further out for awhile until you develop the same consistent success in that position.
It is not the amount of degrees of increase that is important, but the percentage of the entire motion that you attempt to increase. Some motions (e.g. knee extension and flexion) have somewhere around 120 degrees of total motion, so the amount of degrees you attempt to progress at once will be more than other motions where you have 10 or 15 degrees of total motion (e.g. side bend or scapular downward rotation). As a general rule, increasing by 10% or less should be safe.
But it is rarely if ever recommended to attempt performing the isometric from the very furthest part of the motion, as this is the riskiest position and you can get plenty of benefit from doing it slightly outside of that end with much less risk.
The second facet of position to pay attention to is making sure you strictly maintain the position you have chosen throughout the ENTIRE duration of the iso.
It is easy to lose focus and ever so slightly begin to creep out of the position in which you are supposed to be doing the iso. As you get further into the contraction count for that iso, your body will fatigue in that position and attempt to flutter out of the position for a number of reasons.
Be intensely aware of this tendency and if you feel yourself begin to move out of the spot you chose, it might be best to take a break at that time, let the muscles recover, and try it again after your rest.
One of the easiest ways to mess up maintaining the same position is too quickly going from relaxed to contracting with a high amount of effort. This is why beginning with 0% effort (resting) and slowly ramping up, slowly increasing the effort until you get to the percentage you want to use for the so is so important.
It’s not just the part(s) of your body participating in the iso that must remain in the same position. Our bodies are exceptional at compensating to take the responsibility off of one area and distribute it across many places. It does that as a survival tactic so you will always have something left in the tank in case a tiger or wooly mammoth happens to chase you. Most of us don’t need to worry about that anymore.
We are TRYING to challenge something specifically in order to grow and improve its ability, so we have to be hyper aware of ANY part of our body trying to move ANYWHERE besides where it is at rest.
It is therefore of utmost importance to make sure NOTHING moves once you begin contracting and counting your time spent doing that iso.
In summary, take up a position in the middle of the total range when you first start using these isos, and make sure NOTHING moves when you begin contracting and increasing your effort. Over time you can slowly start exploring new positions to do the isos from, still making sure NOTHING moves out of your resting position as you begin the iso.
