Today’s post is a quick one offering up a bit of training advice that you may find useful. As my buddy PK says, it’s a nugget of peak performance. Might even be a pearl of training wisdom. Whatever.
Isometrics have great value in training and they should be a part of your conditioning system. I hesitate to use the term exercise routine because when these endeavors get too routinized, we can fall into a rut which inadvertently omits necessary training components. Anyhoo, there are lots of elements we want to touch on in training throughout the year, and frequently visiting isometrics is solid gold.
First the definition of isometric training. An isometric contraction is one in which a muscle or group of muscles (or hell, most of the body in some cases) generates force but does not appreciably change in length. There is little to no movement across the joint(s). At TLA we use two simple and popular designations to describe isometrics during resistance training. This applies to many bodyweight, machine, and free weight movements. Those terms are overcoming and yielding isometrics.
I could care less if the nitpick police get after me for oversimplifying. Having a basic system that’s easy to understand and use, and which provides great results…is what we’re all about here.
You can think of overcoming isometrics as trying (as hard as you can) to move an immovable object. This involves exerting max force in a position which cannot be overcome. Here’s a classic example. You are standing with a barbell in the rack, and you’ve set pins above the bar at about mid-range in an overhead press. You press into the pins and give an all-out effort for about 5 seconds. Then you lower and rest until getting after it again. Unless you are Brian Shaw or Mitchell Hooper (or other massive Strongmen), that rack ain’t gonna move. It’s immovable. You tried your best to overcome it, but that didn’t happen.
Overcoming iso’s have been shown to significantly increase strength at the specific joint angle they are utilized. Pretty much makes sense. Practicing max output in a certain range or position gets you better at doing exactly that. The criteria I use with my athletes is if you are in an overcoming iso for more than 5 seconds, it’s no longer max, not overcoming, and of diminishing value. Actually, true max force is probably only about 2 seconds but we allow for a slight ramp up and down for 1.5 seconds on either side. Hitting 5-10 sets of this magic, in 2-3 exercises, 2-3 times per week…doesn’t take much time, is incredibly beneficial, and very safe when you set things up correctly and progress appropriately.
Yielding iso’s, on the other hand, are essentially the act of trying to resist a force which is initially manageable, but that eventually becomes irresistible. Thus, the yielding iso is all about holding a position for as long (often several minutes) as you can. A classic example here is the iso bodyweight lunge or split stance squat position. Locking into this position is easy at first, but gradually the demand reaches a point where the athlete can no longer hold the position. This type of iso has been proven to contribute to tendinopathy healing and connective tissue health, as well as mental fortitude. These can take a fair amount of time but I like to see my athletes getting 1-2 exposures in 1-2 exercises most weeks of the year.
Technically speaking, iso’s are great for fitness enthusiasts and athletes in any sport. But here’s why they are really good for Lifetime Athletes. Isometrics help us to own position. Dominate it. Apply force in it. Hold it for long periods of time. Not just blow past it with crappy form. This is one of the keys to being a MOVEMENTSMITH, which is someone who owns every position and who has mastery of motion in every direction. In the Training Tribe, our online coaching and training platform based on an Annual Training Plan, we work on that MOVEMENTSMITH quality all the time. We even have a dedicated 2-month block that focuses on Agility Training that goes beyond iso’s into the enhancement of multidirectional movement competency. In fact we are in that block right now. Maybe you should join?
Back to the iso’s. Performing isometrics in training can be incredibly useful for any Lifetime Athlete. If you are the organized type, design some programming like the stuff I mentioned earlier. Or hire me to do it for you. If you are a bit more spontaneous, don’t love rigid structure, and tend to rebel if the man tries to put you in a box, just do some random holds in a few of your weekly exercises. Either way, give it a shot. I know you’ll be pleased with the results.