Examples of Isometric Exercises for Static Strength Training

Isometric exercises are practiced to hold your body in a position for a set period, that can help you build endurance and muscular strength. These low-impact workouts can be performed in limited space and help recovery from certain injuries. Such ideal exercises are designed to hold your body in a single position. The important thing is, during these exercises, your muscles are contracted but their length does not change as you have the position. 

If you have ever done a plank, you must have performed an isometric exercise. Holding a plank means your upper body, legs, and core are contracting to hold you up while remaining in the same position. 

However, the muscle-building and strength benefits of isometric exercises are still controversial. Therefore, you may still wonder if they are worth adding to your workout routine. This article will help you know everything about isometric exercises with examples of common isometric exercises that you can try. 

What are Isometric Exercises?

Performing an exercise that engages your muscles but does not cause a change in their length, is known as isometric exercises. For example, when you perform an exercise like biceps curl, you lift and lower your hand as the elbow bends, your bicep muscle gets shorter and with the movement offhand towards your shoulder they get longer as you straighten your arm back out.

Isometric exercises are a set of exercises that exert tension without creating lengthening or shortening the muscles and recruit your muscles. Isometric exercises are the ways to contract your muscles without any change in size. 

In addition, these types of exercises do not involve any exercises, instead, they help focus on holding your body in a position for a set period. It’s a static way to exert force on a muscle or group of muscles without any joint or muscle movement.

Isometric exercises are the best option for people who have limited workout space, need a change in their typical fitness routine, or recovering from an injury. In such exercises, resistance comes from your own body weight or a weighted exercise object. 

In addition, these exercises are designed for rehabilitation purposes since they can add tension to your muscles with limited muscle and joint movement. This practice helps any person to recover muscular endurance and strength that was lost due to an injury. These exercises are considered best to protect your muscles from further damage. 

Although the muscle contractions in such exercises are limited, they should be performed as a complement to a more dynamic exercise routine. However, advice from your physical trainer is important before adding isometric exercise to your exercise regimen.

Isometric Exercises for Building Muscles

Metabolic and mechanical stress causes an increase in muscle strength and size. The phenomenon is known as muscular hypertrophy which helps in building muscles. Through this process, you can make more muscle cells and create bigger muscles. Isometric exercises stimulate the muscle-rebuilding process. 

In addition, research suggests that muscle contraction leads to building muscles. Moreover, the other types of exercises such as concentric exercises or eccentric exercises also play an important role in stimulating muscle hypertrophy most effectively. These muscle shortening and muscle lengthening exercises respectively exert more stress on your muscles. However, isometric exercises exert intensive stress on your working muscles to promote gains in muscle strength. More research has found that isometric exercises are not effective for building muscles as compared to concentric or eccentric exercises. For example, when a bodybuilder lifts heavy weights and moves them regularly, he gains larger muscles as compared to a yoga practitioner who just practices fixed poses during their yoga sessions. These are different exercise modalities. However, isometric exercises cannot help you bulk up but they are an excellent source to increase your muscular endurance with promoted ability to sustain exercise for some time. These exercises also help you in promoting your muscular strength to exert more force against the resistance. 

You can establish a stronger mind-body connection by doing isometric exercises. This practice leads you to recruit your muscles more efficiently. 

If you want to know more about the effectiveness of isometric exercises for your muscle-building journey, keep reading because here are more clues for you to discover the muscle-building role of isometric exercises.

For example, isometric exercises are the best option for people who are suffering from delayed-onset muscle soreness. The muscle damage can be recovered with the help of such exercises. In addition, isometric exercises exert less strain on your joints so that you may recover an injury easily, without any complication. 

Moreover, isometric exercises need little equipment and can be done at any place. That’s why it is easy for you to add to your workout routine. 

If your goal is building your muscles, first focus on concentric and eccentric exercises but incorporating isometric exercises at the end of your workout regimen can help promote muscular endurance and build muscles as well. 

The Most Important Isometric Exercises

So, if you are interested in incorporating some isometric exercises into your workout routine, try these exercises. 

Glute Bridge

• If you are eager to increase your backside muscle strength, this is the best choice for you. No specific equipment is required to perform this exercise. Your core muscles, hamstrings, and glutes work during this exercise. 
• Bend your knees and your arms by your sides and lie on your back. Place your heels 14 to 18 inches from your butt.
• Squeeze your glutes to push your pelvis upward along with pressing into your heels and bracing your core. Avoid the flaring of your ribs during this movement. 
• Keep your feet flat on the floor by engaging your abdominals and keeping your tailbone slightly tucked. 
• Resisting the urge to let your back arch or hips sink will make your hamstrings and glutes fatigued. 
• Try this for more rounds at least for 3 f 20 seconds.

V-sit

These exercises may help you in promoting your core strength with improvement in core stability. No specific equipment is needed. Your hip flexors and abdominals take part in this workout.

• Place your feet flat on the floor and bend your knees while you’re sitting on your bottom. 
• Now, create a V shape with your body and legs by taking your feet off the floor, straightening your legs, and engaging your core. If you feel any difficulty, keep your arms by your side to get a relaxing pose. Don’t round your shoulders and keep your back straight. Breathe continuously during this exercise.
• Now, try to engage your abdominals more. For this, keep your spine long and make your hip flexors work over time. Bending your knees to lengthen your back will help you to maintain a straight leg position.
• Try hard to maintain the proper pose, even if it feels hard. Hold these positions at rest for 20 seconds. 
• Perform at least three rounds. 

Calf Raise and Hold

Don’t forget to make your calves strong. Avoid performing normal calf raises, instead move up and down to hold the top position of the calf raise. A wall is needed as optional equipment. Certain calves including soleus and gastrocnemius work together during this exercise.

• Keep your hip at a distance by standing with your feet apart. You can use a wall support to stand about two feet from the wall. 
• Lift your heels off the ground and push into the balls of your feet. While doing this your hands should be on your hips. You can rest slightly against the wall support.
• Hold this position for at least 20 seconds and complete three more rounds. 

High Plank Hold

This exercise engages many muscles of your body at a time. No specific equipment is needed to perform this exercise. The high plank hold engages your shoulder, chest, and arm muscles. In addition, your abdominals, glutes, and quadriceps also take part in this exercise.

• Keep your hands and shoulder distance apart to perform kneeling push-ups.
• Raise your body into a high plank position by pushing down into the balls of your feet. Straight your knees and push your hands into the ground. Set your body in an upward position for a push-up. 
• Keep your legs straight, and align your hands and shoulders while engaging your core simultaneously.
• Maintain your proper form for at least 40 seconds. Complete more three rounds. 

Side Plank

This is an effective exercise for engaging your obliques that are allocated on the sides of your midsection. You don’t need specific equipment to perform this workout. Major groups of muscles engage in the side planks, obliques, hip abductors, serratus anterior, spinal stabilizer, glutes, shoulder stabilizers, and quadriceps.

• Keep your legs straight and lie on your left side. Stack your feet, hips, and knees.
• Place your forearm under your shoulder on the ground and bend your elbow.
• Push your forearm into the ground and lift your hips and torso off the ground.
• Make a straight line in your back from head to heel by keeping your core tight.
• Lift your second arm straight up or keep it by your side. Hold this position for 15 seconds. 
• Now switch the side and complete two more rounds on each side.

Low Squat

If you are successful in holding your body still during a contraction, it will be an isometric exercise technically. Let’s try squat as an example. You don’t need any specific equipment to perform squats. Major muscle groups that take part in this exercise are the hamstrings, quadriceps, and glutes.

• Keep your hip-width apart and stand your feet with your toes slightly pointed out. It will be a comfortable pose. Keep your hands on your hips or hold them straight.
• Push your hips back into a sitting position slowly and bend your knees simultaneously.
• Don’t drive your knees forward.
• Lower your butt slowly near your knee level while sitting. If you feel trouble going further, keep lowering yourself until your thighs are parallel to the floor. 
• Keep your heels planted down and avoid rounding forward your spine. Keep it as long as you can. 
• Hold this position for at least 20 seconds.
• Return to your initial position and try this exercise for three more rounds.

Tips to Be Safe While Performing Isometric Exercises

These tips may help you to get more benefits from isometric exercises along with your safety and comfort. Take a look!

Active Contraction in Muscles: Focus on your muscle contractions while performing isometric exercises. This practice may help you activate your muscles in a better way, improve endurance, allow greater strength, and ensure your proper form. 

Avoid Overdoing: Sometimes you are tempted and try hard to hold a position for a longer time. Especially if you are a beginner. But this will lead to injury and put more strain on your joints. Don’t overdo it but prioritize proper form and position.

Focus on Comfortable Form: Pay full attention to your form so that you may prevent injury in your joints or muscles. Target your muscles that you want to get stronger. Whenever you feel it is harder to perform more exercise with proper form, leave it. Now the exercise is done.

Continuous Breathing: Don’t forget to breathe continuously during isometric exercise. Often people forget it and fail to get more from these exercises. Focus on breathing throughout the entire exercise. 

Skip an exercise that makes you feel tired or uncomfortable. Especially if you are recovering from an injury, perform isometric exercises according to the advice of your physical therapist or trainer. Your healthcare professional may help you to decide which type of isometric exercise is the right option for you.

Conclusion

Adding some isometric exercises to your routine workouts will make it a full variety workout regimen. Isometric exercises are effective for holding your body in a certain position for a longer period. This practice may help build muscles and enhance your muscular endurance and strength as well.

These exercises are ideal options for people who want to perform low-impact exercises with a limited space. People who are recovering from an injury also should try such exercises as these exercises don’t disturb their recovery process. If you are eager to accept some fitness challenges, these exercises are for you.

However, these exercises can help you adjust your current level of fitness at each level. You can adjust the time and position according to your needs and the advice from your physical trainer. You can make your exercise routine more interesting, engaging, and enthusiastic by incorporating isometric exercises in it.