As I have discussed past blogs, to gain the most benefit from my time investment (as far as exercise), I find it mandatory to incorporate some form of heavy, intense resistance training. The reason(s); managing muscle mass and body fat are the priorities when fighting the gambit of metabolic diseases (diabetes, cholesterol, etc…) and as always, keeping those……..masculine feelings. And heavy, intense resistance training is the prescription. So when faced with limitations due to travel, due to lack of facilities, due to lack of equipment….. how do you accommodate this need to lift something heavy? You have got to study and try new things if you want to keep up with that Last 10 Pounds.
So in my last blog, I told you I would do some homework and give various forms of Isometrics a shot. There are a couple of reasons I would like to roll isometrics into what I consider a pretty successful resistance program. The first reason is just curiosity.
The other reason; if I can’t routinely find a place to get a good old fashion heavy weight session, I had better come up with something more than a spur of the moment change based on circumstance; I need a plan based on what I have access to. And here in Japan, it looks like ‘heavy’ and ‘free’ weights maybe outside of normal.
Before we get too far along, I think I need to define what I consider an Isometric exercise. Basically, an Isometric is a stationary muscle contraction. And I think there are two distinct variations of Isometric training;
- Static – This type of exercise is completed by loading the muscles with bodyweight against gravity or pitting muscle against muscle. This would be like ‘Arm Wrestling’ yourself. There is very little movement other than the tensing of the muscle.
- Loaded – This type of exercise has an eternal weight involved or you are pulling/pushing against a stationary object. So if I stop a bicep curl in mid position and hold it, this would be a Loaded Isometric. Or if I were to pull on a rope tied to a tree with all my strength, trying to pull the tree out of the ground, this would be a Loaded Isometric. Keep in mind that Loaded Isometrics are still stationary; no movement.
If you are moving, it is a Dynamic condition and not considered an Isometric.
At the K-Fit gym in Kakegawa, there are two guys that show up regularly. One is a local bodybuilder and trainer and the second, one of his trainees. How do I know this? The trainee’s wife speaks pretty good English and she is a regular at the gym; she told me. Now when I watch this duo’s weight routine, I notice that a good portion of their weighted sets are light to medium weight (maybe 50% to 70% 1RM) with maybe 6 to 8 reps and then a static hold. And after a few seconds (in the neighborhood of slow 10 count) at a holding position, the guy that is resting starts to lightly push on the bar, applying more and more pressure until the guy lifting the weight fails. Then they swap positions and start again. Both of these guys are pretty lean; more of a Defined look – at or just below10% body fat. I consider what these two are completing is a form of Loaded Isometric.
If you do a Google search on Loaded Isometric or just Isometric Exercise in general, there isn’t a whole lot. There are your standard references to common Static Isometrics; planks, bird-dogs, wall squats, superman’s, etc… but not a whole lot on Loaded Isometrics or Static Isometrics associated with muscles other than your lower back. There are your standard forums and sales pitches; but anything believable or realistic is pretty rare.
That being said (not much believable), one of the Internet articles I had read form the Boxing site boxingscene.com flat stated that if you completed Loaded Isometrics that simulated a lift you were going make 10 to 15 minutes before you make the lift, you could gain 15 to 20% on the lift. WOW!!! So if I simulate a dead lift, pulling as hard as I can on a pined bar for a few seconds, 10 to 15 minutes later I could add 15 to 20% to my 1RM; again, WOW!!! I will definitely give this a shot and report back. The article link is;
Another site I bumped into and found interesting, a blog from rosstraining.com showed how one individual built his own Isometric Pull Station. It was basically a 4’ X 4’ sheet of ¾” plywood, with 3 parallel 4 X 4’s secured to it. He had installed eye-bolts in the 4 X 4’s. He would attach chains with a handles at various lengths, stand on the plywood platform and pull; e.g. a Loaded Isometric. He could simulate squats, deads, rows and curls. And if he used a bench and a bar between two chains, he could get in bench and shoulder presses. He could do all of these at various heights or muscle contraction angles. And to add just a bit of dynamics to the pull, he would add a spring set. Hell, I think I would add a spring scale and actually gage the tension of the pull and then add several pounds per week, sort of like a standard weight progression. If it is determined that some form of Isometrics does help, I will build one of these stations for home use, and they are quite simple. The link to that blog is;
There were also sites that presented a relatively negative review of Static and Loaded Isometrics. The first came from NASA’s research and the second from general medical sites like the Mayo Clinic web-site.
The International Space Station astronauts had used (or maybe still do use) some form of Isometrics to help sustain muscle and bone mass while weightless. The article didn’t describe the type of Isometric performed although in a weightless situation; I want to believe they were a version of Loaded Isometrics (similar to a Pull Station described above). However, based on NASA’s own research, they found that while Isometric exercises prevent the withering of muscle, they did not stop the decline of contractile proteins, e.g. continued myofibril degradation. What I think this means is that there is no hypertrophy related to the performance of Isometrics, just strength maintenance.
A second negative of isometrics that I found interesting concerns the ‘burn’ you feel as you continue to hold isometric tension. The burn is actually blood flow through the muscle being restricted due to the contraction. Since blood flow is restricted, waste products from the effected muscle are not flushed as they would be from a contraction that progresses into relaxed extension. Plus, as you hold the contraction, both systolic and diastolic increase whereas when moving a weight, only systolic increases are seen. That’s why it’s important to breath during an isometric contraction; it relieves pressure on the diastolic side.
I also went through Amazon’s and Apple’s list of e-books and found the same vagueness. There just isn’t a lot written on the subject. I did buy David Nordmark’s book, Power Isometrics. This book is strictly Static Isometrics, nothing loaded. The only reason I bought this book; it shows the proper technique to complete Static Isometrics. After reading through the book, I’m not absolutely sure that these exercises by themselves will be what I’m looking for. However, I am willing to give these a shot as part of a morning run routine. On short run days (anything less than 5k) and on days I cannot make it to the gym, I will try to complete 2 sets of back, ab, pec, trap, hamstring and quad Static’s, e.g. major muscle groups, pretty much a whole body routine. I will probably be completing these during my stays in Osaka. In Osaka, my runs are generally quite a bit shorter due to morning time constraints. However, I should be able to fit this routine in just before jumping in the shower. The run will make a good warm up. The protocol will be; 2 reps per set, 1st sets at 100% effort for 5 to 10 seconds and the 2nd set at 60% effort for a 30 second to 1 minute hold. I will publish the routine once I get her on paper. And of course, I will publish the results after a few months of trial.
As far as Loaded Isometrics, for the time being, I will add these to my existing weight routines. During my lifts I will attempt to hold the weight for a 5 to 10 count at the hard spots between full contraction and full extension. I’ll try to do this for as many sets as possible with improvement shown as increased duration or including the hold on heavier sets. And after a few months of trial, I’ll also publish the results.
Anyway, what I am hoping for is that the addition of Isometrics during the weeks where I don’t have access to a full gym; e.g. the ill equipped tiny, tiny Konami gym in Sakai, Isometrics will allow me to make gains or at least limit losses.
Never compromise; always push forward in your efforts to conquer that Last 10 Pounds.
MMJennings
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