If you ever have read my articles or have done research on Bud Jeffries, Steve Justa and even Bruce Lee, you know we're all big advocates of Isometric Training. My favorite style is doing the 6-12 sec intense contractions from as many angles as possible but every few workouts or so, I do either a mixture of intense Iso training and Aerobic Isometric Training or do Aerobic exclusively for that particular workout day.
Long Isometric Holds take on a whole other realm of strength training and conditioning. The most common AI hold is the Plank which can be really good especially if you practice certain variations instead of the typical hold with the forearms on the floor. One variation that is difficult but simple to do is holding the plank on your fist with elbows bent at mid-range, most people barely last 20-30 seconds if that but if you can last a minute or more, that shows some serious strength.
Some people have experienced some interesting results with AI's such as hypertrophy, feeling lighter as they move, loss of body fat, increased strength, better stamina and even an increase in testosterone. When you hold a position for more than a minute, it takes another level of strength beyond the muscles, it is the strengthening of the tendons and ligaments. Shaolin Monks can attest to this as some of their holds go for hours, talk about strong joints. I've had great results in doing long holds but unless it's bridging or holding a horse stance, 90 seconds is my cut off point not because I can't go anymore but because I want to do other exercises and not just do one for a long ass time (I get bored easily).
For the most part with Isometric Training, most courses teach people to do holds at 60-90 seconds because that's where they'll start to experience the fatigue of the muscles and only exerting no more than 60% of their strength. The truth is, very few people know how Isometrics work and the understanding of where fatigue starts or ends depending on what they're doing. Isometric Holds are nothing new obviously but the knowledge of when fatigue sets in, the experience of fat being burned and strength that is developing conjures up more to what the real veterans of the method teach as opposed to those B-Movie style books where knowledge is virtually non-existent and go through the motions (oxymoron I know) of just showing exercises have little to do with real world applications and have dangerous consequences when they're not applied right.
One of the most common mistakes people make when doing Isometric Training is how to breathe. This is because Bodybuilders today and even quite a bit of yesteryear that hold the breath as they flex as hard as possible, this is extremely dangerous and could prove fatal to someone's brain. In longer holds, the objective is to breathe deeply and as controlled as possible and to not exert more than 40-50% of force. If you're a shallow breather, you may not hold a position for very long but if your breathing is controlled, you can hold for a good extended period of time. The better your breathing with long holds, the stronger you can be.
The fact is, Isometric Training is far from easy and it takes a decent level of concentration that many don't understand. Once you exert an amount of force, you need to keep it there for the duration as much as possible. It is literally impossible to hold an isometric at 100% for 90 seconds or more but if it's around half or less than half that amount of force, you can go longer and develop strength that can shoot past plateaus in your regular training.
At first, 90 seconds may not seem like that long but when certain things start to set in, it may feel like an eternity. Once you can control your breathing and keep that exertion of force at that level, it can give you one hell of a workout and feels very relaxing when you come out of it. One of my favorite exercises is the 90 second Deadlift using my Iso Strap & Dowel, I feel it everywhere and builds a great level of power in the forearms and strength in the legs and lower back. You don't need to do a ton of exercises to get in a good workout, just a few that totals around 10-15 minutes is more than enough. The results can often be extraordinary and it's not complicated unless you make it that way. simple and yet can beat you into submission.
You can do them anywhere and use just about anything. Have fun and make it interesting.
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