Although it isn't new, Isometrics has had a long and rich history for being a top of the food chain method for developing muscle and burning fat really fast. Often times however, it can get a bad rap especially by those who never truly practiced it or only read of the negative side of them. It isn't a end-all-be-all method by any stretch but it is an essential element to devour unwanted fat and develop dense muscle that can go a long way in terms of not only physical strength but sculpted muscle as well.
To sum it up, Isometrics means you're holding a position without movement yet activating muscle fibers through hard muscular flexing; this can mean muscle control, pushing/pulling against an immovable object, resisting muscle against muscle and other sorts. There are literally dozens of ways to use isometrics but my two favorites are free-handed (pitting muscle against muscle) & using the Isometric Power Belt. The Free-Handed method is the topic of today's article.
Using nothing but your own resistance is a sure fire of owning the mind/muscle connection and learning to harness strength in just about any position possible. In the book Isometric Power Revolution, it teaches what are called CIC's (Classic Isometric Contraction) where you resist a muscle against another in a variety of positions (1-3 per muscle group) and you contract that particular muscle (Biceps, Chest, Legs ect.) as hard as possible for 7-10 seconds then rest for a period and do another contraction in a different position and so on and so forth. Practicing this method works very well and for good reason. This is the purest method of exercise where isolating a muscle is very effective and doesn't wear and tear on joints & ligaments.
When you squeeze and relax the muscles through this method, you're creating fresh oxygenated blood into your body that hits the fast-twitch muscle fibers to generate greater density in the muscles. It isn't bodybuilding where you make the muscle as big as possible through an exercise, it is where you develop a hardness in the muscles where they can become denser meaning tougher and naturally muscular. You can create any type of isometric workout with this method anytime and anywhere and it doesn't take more than 20 min to get the job done.
The ideal of isometrics is doing that "last rep 1st", by tensing very hard for only a few seconds. If you want you can even simmer down the intensity and hold/flex a muscle at a lower percentage of strength for 30 seconds or longer. This is called Aerobic Isometrics where you hit positions at lower intensity for longer periods of time, say you did a wall sit for 7 seconds at 70-80% of your strength, now do the same wall sit for about 30-50% and hold for a minute; same exercise but different levels of contraction. A method of this caliber is great for those in sports such as wrestling, baseball, hockey and football where you hold positions to create strength in that area for your sport. Think about it, the strength you can have by pressing or pulling back your throwing arm in various positions where you can throw faster and have greater range, for wrestling your strength in pinning positions or throwing your opponent will skyrocket when you position yourself and do isometric contractions. Dan Gable did Isometrics throughout his career and look at the statistics, you'll be amazed.
When you do isometrics and you put in great effort of the contractions, its killing the unwanted fat by turning it into energy and getting powerful blood into the bloodstream to create heavier muscle to obliterate that fat. It sounds confusing I know trust me but the amount of fat that is burned is insane when you do this kind of training and the type of positions you put yourselves in hits muscles you didn't even know can be felt and when you have fat around a certain area, you can transition that mighty muscle and melt fat like butter on a hot plate. Isometrics alone however are NOT the answer to a complete program, they're an addition to a regular routine or can be done on off days to help you stay active. You do't even need to do them all at once, do a few throughout the day and think of the calories you're burning when you're doing isometrics in that day. You can do them at the grocery store, at a stop light, on a bench at the park, in your hotel room, on an airplane, even at Disneyland as you wait in line for a ride.
There is no excuse for not finding time to exercise, you have all you need in your own body, the rest is up to you for what equipment you use. Make time; before work, before bed, during your break or a few minutes after you get home; make it WORK FOR YOU!!! Do Isometrics, it works wonders beyond imagination.
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