What Isometric Routine Works Best For You?

For people who do practice Isometrics, at times it's not easy picking a routine or finding an interest in one particular area of Isometrics. Some use straps, others used the bullworker, some do Free-Handed, using the environment such as within the house or do full on Muscle Control. Courses such as 7 Seconds To A Perfect Body and Isometric Power Revolution (practically the same course just different authors) use the Free-Hand approach while one writes about fat loss and developing better musculature, another takes it on geared to purely physique type training or better to look at it from a old school Bodybuilding approach. Both do wonders.

There are people who practice a particular method of Isometrics and than after years of doing it, changes it up and acts like it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. How would you know what truly works? In my opinion; do different methods, practice styles of it in a combination. Although I prefer the straps using the Isometric Power Belt, I also practice Free-Handed, using things around the house, holding weight, posture type exercises and even animal based movements in an Isometric fashion. 

There are so many uses for Isometrics it's not even funny. You can do them for bodybuilding, rehab, increasing strength for weightlifting/olympic lifting, sports like MMA, Arm Wrestling, Baseball (segments of pitching and batting), Boxing for punching power and so much more. It is often overlooked because for one, they can be boring and two, it's harder work than many movement based methods. You can even use it to increase strength in your calisthenics for example; if you can do 100 straight push-ups do you think you can hold that same push-up for 2 minutes in the mid position? Many people can't. Doing a hold like that takes on a whole other sport of tackling not just the muscles but the tendons, ligaments and fascia. Try doing one push-up where you hold the top for one minute, mid for one minute and the lowest position for one minute and push back up. 

The best people that I have researched and known in this day and age that make Isometrics a cornerstone for incredible conditioning, physique building and superhuman like strength are guys like Bud Jeffries, Steve Justa, Steve Maxwell, Jarell Lindsey, Batman O'Brien, Matt Furey and a couple others. What they taught me about Isometrics through their writings, videos and even seeing one of them personally up close, it makes training all that much sweeter and much more leveled around doing things that help overcome plateaus and utilize cardio without moving. 

Don't always look to making a specific routine routine of Isometrics unless you have specific goals in mind, I encourage to use it as an add on to your regular training say either at the beginning, as a finisher or strengthen the weak points of your training. My use of Isometrics recently was to heal a minor injury to my left shoulder which was my fault since I used a method that had overusing the shoulder muscles for too many days in a row. Within a couple days, my shoulder was feeling great and no longer discomforting or even slightly painful, that was all thanks to Isometrics. 

Now if you want a specific routine that is exclusively Isometrics, here's an idea of what I do....

For most days if I focus on Isometrics, using the strap (or Power Belt), I would hit the biceps, shoulders, back and traps for those particular muscle groups (different exercises for different days). For the Chest, Abs and Legs, I stick to Freehand exercises such as a series of Chest Presses for the Chest, Side Bends plus Hollow & Arch Body Holds for the Core Muscles and Wall Sits mainly for the legs. My personal favorite Isometric is used in two different ways; Fist Over Fist (Which I learned from Furey) or Wrist Over Wrist (Which John Peterson calls the Milo, I call it the X-Factor cause it sounds cooler) and do this Free-Handed Exercise almost every time I do my Isometric Workout. It hits just about every muscle in the upper body and can be done anywhere at anytime. It's more of a Finisher Isometric than anything else but it's a favorite to get a pump going. 

God Dammit, silly me LOL, I forgot about the Freakin Neck (doing my best Kurt Angle impression). Neck Isometrics really are one of the most crucial aspects for any form of training especially those in combat sports. For me, It's Bridges and Self Resistance Isometrics that really work best. The only neck issues I've ever had was when I wasn't training my neck which isn't very often, I train my neck almost more than any other muscle group not only because I find it more important but it's a hell of a lot more fun. 

Add in some Isometrics into your training and see the skyrocket of strength you'll achieve from all sorts of angles. The late great Karl Gotch once said "Always work your muscles from every possible angle."