Is There A Better Style Of Isometrics?

With so much info in this day and age, you'd think we learned by now how to figure out certain things. The truth is, we can very easily become overwhelmed and anxious as to what can be applied to the best of our abilities. When it comes to Isometrics specifically, with the info we can possess, there's always something lurking that we haven't figured out yet.

Isometrics for the most part really is a lost art of strength training. The value in it is priceless and many are wasting away the true essence of how it can develop the body and even prehab/rehab the body. There are several layers of Isometrics which overall are pretty simple such as Overcoming Isometrics: The method of pushing and pulling against an immoveable object or yourself, Yielding Isometrics: The method where you're basically going against gravity and Muscle Control: The old-time method of contracting and relaxing the individual muscles (in other words muscular posing). Simplicity in and of itself is a lost art.

With those layers in mind, what is the best style? Which method brings more to the table? Does one have to compensate for the other? Does one have a greater advantage than the others? Which ones have the bigger value of building extraordinary strength? There isn't an honest and direct answer because the layers of Isometrics all have value in their own way and one does not overlap the other because the pros and cons outweigh the individuals direct goals. Here's what I mean......

Muscle Control for example showcased the ability to show off the individual muscles in their specific groups where the contraction peaked and than relaxed into a state of flow. If you ever did research on men such as Otto Arco, Maxick, Bobby Pandour and even Eugene Sandow, they were the living versions of the Anatomy Chart; the perfection of the muscular system that brought out powerful muscles that were sinewy and full of power and grace. With today's Bodybuilders, Muscle Control has lost its value to showcase the grand embodiment of the muscular layers that brings the perfection of what being "carved from granite" looks like. Today, it's all about the overwhelming exaggeration of the comic book look where the body becomes so bloated, it takes work just to even go to the bathroom. 

If you were to truly harness the level of work and practice into how Muscle Control truly applies, it is on of the most powerful layers of Isometrics that it can help with the digestive system, give you great symmetry and even teaches you how to control your strength. There are old school books on how you can do all that. 

Overcoming Isometrics is a personal favorite because it could be either an add on, something to do in itself or use as a recovery/warm up method to your regular routine. It's to again apply the push and pull against an immoveable object or using yourself in a method of pitting muscle against muscle. This can be done using a wall, a chair, a strap, pulling on a pull-up bar, trying to lift a car or whatever along those lines. It's a teacher of contracting the muscles either for a short time or longer time. If you contract at about 65-90% of your peak, 7-12 seconds is the most you'll be able to do. If you contract so hard but keep going for more than even 20 seconds, you're risking a rupture and could pop a vessel somewhere and tear the muscles or even the tendons and ligaments. However; if you contract with little intensity say at 30-50% of your peak, you could go longer and develop a level of hypertrophy (not from a bodybuilding perspective of the pump). 

Yielding Isometrics are great for a number of things especially training certain areas that could be rehabbed by holding positions that forces gravity on you which means say if you're in the plank position, gravity will try to make you lose that straight back or prevent your arms from staying straight. This method is used in workouts such as Yoga, Horse Stance Training, Plank Holding or holding yourself up in a pull-up. These are just examples. The amount of contraction varies but for the most part, you don't need to do a hard flex or contraction. The longer you're in a pose let's say, the more your body is forced to come into play especially the stabilizing muscles because if you become slouchy or so awkward your body isn't in sync with the amount of control in the pose, it can become a royal pain in the ass and it forces you to learn how to control your muscles from another perspective.

So is there a better style of Isometric Training? It's really more of an individual thing and all these layers of Isometrics have value and there's no reason you can't do all three or even the advanced stages such as Hybrid Isometrics which is a combination of both Overcoming & Yielding. You can learn more about that Here....

I encourage you to research and experiment on which style works best for you and if you happen to use all layers in various formats, that's great. Just have fun with them and make them part of your training or use them on days where you just want to do Isometrics. Some people do Isometrics almost exclusively and just do their daily activities around that. You have options and don't be afraid to utilize them any way you see fit.