When it comes to strength training, there are plenty of ways to do it but one of the most grossly underrated forms of it is Isometrics. You don't need to move at all, just contract at any given angle and breathe into it. Simple enough right? For sure but how long the intensity and contraction goes depends on what you shoot for. Guys like Steve Justa was famous for practicing Isometrics in many different ways from long duration holds that lasted at times for 3 minutes to what he called Pulse Reps or Isometrics where you contract for 2-3 seconds and repeat for reps on countless exercises from squats to arm wrestling pulls, deadlifts, pushing and twisting. Another was The Mighty Atom that used Isometric Training to build that power to bend and twist horseshoes, bend and even bite down nails, break chains and other things.
Isometrics are more than just strengthening for things like weights and steel bending, they are a crucial element to prevent injuries and problems in the joints, tendons and ligaments. Many these days shrug it off as boring and believe they don't do much but as we age, it's going to become possibly your best friend. When you train them consistently, they help you move better and even enhance your flexibility and mobility. They give you that suit of armor from within that format of strengthening the body that reduces the chances of osteoporosis, tendonitis, tennis elbow, arthritis and maybe MS but that may be stretching.
Some of the strongest men on the planet used Isometrics to amplify their feats beyond logical understanding. Even the great Warren Lincoln Travis who was known for lifting extremely heavy weights in partials used Isos as one of his major components. Even was a counterpart to the Mighty Atom, although their strengths were night and day, they both understood what they were best at and were the strongest in. WLT was a lifter and Atom was a Steel Bender, very different types of strength but both were phenoms at what they did.
For everyday people? Isometrics can have an impact on their daily lives where they can handle groceries, moving furniture, open a jar of pickles, mow the lawn, chop wood, climb stairs and all kinds of things. When you push/pull/squat/grip in all sorts of directions, you're building strength that has true function and importance. If you're a gym goer, you can do isometrics by holding weight at certain angles like the mid point of a db or bb curl like you're carrying a tray, hit a stopping point in your squat to build strength for that position, even on machines where you can hold the mid or end point of a lift and hold it. Many different ways you can do Isometric Training.
One of my favorite things to use is the World Fit Iso Trainer where you can mimic just about about any movement in the gym isometrically. My basic exercises is the curl, deadlift, zercher squat, overhead press, lunge and seated row. Those alone have helped me prevent knee pain, elbow problems, shoulder issues and other things. You can even use it to strengthen pull-ups, assisted pistol squats, rows, push-ups and more like the TRX. Take it with you anywhere and enjoy workouts that don't put wear and tear on your joints.
Be amazingly awesome and be successful in your goal setting, wish you nothing but the best in what works for you.
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