Additional Isometric information
 
Isometric exercises allow you to perform flat belly exercises as well as full body workouts anytime and anywhere.
If your like a lot of people you can find yourself thinking up all kinds of excuses not to do your strength exercises. The most popular reason is having a busy schedule. With today’s busy lifestyle it is often difficult to find time or the energy to train regularly. Even if you have a home gym, a tight schedule might still not allow you to workout.
There is a way to strength train your muscles without any equipment what so ever. And it will only take you 10 seconds at a time out of your busy schedule. That’s right, 10 seconds is all you need to perform an exercise. If you do this 10 times during the day, you have yourself a total body workout including your belly muscles.
They’re called Isometric Exercises and they might be what you need when you know you won’t have time to train that day. Now they’re not a total replacement for traditional abdominal or total body training but isometrics are a very effective alternative and addition.

What Are Isometric Exercises?

The official definition is: Any activity in which there is no visible change in muscle length in which the muscles exert force. For example, carrying a bag of groceries or pushing up against a wall. They allow your muscles to get stronger through resistance without having to move. It works on the overload principal: In order to build strength, you must work your muscles harder then they are used to. This will result in your muscles responding by adapting and becoming stronger. If you gradually increase the weight or resistance, the muscle will grow in size, strength and endurance.
Just by trying to move a weight or object long enough will make you stronger. You don’t have to move the weight or your muscles to make them respond. There are three ways that a muscle can contract to make it build strength.

Isometric Contraction: Like I explained above is when your muscles don’t move but are exerting maximum force. A very popular isometric exercise is the plank pose.

Eccentric Contraction: This is when your muscles are in a lowering part of an exercise. For example, when doing stomach crunches, it’s when you lower your shoulders back down to the floor.

Concentric Contraction: Occurs when your muscles contract by getting shorter. Like in the crunching or lifting part of stomach crunches.
A term that is often confused with Isometric is Isotonic. Isotonic movement is when you lift weights or resistance bands and your muscles are moving. Making them go through a full range of motion in which the amount of force the muscle generates changes throughout the movement.

Benefits Of Isometric Exercises.

There are several reasons why you should include isometrics to your regular flat belly routine. Isometric exercises can be done without any kind of machines or equipment anytime, anywhere. If you have 10 seconds, you can work a muscle group without no one even noticing you are using isometric training.


They also help create endurance in your muscles to handle everyday activities. Like when you are holding a baby, carrying boxes or grocery bags or squatting down for long periods. Isometrics will prepare your muscles to handle these situations and reduce the risk of injury.
They activate more muscle fiber. When you place maximum force on your muscles, they activate and train all the fibers which will help your muscles get stronger faster when you weight train.

The convenience and time saver cannot be overlooked. Doing isometric exercises 7 seconds at a time during the day can substitute your workout.


No time to fit in a good ab core workout, no problem. Sit in a chair with your feet off the floor about 6 inches, suck in your belly button while tensing your abs. When that becomes too easy, simply push down on your knees with your hands while forcing to keep them from touching the ground. These are called abs isometrics and they will give your core muscles a good workout.

Pressing your palms together as hard as you can will work your arms, shoulders and chest. To work your neck and upper back muscles, cross your fingers behind your head, push your head back in your hands using your neck muscles while trying to push your head forward with your hands.

Find a wall to push up against or something you can pull against that won’t move like a door jam. The only thing you need to remember is to use as much force as possible for 10 seconds. Using maximum force will give you all the benefits an isometric workout has to offer.

Disadvantages Of Isometric Exercises.

Warning: Consult Your Doctor! Isometric contraction can produce sharp rises or spikes in blood pressure because they restrict blood flow. If you have a history of high blood pressure, heart disease or are pregnant, isometric exercises can be dangerous for you to perform. If you do an exercise and display any of the following symptoms: headache, dizziness or nausea you should stop immediately and consult your doctor.
Another disadvantage is that each hold you perform only strengthens that muscle in that position and not through its full range of motion. This means when you push your palms together you will only build strength in that position or within 20 degrees of the angle of your elbows. However, as I stated earlier, they involve all the muscle fibers which will enable you to build strength faster when you do lift weights.
Never hold any position at maximum force for more than 10 seconds and don’t hold your breath. Breathing at a normal pattern will ensure your working muscles keep getting the oxygen they need.

Incorporating Isometric Exercises.

In order to ensure that you are placing maximum overload on your muscles, you can incorporated isometrics in your eccentric and concentric strength training exercises. There are a few ways you can do this using isometric contraction.


You can pause for a couple of seconds near the top of a movement or near the bottom. This will create an overload and you will benefit from all contractions making it more effective.
It is a good idea to vary the point where you pause in the range of motion at every workout. For example, when doing stomach crunches, pause at the top of every rep on you first set. Then on your second set, pause just before you return to the starting point (shoulders about 2 inches from the floor).