How Long Should You Hold an Isometric Exercise To Build Muscle?

Calisthenic isometric exercises are great for building muscle and strength, but people often practice them incorrectly.
Some people practice super intense isometric exercise they can only hold for a few seconds. This method can build strength, but there's not much time to fatigue the muscle and stimulate muscle growth. Others do the opposite and use low-intensity exercises they can hold for whole minutes at a time. This uses a great deal of time, but the intensity is often too low.

That's why a moderate amount of resistance for 15-45 seconds may be best for building muscle with isometric exercises.

[morningstar]

My take on this is that I've consciously slowed down every individual pull up and push up I do whilst concentrating as ever on technique. My rationale is that by doing these exercises more slowly i'm hopefully eliminating momentum and making the muscles do all the work throughout. Thanks as ever Matt, you pack a lot of great info into 2.56mins!

[thursday]

I like to hold the trifecta from CC2, and also the bottom and mid positions of pushups and pullups

[rubiccube]

When a muscle isn’t strong you have a greater probability of injury whilst performing a movement. I believe performing isometrics at the end range of movement and at midrange in a progressive way can prepare the joint, tendons and muscles over time.

[sword-and-shield]

The biggest gain from iso holds will be strength endurance over muscle mass. Many don't use this for grappling endurance to their detrimint. Holding in middle range having the best carry overs.

[tjlombardi]

Favorite isometrics: German hang, tuck front lever, ring support position.

[michaelmanley]

Wonderful content. The static phase is so often overlooked. Most people focus only on the weightLIFTING 🏋️‍♀️ Nice, Matt...

[patmull]

Hi. It's great that you are promoting isometrics. Such an underrated way of exercise! I'm confused about varying messages around isometrics, though. Is this true also for quasi-isometrics or extreme isometrics or does your advice count only for the "regular" static isometrics? They are meant to be performed for a long periods of time between 3-5 minutes, but are used as a strength training method for speed and explosive power based athletes like sprinters or jumpers by some coaches like Rob Assise. He wrote that in his view, any athlete should be able to hold extreme iso lunge or scapular hang-up for 3-5 minutes. What's your opinion about that? Are extreme isometrics little different on the way they stretch the muscle in the comparison with "standard" isometric exercises?

[AlexEinherjar]

Oh wow. I've been just looking into adding isometrics in serious manner into my training and you gift us with this video. Talk about timing.


I like isometrics that can help me with my martial skills, so usually horse stance, Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma (that weird Wing Chun stance) and so on. Another thing I'm getting back into is to hold different phases of a punch or block against a wall, those are pretty good.

I'd appreciate more material and guidance on this subject though.

[puneetgupta]

You've explained in under three minutes what I have been searching for hours. A quick question, if I do a set of 3 holds of 45 sec each, how much should I rest between each hold and after the set of 3.

[charlieabel]

My isometric routine is currently leg press, chest press, lat pulldown, calf on the ViiiV Pro isometric machine for 2-3 minute holds - great pump

[koochy]

This interests me, I have held muscle under tension 30 seconds before a hard set, I guess pre exhausting the muscle.

[Thezaxapi]

This has nothing to do with this video, but I feel it is reflective of a philosophy you would agree with.

The quote I read was “I cut my carbs with a pizza slicer”

I thought, what an awesome example of being fit and living free. Rather than skipping delicious food with good friends because it doesn’t adhere to a dogmatic approach, trust the good habits you have built up to cover for an evening of pizza.

Keep bringing the awesome videos, sir.

[daz]

thanks - I use the 30/30/30 approach. First 30 seconds at 50%, 2nd at 75% and then 3rd - all out / as hard as you dare!

[YungL.i.X.]

Needed this, currently trying to learn these damn Nordics and isometrics the only way I can think of progressing to 1 complete rep

[sthomper]

with an isotrainer band and clench fitness footplate, i basically go max for 6 to 10 seconds and then spend the rest of a minute (remaining 54 to 50 sec) tensioning what i can. i just do a quick buckle adjustment flow with the strap to progress to the next hold. deadlift, bent row, shrug, curl, squat, should. pres, then a chest press on the floor, repeat. it takes a lot out of me.

[dropweightdaddy]

GSC rule!!!! My favorite iso exercise for legs would be performing kicks. Hold the leg chambered then progressing to have the leg extended to full length.

[jasonbuchanan]

What about three different positions
Say pull up top position mid position bottom position
15 seconds each

[anthonyromayo]

I like handstand holds, 3 position push up holds, horse stance, bar hangs both flexed and hanging, and the flexed straight leg lying holds. Also any calisthenic exercise can be held into an iso at anytime during a set. Mind you these are not done all at once but at certain times during my workouts. Last but not least the bullworker iso bow is a great tool to do isometrics with that can be taken with you anywhere.

[silasgroenning]

Hello red delta. As you have quite abit videos on isometric, i would like to ask anhumble question. As i am in recovery, and have spent a long time building my home gym, and making a huge whiteboard with shundres of exercises, i try to get as many done as possible during the week. So far mu program is typical set in a loaded exercise, like a plain benchpress, where i would go to an isometric, or maybe a stretch i btween sets, to use time efficient. However i am abit doubtfull, if i should actually use this possibility to go into an isometric on the antagonistic musclegroup, as i think i heard, that is actually great value. A it flows more blood, into a local area, and B i get some resting in the already worked muscle.. do you have any inputs of value, of the so called “in between set”.. thanks in advance.✌️✌️✌️✌️

[pablito]

Hi, since i have a mild chronic impingement, I train my delts purely on overcoming isometrics 10 sets *35s (so 350s) one time for side delts and another session for rear delts. I try to increase each set of 1s per week.