Can You Really Build Muscle & Strength With Isometric Training?

Isometric training and isometric exercises may become more popular over the next few years, so I wanted to get ahead of the questions with my take on the whole thing.

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[theonlyEYEBROWKING]

Static holds made me stronger when I was doing them... I didn't realize how much stronger I got until one day I lift some 32 packs of water and they felt really light! Then I start noticing my reps went up... I just felt almost super human strong... Like everything felt lighter in comparison when I'm just chasing high reps.

[claudes.whitacre]

That's it! After 3 decades of Kung Fu training, heavily using yielding isometrics (in stance training) and muscle tension exercises to create power, I came to the same conclusion. Isometrics increase the neural connection to the muscles. isometrics allow your muscles to contract more forcefully, giving you "Quick power". After years of daily isometric training, I've found I gained some strength. But the real benefits come in the hardness of the muscles, and the ability to quickly contract the muscles, making you faster.

[fedeZ-vv]

Isometrics Is the best form of training ever! And now i explain why....i suffer of chronic tennis elbow...and this type of training which Is not involve too much movimento of tour joints help me a chiose a position...and maintain...the end....the Key of this type of training Is to feel tour muscle fact your focus should be only to feel your muscle work...forget about reps...isometrics teach you how ti use your muscle....you can destroy yourself in the gym as much as you can but if there Is no quality work you Just waste your Is Also why gymnast have huge muscles...isometrics in my opinion are the cure of the depression and sedentariety of pur society...Hope you Matt you do more videos about this type of training!

[Ascerda]

I can attest to the isometrics myth busting. I was working on improving my pull-ups, preparing for muscle ups, and noticed I had a lot of scapular weakness despite being able to do a lot of pull-ups. FF several weeks later after doing active hangs w/ 1 & 2 arms and noticed muscles in my mid back and lats I had not previously had before. Myth...Busted!

[sergiopacheco]

In 2006 during high school I remember a friend who was jacked, had huge biceps and triceps, a v taper, big chest and small waist. He mainly did pushups and crunches, nothing else. I don't think he even did pullups, especially since he never once mentioned them and he used to explain to me his routines. Oh yeah, he'll sometimes do curls with weights that he made out of cement. This was in Mexico, and we had very little access to training knowledge outside of commercial gyms and magazines, the latter a luxury for a student considering the price. YouTube fitness was still small also back then. He defently didn't have the knowledge of most lifters/calisthenics trainees who watch this channel, yet he looked better than lots of folks who train with their body part splits in modern day. I think this video explains why and your message in general. He was able to recruit most, if not all, his upper body with just pushups. He was able to recruit most of his musculature with a given exercise and had a good mind-body connection.

[oldjohn]

I have eχperented isometrics while inwas young and my strength increased rapidly. I could carry stuff for longer and heavier than before. Does not increase muscle mass or at least not at the state of hyperthrophy. The reason is that isometrics stremghthens mostly your tendons. Tendons are the key to power and not those huge muscles that industry promotes. Make you tendons stronger to be strong and train your muscles for range lf motion. If you combine these two things in your training, your everyday life will change for sure.

[gulhussain]

I found isometric training builds muscle faster and it's better for those who have joint problems. Even I overcame my knee problem with isometric wall sit exercise. Thanks for appreciating the great isometric training. I'd suggest every one should mix isometric exercises with their routine ones.

[trevbarlow]

To everyone wondering about the effectiveness of overcoming isometrics, please try it. I bought RDP's book Overcoming Isometrics and did several of the holds for legs for just one day a week, 3 sets of 10 seconds per variation, only to give myself some extra volume. After a three weeks of this I was able to absolutely shatter my PB on weighted lunges, going from 75kg to 85kg! I had been stuck at 75 for months!

The kicker is that even my new PB seemed almost as easy as the isometrics themselves! The only thing new was the isometrics. I believe the concentrated time under tension at the sticking point really gave my legs some strength and stability. I'm very shocked and pleased by this.

[Leondb]

40 yrs old. Isometrics and calisthenics. My workouts are always fun and challenging. Cannabis is my pre-workout and it gives me energy and amazing mind-muscle connection.

[uberdonkey]

Isometrics help to engage all the necessary muscles which dynamic movement often allows you to oower through (focusing just on some muscle groups). WhatbI love too is that it is less injury prone and generally you can do more. I think it is good to do BOTH isometric and plyometric exercises and they complement each other, each improving the other.

[michaeltaylor]

One can develop one's Mind-Muscle Connection - & one's Tendons simultaneously - in various ways:

• Isometric Exercise: try to move the unmovable - smoothly done like a bell-curve, that is like an ocean swell easing into & out from whatever maximum effort of contraction is used (whether or not it's one's absolute maximum ability that's used in the exercise) - this being done over a few seconds (or else holding the peak contraction for anywhere from 3 to 12 seconds; last century some German scientists stated 7secs was the optimal hold, but there's no set standard; good results came from 12sec holds when tested in York, Pennsylvania circa 1950s/60s). Best positions are 1, 2, or 3 of the hardest parts of an isotonic exercise - those "sticking-points" where an isotonic exercise is most difficult (like the starting point, mid-point, & point near the end of an arm curl). Feel which muscles get involved at every point exercised. If done regularly, then over time one's slow-to-strengthen tendons should strengthen. When on an isometric training regimine, one day a week ought to involve isotonic exercise in lieu of isometric exercise (& this can be eventually increased, depending upon one's specific goals).

• Strict-Form Isotonic Exercise Done With Light Resistance & Slow Motion: 1 set of 6 repetitions using a light weight & taking 10 seconds to perform the eccentric portion & 10 seconds to do the concentric portion of each rep (that's 3 reps per minute - so it'll take 2 minutes to do those 6 reps). Feel the muscles involved. Over time this method also helps to build up tendon strength. This was recommended as a way to train between trying to set lifting records (per Bob Hoffman, US Olympic Weight-Lifting Coach & President of the York Barbell Company).

• Strict-Form Isotonic Exercise With Very-Light Weight & Very-High Repetitions At A Moderate Pace (neither fast nor slow): anywhere from 50 to hundreds of repetitions per each exercise done (therefore very time consuming). To help make the mind-muscle connection with this method I recommend experimentation: pick one upper-body exercise & one lower-body exercise to do once or twice a week for 2 weeks, then change exercises for the next 2 week trial. This will help one determine what muscles are involved in a specific exercise. Once one has enough knowledge, then one can do multiple upper-body exercises together &/or multiple lower-body exercises together. Very-High Rep Training With Very-Light Resistance builds up tendon strength over time & is excellent for youngsters to start out with (the key is to not over-do it, but rather to build up to the very high reps; & be sure that the resistance used is quite minimal, esp for the very young). Some bodyweight exercises are also eventually added into this mix & done to develop endurance.

[danielm.m.]

isometrics are good for everything... they're just a pain in the ass but they work the hell well to make you strong, balanced, smart and just tough overall

[zombiehellmonkeygaming]

This video is so ahead of its time, I keep coming back to it. Truly inspired.

[nomad]

I mean Charles Bronson (Britain's most violent prisoner) swears by them, when you have no pullup bars, or any equipment, using just a towel and your body can definitely help. I think if you are pushing against a solid wall with all your might, its hard to believe it wouldn't do something to your muscles.

[lewiscray]

A bit off topic but I'm realising that a lot of yoga poses are isometric which is good for me with joint issues. Thanks for this.

[jameswoods]

Hey Matt, I am finding the same to be true. My muscular tension control is improving a lot from doing isometrics. I find them really valuable for that reason also

[blackbird]

Although I don’t believe you can make an effective workout with nothing but isometrics, I do enjoy them and use them mostly as finishers and as a tool to really hammer on lagging muscles that I’m trying to develop. I also believe that there are a ton of great core exercises out there where, even if your arms or legs are moving, the abs or obliques are technically isometrically contracting to stabilize you. Here are some ideas for the RDP community to try:
Do a set number of pike push-ups or even overhead presses with dumbbells and immediately after you complete the last rep, hold it in the top position for a set amount of time. Over time increase the reps, hold time, weight, etc.
Chin-up holds are a great back and biceps finisher.
Wall-sits are my go-to finisher for leg workouts.
Holding at the top of a dip on a suspension trainer or rings is great for finishing off the push chain.
Side planks (down on your elbow or up on your hand) with your top leg tucked up toward your chest the whole time or doing reps going from fully extended to triple flexion makes the standard side plank much more challenging.
A flexion exercise I really enjoy is to take two ten pound dumbbells, place them under your chest while in the standard elbow plank position, then move the left one out to your left side as far as you can reach, move the right one out to your right side as far as you can reach, then bring them back in under your chest in the same order, left then right. Then move the left one out in front of you as far as you can reach, move the right one out in front of you, then bring them back in, left then right. I count it as an 8-count exercise. Very effective if you actively contract and try to keep your core as stable as possible.
And lastly, at the end of EVERY set of ANY exercise you’re doing, just hold the end position for 3-5 seconds. There’s no need to break form as soon as the last rep is complete.
Have fun with it.

[regprofant]

I can't remember month by month as my records got lost in hurricane. However, I can say that my bench went from 330 to 405 My leg presses, we did no squats, went to 1500 with one leg, and my deadĺifts for partial went to 1, 000, I don't remember what my full range numbers were. However I am sure they weren't that great as I have two crushed discs in my low back. We also did triceps pressdowns, bicep curls and lat pulldowns but those numbers are also lost to me. I can say on pressdowns I used the full rack plus I added two 10# dumbbells as that's all I could add so I was stuck there. I know those numbers are hard to believe but you can go to power factor to varify. I don't like being one of those old farts who keep saying when I was young I did whatever. That means nothing, what I am doing NOW is what counts. I will say is I will always do some isometrics as part of my routine. If you look at gymnastics you will notice they all have huge biceps. They all do a form of isometrics involving biceps when doing rings and some with high bar. That's just the opinion of an OLD FART. No bragging just sharing.

[snajperWkrzaku]

This will be very anecdotal but, in climbing we use isometric dead hang for finger strength development. There's a difference between resisting immovable object and holding high intensity contraction (ie. dead hang on fingerboard at 90% intensity or holding a pinch block with the same amount of effort). This type of training I gues is not so good for building muscles, but for static strength development I seen some pretty good results.

[fly]

I quit iso training with a bullworker clone and have done weightlifting the last 3 months, concentrating mostly on compound drop sets and allowing plenty of recovery (2 workouts per week). Result is about 50% stronger based on max weight lifted and quantity. Great! One of my numerous off days this morning, picked up my iso device doing a few basic holds. Shocked, weaker than I've probably EVER been doing pecs, shoulders and biceps like this. I mean weak. So stunned I didn't continue. I know this is instructive, bstill processing.