isometrics are the answer for getting stronger and avoiding injury this technique will boost
progress on every exercise you want to improve lifetime gains incoming
sup everyone daniel vadnal australian physiotherapist here for fitness faqs
let's talk isometrics a static isometric is when we hold a joint angle with zero movement our
muscles are creating tension at a fixed length they are not shortening or lengthening directly
targeting sticking points is an effective way to decrease weakness in every exercise that we train
there tends to be one specific sticking point we all struggle with where the sticking point
occurs depends on the type of exercise sometimes it'll be the hardest when our working muscles
are at full stretch other exercises will be most difficult at the mid-range point and lastly we
can find ourselves having issues in the fully contracted end range generally speaking the start
middle or end is where form tends to break down sticking points are normal when we train dynamic
exercises using a full range it's something we all experience the problem is most people never
spend enough time working directly on their weak links we have a tendency to use speed
momentum or a ballistic bounce to reduce time spent in the hard parts a lack of time under
tension at the sticking point means the body never learns how to overcome bottlenecks or plateaus
static isometric contractions are the best way to get stronger at a specific point we're generating
high motor unit activation in the working muscles isometrics increase the neural drive between the
motor cortex in your brain and the position in question with isometrics we're able to create
the necessary stress which usually gets skipped with regular reps guys don't let the science seem
confusing it's simple if we put effort into our sticking points we're going to reduce the deficit
and progress towards our potential here's the main principle you should understand about isometrics
strength gained is highly specific to the joint angles and the movement we use in training with
isometrics expect to mainly get stronger in the specific posture plus or minus 10 to 20
degrees above and below that's the main reason why isometrics are a supplementary training method the
gains they are niche just because we're talking about the topic in this video it doesn't mean we
should only use isometrics the best approach is training both full range of motion and isometrics
a comprehensive approach to calisthenics is a smarter way to use your time full range
plus isometrics improve the movement as a whole and strengthen sticking points smart and effective
let's keep it real vertical and horizontal compounds are going to be a feature in your
workouts long term if you avoid the fads and avoid distraction you're going to be pulling and pushing
with the basics for years to come in order to continue seeing gains strategically adding
isometrics is a perfect plateau buster we're using a novel stimulus to create a different kind
of stress to spark progress we're improving the movement pattern stimulating the nervous system
and generating productive fatigue to make the body adapt the major advantage of isometrics is injury
prevention and technique pausing during full range calisthenics is valuable for everyone watching we
are forced to use correct exercise technique which ingrains optimal habits isometrics have
the added component of manipulating inertia we are intentionally stopping and starting volitionally
creating tension to master our body through space the key is remaining active during the isometrics
contracting your muscles passive isometrics are not effective the reason for this is because
we're resting on our joints because we're paying attention to tempo with our isometrics our chance
of injury is reduced this strict training style is one of the best ways to reduce overuse pain and
injuries contracting our muscles from a static start uses brute strength because there's no
elastic recoil from our tendons the only downside is it's a hit to our ego reps and our performance
is going to drop don't worry because you're getting a massive neuromuscular stimulus in a way
which is sustainable here's how to effectively use isometrics in the real world include a one
to three second pause with dynamic full range calisthenics most exercises will benefit from this
technique used at the start or the end of each rep apply this technique and i guarantee you're going
to get bigger stronger and master the technique of any exercise that you choose alright everyone
click here for a free pull up isometric workout and i'll see you legends next time on fitness faqs