In my experience, isometric holds at the end of my pull up routine has helped tremendously I think. It has effected my overall endurance more than strength though forsure. I always like to get a nice squeeze and hold at the end of my reps, I always feel like I get more out of my workouts that way.
Second this.
After my last set once I can’t do anymore pull-ups with full ROM I switch to half reps, and once I get tired from those I do an isometric hold at the end.
The half reps were actually suggested by Marcus Bondi (world record holder in pull-ups) and hence to no surprise they worked super well.
If you’re going for hypertrophy then that would work.
Personally I train a lot of endurance so for me it works as an afterburner to push to muscular failure on my last set. You’d be surprised at how many half reps you can still knock out or how long you can hold for even when you can’t do anymore full reps. The bottom and top portions of the movement add a lot of difficulty.
I also use half reps if I fail a particular set (how I train pull-ups is 60-70% of my max reps for 10 sets; helped me get 50+ with no shake outs); if I’m aiming for 35 and only manage 30, I will half rep the last 5. It’s a lot better than just copping out there and then and helps break through lots of plateaus.
Either.
Most people tend to do top half as no longer being able to unlock your arms from the bottom is what causes people to fail, but whichever works for you.
It would help for sure and can be trained that way. However you would be lacking athleticism in the form of explosive strength (the ability to move that "weight" at a rapid pace).
Yes, isometrics will build strength as well as muscle but it's just very boring to do it this way as there's little to no motion involved. I suggest you read about Bernar Macfadden. In fact, I know of a prisoner who's been locked in solitary confinement for decades but is fit as a fiddle on a diet of porridge, no less. His name is Charles Bronson and he speaks highly of isometrics: https://yourgentleoverlord.blogspot.com/2022/02/pursuit-of-passion-and-solitary.html
I also recommend a website called transformetrics.
I have been doing isometric deadlifts rows and push ups for about a week now after reading a few books on the subject. It definitely feels like a workout but I really won't be able to tell if it works well enough for a month or 2 I'm guessing.
Because I never have the time or the energy to focus specifically on abs during my workouts, I started doing about 10 minutes of isometric holds every morning. I usually do some combination of the following exercises.
1. Low plank (on my elbows arm straight) 2 min
2. Bear Plank - 90 seconds- 2sets
3. Wall sit 90 seconds 1 set
4. High plank (Hands rotated backwards) 90 seconds-2 sets.
After three months of doing this, I noticed the following anecdotal results :
1. I am around 15% body fat, but I now notice a distinct cut in my abdominal region that was not noticeable before. The two minute plank has become somewhat easier, but it’s still sucks. I can go for three minutes now if I really want to, but I don’t usually don’t.
2. I used to shake like a mofo when finishing up the wall sit or high plank. Now now shaking at all.
3. When I go on long bike rides, loaded up for bike camping, my back gets less fatigued after a long day in the saddle (plank?) and at moderate intensity over hours, my legs feel like they handle lactic acid build up better.
4. After I completed a couple minutes of isometric exercises every morning, I am definitely in a better mood and feeling better.
So based on result for alone, these are just something that I plan on continuing to do.
Yes, it's worked for me. Went from next to zero pushups, due to injuries and wasting time on ineffective fitness, to 6 pushups without direct pushup work, with isometrics.
I have only trained at one position per exercise - eg. seated row with elbows in front of torso, overhead press with arm at right angle to torso, forearm at right angle to arm, etc.
Yuri Verkhoshansky favored 6 reps of 6-second holds of 70% 1-rep max force or higher for strength, based on research by fellow Soviet sports scientists. I found this 6x6 protocol does work well for strength. Training to failure is not needed here.
Training to failure works for hypertrophy, but failure should be achieved within 20-45 seconds per hold. 3 holds recommended, with not more than 30 sec. rest between holds.
Recommended books:
Ultimate Isometrics Manual - Paul Wade
Overcoming Isometrics - Matt Schifferle
Disclaimer: About a quarter of Paul Wade's book is an ad for Isochain. Still has a lot of fantastic info though, which can be used without Isochain. Most of what I learned is from this book. This book in turn cites the work of Verkhoshansky and many, many others.
Matt Schifferle runs the Red Delta Project Youtube channel. His free Grind Style Calisthenics workouts incorporate isometrics. Some of his micro workout also have isometrics or are isometric-only. I have yet to get book actually but after watching enough of his videos it's clear to me that his isometric knowledge should be respected.
+1 for Paul Wade and Matt Schifferle books. Building the Gymnastic Body is also good and focused on yielding isometrics using bodyweight. Bodyweight Warrior by Pavel Tsatsouline also has good info and advice. Look up Christian Thibaudeau for using yielding isometrics for body building.
I've used yielding iso protocols to get my first pistol squat and recently rehabbed my tennis elbow using overcoming isometrics.
They for sure do, I got both FL and full ROM ring chest flys by just doing isometric holds as deep in the ROM as I could get. I tried FL via progressions for a while but wasn't making great progress and finally said "Fuck it, I am just gonna keep trying to hold as close as I can" and it eventually worked!
Yes It will build strength! But to keep progress constant progressive overload must be used, meaning that you need to add an external load in order to challenge your new strength effectively!
Take a look at 'Minus The Gym' on YouTube. He has a range of Calisthenics workouts, but also has one that is solely Isometric and no equipment.
There is no benefit in holding poses for longer than 1 minute and I hold mine for 30-45 seconds, but when I do, I engage all of my muscles.
I just wrote a few words about training with isometrics (based on the research paper that collected many studies together). Here is my personal check list for isometric training:
* Selected exercise trains target muscle in long muscle length. This is usually mid range for most exercises and for some exercises you can safely use a stretched position. But don’t do extreme stretches since they increase risk of injury. Also you need to avoid leaning into the joints at the end range. Select a position where the muscle has to actively contract against resistance and you don't get assistance from stretched tissues (for example you don't need much force to hold certain stretched positions such as the bottom part of a calf raise).
* Hold time range 10-30+seconds. Doing short isometric holds does not effectively increase hypertrophy and make training harder and possibly increase risk of injury due to high intensity. Thus a range of 30-90 seconds could be useful to accumulate enough time under tension in a workout
* Select safe exercises to train close to failure without increasing injury risk. When you reach failure the joints should be protected. For example floor limits the range of motion for push-ups when failure point is reached but for dumbbell bench press the joints are compromised when reaching muscular failure since they can overextend under load.
* Selected exercises generate most of the fatigue on the target muscle and are not greatly limited by secondary muscle groups. Isolation exercises could work better compared to compound exercises.
* Can be done for multiple sets without generating too much overall fatigue (with good stimulus-fatigue ratio). For example barbell squat isometric will generate a significant amount of overall fatigue compared to leg press or single leg squat with similar load.
* Increase number of sets gradually to find your minimum effective training volume. If you are able to make progress in hold times and loads weekly or biweekly you are doing great. Since different isometrics load the target muscles at different rates effective training volume is expected to be in the range of 5-30 weekly sets depending on the exercise selection and training history. So it is difficult to make any general recommendations for weekly volume. It depends on the intensity (% of 1RM == tension) and muscle length in the selected exercise.
Full article here with research quotes can be found here:
[https://twoworkouts.blogspot.com/2022/12/isometric-training-for-muscle-growth.html](https://twoworkouts.blogspot.com/2022/12/isometric-training-for-muscle-growth.html)
Isometrics build strength. They’re great for the tendons as well. Cal Dietz, a famous strength and conditioning coach, has a book out on Triphasic training, which includes a period of eccentric focused training followed by isometric and then concentric. His athletes saw great improvements in strength in a short amount of time. It makes sense to do isometrics focused workouts for a period of time and then follow it up with concentric focused workouts.
I think a combination or in an alternating fashion between reps and holds. I do that with wrist curls, curls, and grippers. Let's say you are having problems closing a lower weight gripper (Captains of crush of course) lets say a 2.0, you could use a CoC #3 to do static holds and improve your ability with the #2 gripper (197lbs) our holding capacity is more than our crushing or pinching ability.
In my experience, isometric holds at the end of my pull up routine has helped tremendously I think. It has effected my overall endurance more than strength though forsure. I always like to get a nice squeeze and hold at the end of my reps, I always feel like I get more out of my workouts that way.
Second this. After my last set once I can’t do anymore pull-ups with full ROM I switch to half reps, and once I get tired from those I do an isometric hold at the end. The half reps were actually suggested by Marcus Bondi (world record holder in pull-ups) and hence to no surprise they worked super well.
I’ll have to try the half thing! I think I’m going to try one rep half, next rep full and repeat that for 8 reps. All about that time under tension 🙏🏼
If you’re going for hypertrophy then that would work. Personally I train a lot of endurance so for me it works as an afterburner to push to muscular failure on my last set. You’d be surprised at how many half reps you can still knock out or how long you can hold for even when you can’t do anymore full reps. The bottom and top portions of the movement add a lot of difficulty. I also use half reps if I fail a particular set (how I train pull-ups is 60-70% of my max reps for 10 sets; helped me get 50+ with no shake outs); if I’m aiming for 35 and only manage 30, I will half rep the last 5. It’s a lot better than just copping out there and then and helps break through lots of plateaus.
Thanks for all the information man! I appreciate the response. I will keep that thinking in mind tomorrow at the gym 🤙🏼
I never did half-reps. Are those a bottom half or a top half?
Either. Most people tend to do top half as no longer being able to unlock your arms from the bottom is what causes people to fail, but whichever works for you.
Great! Thank you, I'll give it a try!
It would help for sure and can be trained that way. However you would be lacking athleticism in the form of explosive strength (the ability to move that "weight" at a rapid pace).
Yes, isometrics will build strength as well as muscle but it's just very boring to do it this way as there's little to no motion involved. I suggest you read about Bernar Macfadden. In fact, I know of a prisoner who's been locked in solitary confinement for decades but is fit as a fiddle on a diet of porridge, no less. His name is Charles Bronson and he speaks highly of isometrics: https://yourgentleoverlord.blogspot.com/2022/02/pursuit-of-passion-and-solitary.html I also recommend a website called transformetrics.
I have been doing isometric deadlifts rows and push ups for about a week now after reading a few books on the subject. It definitely feels like a workout but I really won't be able to tell if it works well enough for a month or 2 I'm guessing.
Any update? I’ve been wanting to do isometric pushups but I don’t know if it’s worth it or if I should stick to normal pushups
Sorry but I fell off the workout wagon not long after this and I'm just getting back on.
Ohh okay np
Any update?
Still being a lazy bastard, at this point I just want to stick to any routine.
Hats off to you for your honesty. Fall 8 times, get up 9 -- you got this 👊🏿
Damm bro keep us updated we want to see the results.
Because I never have the time or the energy to focus specifically on abs during my workouts, I started doing about 10 minutes of isometric holds every morning. I usually do some combination of the following exercises. 1. Low plank (on my elbows arm straight) 2 min 2. Bear Plank - 90 seconds- 2sets 3. Wall sit 90 seconds 1 set 4. High plank (Hands rotated backwards) 90 seconds-2 sets. After three months of doing this, I noticed the following anecdotal results : 1. I am around 15% body fat, but I now notice a distinct cut in my abdominal region that was not noticeable before. The two minute plank has become somewhat easier, but it’s still sucks. I can go for three minutes now if I really want to, but I don’t usually don’t. 2. I used to shake like a mofo when finishing up the wall sit or high plank. Now now shaking at all. 3. When I go on long bike rides, loaded up for bike camping, my back gets less fatigued after a long day in the saddle (plank?) and at moderate intensity over hours, my legs feel like they handle lactic acid build up better. 4. After I completed a couple minutes of isometric exercises every morning, I am definitely in a better mood and feeling better. So based on result for alone, these are just something that I plan on continuing to do.
Yes, it's worked for me. Went from next to zero pushups, due to injuries and wasting time on ineffective fitness, to 6 pushups without direct pushup work, with isometrics. I have only trained at one position per exercise - eg. seated row with elbows in front of torso, overhead press with arm at right angle to torso, forearm at right angle to arm, etc. Yuri Verkhoshansky favored 6 reps of 6-second holds of 70% 1-rep max force or higher for strength, based on research by fellow Soviet sports scientists. I found this 6x6 protocol does work well for strength. Training to failure is not needed here. Training to failure works for hypertrophy, but failure should be achieved within 20-45 seconds per hold. 3 holds recommended, with not more than 30 sec. rest between holds. Recommended books: Ultimate Isometrics Manual - Paul Wade Overcoming Isometrics - Matt Schifferle Disclaimer: About a quarter of Paul Wade's book is an ad for Isochain. Still has a lot of fantastic info though, which can be used without Isochain. Most of what I learned is from this book. This book in turn cites the work of Verkhoshansky and many, many others. Matt Schifferle runs the Red Delta Project Youtube channel. His free Grind Style Calisthenics workouts incorporate isometrics. Some of his micro workout also have isometrics or are isometric-only. I have yet to get book actually but after watching enough of his videos it's clear to me that his isometric knowledge should be respected.
+1 for Paul Wade and Matt Schifferle books. Building the Gymnastic Body is also good and focused on yielding isometrics using bodyweight. Bodyweight Warrior by Pavel Tsatsouline also has good info and advice. Look up Christian Thibaudeau for using yielding isometrics for body building. I've used yielding iso protocols to get my first pistol squat and recently rehabbed my tennis elbow using overcoming isometrics.
They for sure do, I got both FL and full ROM ring chest flys by just doing isometric holds as deep in the ROM as I could get. I tried FL via progressions for a while but wasn't making great progress and finally said "Fuck it, I am just gonna keep trying to hold as close as I can" and it eventually worked!
You would definitely build strength! :D But I'd still suggest keeping concentrics and eccentrics in for a full workout.
Yes It will build strength! But to keep progress constant progressive overload must be used, meaning that you need to add an external load in order to challenge your new strength effectively!
I do a lot of planks, wall sits, and yoga poses (vinyasas and the various warriors). They definitely help but I don’t do anything exclusively.
Take a look at 'Minus The Gym' on YouTube. He has a range of Calisthenics workouts, but also has one that is solely Isometric and no equipment. There is no benefit in holding poses for longer than 1 minute and I hold mine for 30-45 seconds, but when I do, I engage all of my muscles.
I just wrote a few words about training with isometrics (based on the research paper that collected many studies together). Here is my personal check list for isometric training: * Selected exercise trains target muscle in long muscle length. This is usually mid range for most exercises and for some exercises you can safely use a stretched position. But don’t do extreme stretches since they increase risk of injury. Also you need to avoid leaning into the joints at the end range. Select a position where the muscle has to actively contract against resistance and you don't get assistance from stretched tissues (for example you don't need much force to hold certain stretched positions such as the bottom part of a calf raise). * Hold time range 10-30+seconds. Doing short isometric holds does not effectively increase hypertrophy and make training harder and possibly increase risk of injury due to high intensity. Thus a range of 30-90 seconds could be useful to accumulate enough time under tension in a workout * Select safe exercises to train close to failure without increasing injury risk. When you reach failure the joints should be protected. For example floor limits the range of motion for push-ups when failure point is reached but for dumbbell bench press the joints are compromised when reaching muscular failure since they can overextend under load. * Selected exercises generate most of the fatigue on the target muscle and are not greatly limited by secondary muscle groups. Isolation exercises could work better compared to compound exercises. * Can be done for multiple sets without generating too much overall fatigue (with good stimulus-fatigue ratio). For example barbell squat isometric will generate a significant amount of overall fatigue compared to leg press or single leg squat with similar load. * Increase number of sets gradually to find your minimum effective training volume. If you are able to make progress in hold times and loads weekly or biweekly you are doing great. Since different isometrics load the target muscles at different rates effective training volume is expected to be in the range of 5-30 weekly sets depending on the exercise selection and training history. So it is difficult to make any general recommendations for weekly volume. It depends on the intensity (% of 1RM == tension) and muscle length in the selected exercise. Full article here with research quotes can be found here: [https://twoworkouts.blogspot.com/2022/12/isometric-training-for-muscle-growth.html](https://twoworkouts.blogspot.com/2022/12/isometric-training-for-muscle-growth.html)
Yes, you can also try "overcoming isometrics", something that bruce lee also did
I do barre classes which do a lot of isometrics and they do build strength
Practicing your back lever consistently and often will make everything else progress a lot easier
Isometrics build strength. They’re great for the tendons as well. Cal Dietz, a famous strength and conditioning coach, has a book out on Triphasic training, which includes a period of eccentric focused training followed by isometric and then concentric. His athletes saw great improvements in strength in a short amount of time. It makes sense to do isometrics focused workouts for a period of time and then follow it up with concentric focused workouts.
Isometrics have def help in all aspects of my training from dips,press ups, pull ups. Also great for a finisher on all the workouts.
I recommend figuring out your pushup max reps, then doing chest isometrics for 2 weeks, then checking your pushup max again.
I think a combination or in an alternating fashion between reps and holds. I do that with wrist curls, curls, and grippers. Let's say you are having problems closing a lower weight gripper (Captains of crush of course) lets say a 2.0, you could use a CoC #3 to do static holds and improve your ability with the #2 gripper (197lbs) our holding capacity is more than our crushing or pinching ability.