Isometric Training: The Most Effective Training Method You’re Not Doing (Part 1)

By Gavin Buehler

One of the most effective yet overlooked approaches to stimulate and exercise muscle tissue is through isometric training.  As a gymnast our coaches included all kinds of isometric training techniques as part of our conditioning programs.  We didn’t use any external loading, so isometrics were the favored method of load and stimulus variance for calisthenic based workouts.  Many compulsory movements also happened to be isometric holds, such as an L-sit, lever or planche, so it made sense.  Having been exposed to this method and experiencing its effectiveness, I carried it with me into weight training and often used it as my super sneaky effective technique as a personal trainer and strength coach.  However, when I first started using it, I didn’t fully understand how it worked, I just knew that it did having played with numerous variations for long enough to gain some sort of intuitive understanding.  Of course, over the years more of the science was attained and implemented to refine this training method.  In this two-part series I want to share with you what I’ve learned about isometrics and how they can be a game changer for both performance gains and injury recovery.

What Is Isometric Training?

Isometric training or “isometrics,” is a form of strength or conditioning exercise in which the muscle exerts force without a visible change in the joint angle or muscle length (or very minimal change). In other words, you contract or hold a muscle in a static position, rather than moving the joint through a full range of motion under load. 

Example of a "Holding" isometric.

A classic example would be holding a wall-sit (a static squat position with back against the wall) for time.  Pressing your palms together and holding or pushing against an immovable object and “staying there” are other examples.

From a physiological view: the muscle generates tension, the joint remains at or near a constant angle, and the tendon/ligament and muscle tissues are loaded in a static (or nearly static) fashion.

Given the above description, this is likely why isometric training doesn’t get the love it deserves.  It’s undeniably boring and vanilla.  But vanilla is often used as the base in many of the best tasting treats.  Even sexiest chocolate creations have a splash of vanilla to bring out more of the flavor!

Why You Want To Use Isometrics

• Safety – Injuries often occur due to movement, in particular the velocity or speed of a movement and instability with that motion.  An isometric allows you to load the tissue while taking the movement risk out of the equation.  This is especially helpful if recovering from and injury.

  
  

• Simplicity – Some movements can be complex and difficult to coordinate rendering them ineffective for many people.  Things are a lot easier to perform when they’re static.

  
  

• Performance – Stuck at “plateau?”  With isometrics you can isolate the weak points through your dynamic range of motion and focus on loading the specific angles of deficiency allowing you to maximize your full-strength potential and blow through those plateaus!

  
  

• Joint Resilience – Many injuries occur at or close to joints within tendons or ligaments.  Want to “bulletproof” your joints?  Recent studies suggest that isometrics are highly useful for tendon and ligament health.  The science is finally catching up to the practice.  There’s good reason why high-level dance and gymnastics has been integrating this technique for ages.

Isometric training is no doubt a valuable tool, but it is not a replacement for dynamic movement in training.  Just like vanilla, it is a key underlying ingredient that many programs can benefit from.

Types Of Isometric Contractions

Although “isometric” simply means “same length/angle”, in practice there are a variety of ways to apply isometric loading. Here are some of the common distinctions:

1. Holding (or sustaining) Isometric

• This is the version most people will think of where you hold a given posture under load (e.g., a static plank, wall-sit, etc.).

• The joint angle and muscle length remain constant for the hold duration.

• The goal is duration under tension where you are holding or maintaining the position.

2. Overcoming Isometric

• Here you push or pull against an immovable resistance (e.g., you push a barbell that is locked in place, or you push into a wall with maximal or near-maximal effort).  The object doesn’t move, so you stay at essentially the same joint angle.  But, unlike a “holding” isometric where you are maintaining a position, with the “overcoming” isometric, you are trying to move an immovable object.

• The focus is on maximal force (or near maximal) at that angle rather than simply sustaining a posture.

• This is often used to test or train maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) or to develop strength at a specific angle.

3. Yielding Isometric

• In this version you hold a weight in position (that’s usually heavier that what you could move) resisting the tendency for movement. 

• This is described as a “yielding” hold because unlike the “overcoming” isometric, the object isn’t immovable it is just beyond your current capability to move it.  The best you can do is hold it.  This differs from the “holding” isometric because with that type, you have the capacity either increase or decrease the joint angle but are choosing to maintain it.  With the “yielding,” it is beyond you to change the angle, so you are yielding to it.

• The emphasis is again on specific joint angle strength and control.

4. Other Distinctions & Modifiers

• Duration: short holds (e.g., 3-10 seconds) vs long holds (e.g., 20-30+ seconds).

• Intensity: near-maximally loaded vs moderate vs low load.

• Joint angle specificity: training at one joint angle (for example, mid-thigh squat hold) vs multiple angles.

• Unilateral vs bilateral.

• Integration into dynamic movement: sometimes isometric holds are inserted into dynamic movement sequences (for example: hold the bottom of a squat for 5 seconds before standing).

• Tendon & ligament specificity: emerging research offers the concept of loading the tendon for a given time threshold (rather than simply heavy load).

  
  

So, it would seem that there is way more depth to just holding something than you likely previously thought.  I’ll break down number four above in more detail in Part 2 of this series where I’ll cover when to use isometrics and what type to choose.  A simple quick reference chart that compiles everything in these two articles into an easy actionable layout will be provided for the ease of implementation.

I hope that you found this information helpful and as always, this article is for educational purposes only.  Please consult a health professional before attempting new exercises or protocols, as the content of this article may or may not be appropriate for you.