Isometric for rapid strength gains... o'rly

**mjwild** · 23-10-2007 06:06 PM

Had a lesson today, Anatomy of Sports and Exercise, we were doing muscle contractions and one of them was Isometric which is where the force = resistance, so push against a wall without lengthening the muscles.

According to the teacher of that lesson Isometric training will give rapid strength increases, better strength increases then Isotonic (eccentric/concentric ect..) would do..

Any one have any insight on this as after i asked her to explain it to me, she wouldnt..

cleaver · 23-10-2007 06:08 PM

have you tried google? you could and then post some of the stuff you find.

**mjwild** · 23-10-2007 06:26 PM

I start threads, then research it and then bring all that i found back to the threads i start to show people. Then we all have a big disscussion about how wrong and stupid it is.

Well thats how my threads have gone so far

O and i did research it after i started this thread but everything i looked at didnt say why it was better/increased strength then conventional means.

**John H** · 23-10-2007 06:59 PM

Quote

Originally Posted by mjwild

Any one have any insight on this as after i asked her to explain it to me, she wouldnt..

Good teacher then

**mjwild** · 23-10-2007 07:37 PM

Quote

Originally Posted by John H

Good teacher then

o ye, best teacher i have

fit aswell

**hailtotheking** · 23-10-2007 07:46 PM

Isometrics are quite effective at increasing strength within a very specific ROM in the angle the joint is pushing at (within a few degrees either way). Because the object you are pushing is imovable it allows the muscles to develop a very high level of tension that will elicit effective neuromuscular gains. Also, when you perform an isometric contraction, temporarily the muscles blood supply is cut off, and subsequently when the isometric contraction is released, there is a relatively huge surge of blood and nutrients into the muscle, so its good for nutrient flow and anabolic stimulus. Something worth considering is that there are often three phases in muscle action - eccentric, then isometric (as the muscle force hits the point where it equals the force it is working against, then concentric, so isometric action is important in performance, esp. absorbing loads.

Curt · 23-10-2007 08:47 PM

lol....i recon its not very good way but i may be wrong

**FIRESTAR** · 23-10-2007 09:23 PM

It would give better strength increases, but over a short period of time. Right now I'm in the gym 3 days a week for no more than 4-6 hours to allow hypertrophy to occur. With isometric and static you are in there at least 10x because the benefits of this sort of training decrease incredibly quickly.

gymbunny · 23-10-2007 09:35 PM

i agree with hailtotheking isometrics can be very effective within a specific ROM, and also for increasing endurance. personally i have found them useful to increase strength in my non-dominant side and incorporating isometrics has really helped my progress with chin ups....however i would say they are an addition rather than a core ex. the following abstract is quite interesting...

http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/51/1/1

Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol 51, Issue 1 1-7, Copyright © 1981 by American Physiological Society

Muscular endurance and surface electromyogram in isometric and dynamic exercise

M. Hagberg

In nine male volunteers, the endurance time for sustained isometric exercise (right-angle elbow flexion) and dynamic exercise (continuous concentric and eccentric elbow flexions) was measured at different contraction levels. Intermittent isometric exercises were also performed by four of the subjects in whom surface electromyographic elbow flexor recordings were obtained during the three types of exercise. A rapid decrease of the endurance time was seen at contraction levels above 15-20% of the maximum voluntary contraction for both the sustained isometric and dynamic exercise. There were no significant difference between the regression of the endurance time vs. the contraction level for the sustained isometric exercise and that of the dynamic exercise. However, the endurance time was enhanced in the intermittent isometric exercise compared with the sustained isometric exercise. The development of muscle fatigue was well correlated to change of the myoelectric rootmean-square amplitude and the mean power frequency. Differences in exercise did not significantly affect the relation between the time constant of the mean power frequency decrease and the endurance time.