I think that they are essentially holding weight in a certain position,I could be wrong and probably am.I wanted to know what the benefits of doing them are,what exactly they entail,and some examples if ya dont mine.
Search bro and there are lots of articles to explain it. One that comes to Mind is Isometrics for mass by CT
Phill
They are definitely another tool in your arsenal. I finished of my close grip bench presses yesterday with a 30 second hold halfway down on the last rep and I couldn’t get the weight back up on the second and third sets, just did a really slow eccentric and got a pick up from my partner. It blew my triceps up!
Do a search like Phil said. CT has a lot on the subject. If you want to try a good bicep work out, find the one in one of CT’s “Bulk Up, Cut Up” articles. It starts out with an isometric hold and it’s a killer!
Good Luck.
I’m a fan of isometrics, in the 20-30 second range. I don’t feel like they’ve helped greatly with mass but definitly with strength. You can just get way more time under tension at the critical joint angle then with normal reps and if you get stronger there, you get stronger throughout the whole lift.
Alternating heavy sets (3-5 sets of 1-3 reps) of a particular lift one one day with 4-6 sets of 20-30 second isometrics of a supplementary lift have done wonders for my strength.
For instance, work up to a 1RM box squat, drop the weight a bit and hit a few more singles. Next training session 4-6 sets of 20-30 second GHR isometrics.
Poundages are flying up since I started this method a few months ago, but I don’t feel like muscle mass has increased at an abnormal rate.
thank you much,im off for some reading
JT,
Is there any theory/research behind the 20-30 secs x 4-6 isometrics when you might have thought that for strength 7-10 seconds would be better?
Interesting approach.
[quote]peterm533 wrote:
JT,
Is there any theory/research behind the 20-30 secs x 4-6 isometrics when you might have thought that for strength 7-10 seconds would be better?
Interesting approach. [/quote]
For strength, 7-10 seconds would most likely be better… I just don’t like them all that much. I find it’s kind of hard to find the right weight where you can hold it in the right body position without being stapled, upper body would probably work better for this type of training than lower body. I think I also just like the satisfaction of completing a heavy single.
That’s why I like using the heavy singles, doubles, triples- full reps, and pair that with isometrics as the “assistance” stuff.
JT,
One more point.
Are you doing isometrics by applying force against an unmoveable object or do you take a heavy weight to the required position and hold it?