Build More Muscle with Fewer Repetitions

10 August, 2009 No Comment

Isometric training or static contraction training are methods where you do fewer reps with higher intensity. You exercise all your muscles in an orderly way that exhausts the muscle and you do it in a short amount of time.

The intensity of training with isometric training may be superior to traditional weight training. For each exercise, you contract the muscle for a longer period of time with higher weights.

You want to exhaust each muscle group. This causes the body to build stronger, thicker muscles. In traditional weight training it takes many repititions to fatigue the muscles.

With isometric exercise you reach high intensity with high weights and hold for about 10 seconds. You only need to do each exercise once.

Isometric exercises have been around for thousands of years. Yoga and martial arts first used the practice. Isometrics came before bodybuilding with machines and weights. Many bodybuilders today incorporate isometrics into their training. One example of an isometric exercise is when doing a set of rows people squeeze the muscle when the handles are near the chest.

Everyone remembers Charles Atlas; he called his form of training dynamic tension. His workouts used isometrics. For instance, his pushup would be holding the pushup position.

With an isometric movement, there is really no movement at all. Another example of an isometric movement is pushing against a doorframe and holding it for 30 to 45 minutes. All muscle fibers are contracted in an isometric exercise, which is not true in concentric and eccentric reps. This increases strength gains.

With isometrics you isolate a particular area for a prolonged time when the muscle is tensed, this causes the rapid muscle growth. With isometrics you actually get stronger with each exercise.

Muscle mass is built with isometric training. Pushing against a wall, an immovable object produces strength. Holding a weight in place builds strength and muscle growth.

There are a few different ways to do isometric exercises. Perhaps isometrics with some traditional workout methods would be the best technique. You do not necessarily have to choose one method over the other.

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