Matrix of Motion Fitness Studios and our clients have been reaping the benefits of isometric strength training for the last 6 months since acquiring the elite Isophit in our studio! It has really changed the way that we train and have managed to make significant improvements above and beyond what would be expected! This has us all raving about the benefits of isometric training!
“Isometric exercise is certainly not new…but it is most definitely new again!” (Isophit Professinal Certification Course) An isometric contraction occurs when your muscles contracts, but there is no visible change in positioning or movement. It is a static. This type of exercise isn’t as “sexy” as some of the other forms of movement based exercise out there. When you are training in your box gym and loading up your squat with a couple of 45 pound plates, that can look impressive and everyone can see just how strong you are (or appear to be). Then you have the chance to lay down on an Isophit and right beside you is an 85 year old women with orthopedic issues doing the “same thing”. Perhaps that can be hard for your ego, or you just have a hard time understanding how you could possibly be doing the same thing!
Here’s the thing…YOU AREN’T! The beauty of isometric training with the Isophit is how versatile it is. You could be in the same position as someone else, but the amount of force you use could be double (or more) the amount of force being used by the 85 year old woman next to you. It is all relative to how much effort you put into the lift.
Now, let’s put this into perspective for an actual lift, because seriously, how could staying still possibly help with my heavy squat and amazing biceps curls? At the top portion of your squat you can lift an impressive 300 pounds, but your weakest point in a squat is at the bottom. This is when the forces appear to be greatest based on your positioning and the joys of physics and at this point you can only lift 200 pounds (all of this is arbitrary numbers and not an exact case study). Enter Isophit. We position you in a similar way to the bottom portion of your squat, the weak point, and you press through that weak point as hard as you possibly can. Every muscle in your legs, back and abdominals are contracting. Within 10 seconds you can already feel like you are slowly fading away, but you have another 50 seconds to hold. Work on this for a while and suddenly your 200 pound limitation at the bottom of your squat jumps up and your now squatting more! AWESOME!
Take that amazing biceps curl. You’re standing and throwing around 30 pound dumbbells all while your body is rocking back and forth more than a ship in the middle of an ocean storm. Enter Isophit. In order to improve the things that are moving (ie your biceps curl), you need to take into consideration everything that is staying still (or should be staying still). Once you stabilize the portions of your body that need to support you while performing said biceps curl, which in a standing position is EVERYTHING ELSE IN YOUR BODY, you will find that your curls will improve!
Take these examples to any scenario you can imagine, post surgery, injury recovery, athletic performance optimization, etc. The more stable you can become, the easier it will become to move! This is important for you to understand! By no means am I saying not to move! Movement is pivotal to all that we do! But most of us are unstable throughout the movement we produce and this is an issue. Increase strength in the areas that hold you still, and you will find that everything else will improve!
Matrix of Motion Fitness Studios is here to help you get better at the things you love to do, whether that is running, hockey, baseball, CrossFit, powerlifting, or just getting down on the ground with your kids and grandkids. It all starts here!
