Isometric Exercises

Isometric exercises may look easy at times but they are a great way for active adults to train their muscles and joints at any phase of a training or rehab cycle. You can easily

Holding isometric for shoulder flexion

scale these up to be some of the most difficult exercises in your program. 

Read along while I outline how these can be implemented for different situations from rehab focused all the way to high level sport performance. If you are unsure if these are helpful, then you may be underestimating how important isometric exercises are. 

Early on in the injury process it is a safe way to get your muscles to contract without moving the joint through painful range of motion. This can calm the nervous system down and get a tight muscle to begin to relax. 

Later on in the process it can be a great way to train joints to move into new ranges of motion. Bringing a joint to end range and doing some isometric contractions shows the brain that it is safe in this position and can help increase the amount of control you have in stretched positions where you are more vulnerable. This can help decrease risk of injury by adding on strength from a lengthened position. 

Pushing isometric for shoulder flexion

At the highest levels of sport performance we can get really specific. Training athletic movements with isometric exercises allows us to further dive into the demands of your sport. For instance, in running our muscles are constantly breaking as we strike the ground and require eccentric force. Doing a holding isometric by holding a weight up to failure and then lowering down will better simulate running in your return to running exercises. On the other side of the coin if you are an offensive lineman you need opposite demands. You are pushing your opponent away so for that athlete we may focus more on a pushing isometric that can turn into a concentric action. 

Isometrics are a great addition to any phase of programming. If you are still unsure then let’s try some out  in your running injury rehab and see how quickly you start to see a benefit. If you need some help figuring out how to piece this into your program reach out and I can help it make sense for you!