FORGOTTEN, IGNORED AND DISCARDED TRAINING TECHNIQUES Part 2: Adding Isometrics To Your Training Routine

In Part 1, I talked about what isometrics is and what you may be able to achieve by incorporating the practice of isometric exercises into your workouts. I suggested it could be a valuable addition to your workouts depending upon your goal.

In this installment, I’ll talk about how to incorporate isometrics in your exercise routine and maximize your results. We’ll start with a comparison between York’s old school isometric power rack and a conventional power rack.  

Times have changed but this basic rack still works!

The isometric power rack

As originally conceived, you place a bar – a regular exercise bar or an Olympic bar - between the uprights. The bar rests on one set of pins and you pull or push the bar against the second set of pins. Because it was never intended for anyone to do a lift with a full range of motion it was okay to put the uprights close together.

The distance between the pin holes was small so you could find just the right bar position. It was pretty clever, inexpensive to make and it worked great for isometrics. You added a good, solid, flat or incline bench and you were ready to work.

A Conventional power rack

A conventional power rack is much more versatile. But it’s usually sold with only 2 pins. In addition, older power racks do not have as many pin holes as an isometric power rack. My old power rack has 11 holes and the distance between each hole is 4.25 inches. (I wasn’t thinking about doing isometrics when I bought my rack!) Elite Fitness’s 3X3 power rack has 31 (32?) holes on each upright that are 2 inches apart and allow for better adjustment of the bar height.

If I was going to buy a rack today, I would try to opt for a more expensive rack. They last a lifetime and the extra expense is forgotten once you start using it. (The ceiling height in your workout space may dictate which rack you ultimately buy.) And try to buy 2 extra pins!    

You can also do something kooky like buy two 4-foot-long pieces of rebar, which I did. They are NOT, NOT strong enough to use as lower pins and support heavy weights, but they can work as upper pins that you push or pull against.

If you work out at a gym, the power rack may not have 4 pins. So, you have to ask the owner if he/she will buy an extra set of pins and you will probably get a blank stare. You’ll try to explain why you need them and that blank stare may remain blank. You may not be able to get that extra set and it could make it tough to try this system out.

How to incorporate isometrics and NOT SCREW YOURSELF UP

You want to add isometrics to your workouts. How do you do it? How long do you exert yourself by pushing or pulling as hard as you can? Do you take a deep breath and then push as hard as you can for X seconds? Will you faint?

All of these are good questions. In the olden days, articles in magazines discussed Olympic weightlifters who temporarily decreased the number of barbell workouts and replaced those workouts with all-isometric workouts, and made excellent strength gains. 

I do not recommend this! 

When I look back on a lifetime of lifting weights, I saw a lot of “experts” who came on the scene and recommended new ways of working out that were publicized in popular magazines. Many times, the first step was to stop everything you were doing and focus on the new technique. Promises were made of wild success to follow. And things didn’t work as promised. 

When trainees lost size and strength, they were angry and said the new technique was a loser. The stink from this scenario can and has lasted for decades with respect to several famous training concepts, including isometrics. Good ideas were trashed and lost. Isometrics was one of the casualties. 

With this history in mind, let me warn you that one of the biggest mistakes non-drug users make when they try new things is to completely stop what they are doing. They typically lose size and strength and are furious about how they regressed! I did this a number of times when I tried out new things and learned the hard way. 

Here is my advice for gym lifters: DON’T STOP EVERYTHING YOU’RE DOING! 

Perform isometrics for a given exercise/lift immediately after completing your regular sets and before doing any supplemental exercises. Your muscles are warmed up and ready for a safe maximal effort. 

That last sentence contains two words that are often ignored in discussions about isometrics: “warmed up” and “safe.” 

Which leads directly to a much-ignored subject: the amazing ability that some people have to lift heavy weights and make maximal exertions with little or no warmup. 

I do not have the ability to lift heavy weights without a steady, progressive warmup. But I am aware that there are some people who do have that ability, and do not need a steady, progressive warmup to lift maximal weights. These people are “outliers” and many champion lifters do not need an extensive warmup to make an amazing maximal exertion. 

In order for me to make a maximal effort in an isometric lift, I must be thoroughly warmed up. This is why I recommend performing isometric lifts in a given movement after you finish your regular sets of that movement. You will be warmed up and you can safely check for progress in every workout and get reliable information.  

How many times a week should you do isometrics? 

Do not stop doing what you are doing! Keep your regular bench routine, etc. In practice, if you bench or press or deadlift or squat or whatever, twice a week, you will do your isometrics twice per week. The idea that you will overtrain from doing a series of isometric movements after completing your regular sets is absurd.

However, do not get the bright idea that you will continue to do what you’re presently doing, and then add two more days devoted to isometrics. I don’t recommend this. 

Can you use an empty bar or do you need to add weight on the bar? 

One of the original selling points of isometrics was that all you needed was a rack and a bar. You didn’t need plates. You can see why coaches and gym owners found this appealing. Sports teams could practice the movements without shuffling plates around. Just buy a rack and a bar and that’s all you supposedly need. Run your athletes through the routine and trust that they don’t need any warmup to get the benefits. Cheap and efficient. It didn’t turn out that way. 

In real life – where results matter - I recommend putting weight on the bar for several reasons. In my experience, when I have used an empty bar, I often find myself out of position! It is critical that the bar and your body are in the same position they are in when you are performing a maximal lift. I have a lot of trouble placing the bar correctly when the bar is empty. When there is some weight on the bar, I shift into autopilot and find it easier to position the bar in the correct position. The amount of weight should be enough to force you to pay attention to your form. 

Smart lifters realize and admit that they often develop bad lifting habits when handling submaximal warmup weights. I see this all the time in gyms where men (not women) toss the warmup weights around using the most atrocious form. Be honest with yourself and if you have developed bad/sloppy lifting habits, then you need some weight on the bar to get into the correct position. 

How much weight do you need? There are two different schools of thought. 

1.      You need enough weight to keep you honest and ensure that the form you use when doing isometrics duplicates your actual lifting form when you are performing the lift with a maximal weight. You don’t need to load up the weight because you are practicing exerting yourself to the max. With this method you are looking for results is your regular lift. 

2.      You do 2 sets and on your second set you use as much weight as you can hold against the pins as you push/pull as hard as you can for the full duration of the hold. This method is referred to as “isometronics” which is a combination of the words isometrics and isotonics. If you are using 6 second holds and you can’t maintain the hold and push as hard as you can, then you reduce the weight. In later workouts as your strength grows you increase. And increase. That way you know you are making progress because the weight is going up. 

I prefer the second method. I want to (1) condition my body and mind to actually lift a heavy weight, while I also (2) train myself to push/pull as hard as I can. 

Is this “true” isometrics? No, but it won’t have any negative effect. 

My suggestion is to give the three different variations a try at different times and see which one you like the most: no weight; some weight; and a heavy weight. You can also switch them out for variety. Just don’t stop doing your regular routine. 

How do you breathe?

Once you are the proper position, take a breath and increase the pressure on the bar until you are pushing or pulling as hard as you can. You continue to push with maximal force for 6 to 8 seconds. You must exhale as the pressure on the bar increases! You can exhale slowly but if you feel dizzy or see stars or feel nauseous, relax the tension and breath. NO FAINTING. You can also breathe as you lift and take a breath as needed. 

How long should you push/pull? 

You will read all kinds of things about how long to apply maximal force. If you were to time yourself holding a weight at your sticking point in a maximal effort, you are never going to hold it for more than a few seconds in a bench or squat max effort. (If you can hold a weight for more than 6 seconds at the sticking point, it’s probably not the sticking point.)  

Bill March achieved his best results with 6 seconds. Bob Hoffman suggested 8 to 12 seconds. You should experiment. 

My feeling is that you are training your body to exert itself to the maximum level for a maximal lift. I prefer the shorter duration of 6 to 8 seconds in an all-out exertion. But you have to be able to hold the weight against the pins for the full duration. 

Are there “experts” who say the time should be longer? Sure. I don’t see the logic but if you want to see what will happen, try it. When you are attempting a maximal lift, you are pushing as hard as you can for a very brief duration.

How many reps?

Two in each position you use. A “warmup” weight, followed by your max weight. A warm-up exertion followed by a max exertion.

How long do you rest between sets if you are using more than a single position?

Allow yourself to rest the same length of time you would rest between maximal reps with a heavy weight. Some will say this is too long and they may be right because it is NOT a full range motion. But do not rush. You want enough time to recover. The object is to train your body and mind to push as hard as you can.

Isometrics to lower blood pressure?

Lately, isometrics is getting attention as a tool to lower blood pressure. I am skeptical! But that’s what some people claim the data shows. I’ll cover this in a future article.  

Your takeaways

If you decide to try this, keep in mind that it is supposed to help you to lift more weight in the lifts of your choice. If it doesn’t do this, then we have to ask, why do it?

You can try it on your sticking point, or you can try it on all three positions: low, midpoint and close to the lockout.

Give it some time. It will not harm your regular routine. But if it’s not working for you after a fair trial, then discontinue it. You can always come back to it.

One difference between successful lifters and unsuccessful lifters is that although successful lifters are persistent and doggedly determined, they are willing to discard things that do not work for them after a reasonable trial. If you read anything written by the first Mr. Olympia, Larry Scott, you will discover that he was very open-minded and willing to experiment, but he was also decisive, and when something did not work for him, he dropped it and moved on.

What do you need to try this?

In order to practice isometrics, you need an isometric power rack or a power cage with four support pins instead of the usual two.

As a practical matter, isometric power racks are not found in modern gyms today, but they are still made. If your gym doesn’t have what you need, or you can’t rig something up at home, then this discussion is purely academic.

Are there other variations beyond what I have discussed above?

Yes. In the olden days people with imagination came up with all kinds of variations; some of them quite odd. If you do not achieve good results with the simple methods I have described, it is not likely that you will do any better with the variations.

COMING SOON

In installment 3, I’ll discuss the tensolator aka the “BULLWORKER.” In number 4 we’ll talk about partial repetitions. And in article 5 we’ll discuss “supports.” 

Note: all articles are updated. Pictures, videos and additional information may be added at a later date, When they are, announcements will appear in the newsletter and on facebook under jpcarlsonwriter.

For more information about my long promised FIRE YOUR PERSONAL TRAINER AND KICK YOUR OWN DAMN ASS, just click on the link and you can see when it will be ready!