| Hi Friend,
Isometric exercise isn't used all that often these days, but it wasn't always that way. Hop into a time-machine and whiz back to the swinging 60s, and the fitness world was a very different place.
In the era of The Beatles and the Mini skirt, isometric exercise was busy sweeping the planet and helping athletes smash records - indeed, for many, this new lifting craze was heralded as revolutionary.
Yet fast-forward a handful of decades, and the groundbreaking isometrics system has all but disappeared - a situation that seems insane, when you consider the undoubted benefits of this super-efficient training method.
One charge that is constantly levelled at isometric exercise, is that it is great at building strength but it can't build muscle.
But is that actually true?
Well, a 1987 study released in the "Journal of Physiology" says different.
The experiment had subjects perform an isometrics program. After the study was completed, the researchers discovered two amazing results. The test subjects not only increased the amount of muscular force by a whopping 45% but had a 5% growth in cross-sectional area of the muscle, too.
That means the isometrics exercises produced amazing gains in both strength and size - great news for the time-strapped trainee who wants to build a strong and muscular physique!
These weren't isolated numbers, either. A further 2002 study found an average muscle cross-sectional area size increase of 12% for maximal isometric contraction training and 5% for isometric training at 60% 1RM after a period of just 10 weeks.
Exciting stuff!
So how do you take advantage of this long-forgotten training method?
One way is to hold a sub-maximal load for as long as possible.
Here is what you do:
For full effect, you want to use sets ranging anywhere from 20 to 60 seconds in length with 60% of your 1RM. The result? You place a growth stimulus on all your muscle fibres, thereby helping you reach new levels of muscularity.
This groundbreaking training system helped create real-life Supermen back in the swinging 60s, and it works equally well today. So why not give this golden oldie a try?
Until next time,
Squat for Glory!
Lee
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