This video shows the raw strength of gymnasts (developed mostly via bodyweight exercises).


If you’re interested in more, Dragon Door publications has a comprehensive article about building strength for gymnastic tension exercises. The focus for gymnasts is body tightness, since a tightly contracted body is easier to move than a relaxed body. Almost all gymnastic (especially static gymnastic moves like the iron cross) involve isometrics. It’s interesting to note that in both of these videos, despite the obvious strength of these athletes, they are not particularly bulky. They have superb control of their bodies not to mention an incredible amount of explosive power. Below are some gymnastic strength exercises taken from the Dragon Door article:

Gymnastics Strength Moves

Front Lever

The front lever is a strength move that is performed on the still rings. It can also be practiced at home on a pull-up bar. Begin from an inverted hang (you hang upside down with a straight body with your hips by your hands). Make a very tight grip, tuck your pelvis to assume the hollow position, squeeze your abs and glutes, tighten your legs, and point your toes. Begin to slowly lower your body maintaining the hollow position and keeping your arms straight throughout. Consciously tense your armpits and isometrically (without any actual movement) pull downwards (towards the bar or rings) and inwards (towards the front of your body) with your hands (activating your lats and your chest). Your upper body will naturally shift backwards to establish your center of gravity. Begin with a small range of motion and work towards holding a horizontal position.

Planche

A planche is a strength movement where you assume a push-up position with your feet off the floor (feet parallel to the ground or higher). The gymnast holds his body in this position. This movement can be performed on rings, the floor, or parallel bars. I would suggest doing this on rings or bars because of the strength enhancing effects of gripping the apparatus and it is not as hard on your wrists. It will also allow you to hold the planche in lower positions as you are working up to parallel or higher. Begin by holding yourself up on rings or bars. Squeeze the rings or bars and lean forward. Assume a slight arch position by lifting your heels, tensing your glutes and your lower back muscles. This will help raise your lower body to the proper position. Lean as far forward as you can without falling. While lowering yourself isometrically push your hands upward (as if you are trying to raise your straight arms over your head) and outwards (away from your body) tensing your shoulders, upper back, and chest.

Methods of working up to the Planche

1. Initially perform in tuck position with your knees pulled to your chest. Straighten your legs a little when you are able to hold the position for 10 to 15 seconds. The progressions can be: tight tuck, partial tuck, straddled legs, and legs together.
2. Begin in push-up position with your feet supported by a chair, step, etc. that is the same height or higher than your shoulder. Lean forward employing all of the tension techniques. You will begin to feel the pressure of your feet on the supporting object decrease. The goal is to lift and hold the feet completely off the object.

Iron Cross If you do not have a set of rings, you can perform crosses on chairs. Find two chairs whose seats are the same heights. You will need to tuck or hold your straight legs out in front of your body. Place the chairs so that they are facing the same direction. Start with the chairs close together (just wide enough for you to fit your upper body between them). Place your upper arms on the chairs and lift your feet. Gradually increase the difficulty of the exercise by moving the chairs further away from each other. All of these will be done in the final position of the cross.

Technorati Tags: isometric exercises, isometrics, plyometric exercises, plyometrics, strength training

I wanted to bust a few myths about strength training real quick…

Myth 1: Reduce “Problem Areas” with Certain Exercises

Doing 1000 crunches to burn belly fat probably won’t work… sorry to break it to you.

The truth is that fat loss has a lot to do with genetics, hormones, and age. Weight loss is a simple formula; calories in must be less than calories used. Strength training exercises to build up certain body parts of course is perfectly valid.

So if you want stronger arms, stop wasting money on phoney products and do your isometric exercises.

Myth 2: You Need Equipment to Have an Effective Strength Training Workout

Strength training is about breaking down your muscle fibers through resistance, and there are tons of ways to do that. You can do isometric exercises, plyometrics, body weight exercises (pushups, pullups, dips, crunches, etc.), and of course weights.The point is that although you can use weights, isometrics, isotonics, and plyometrics done at home can build functional strength, and make you feel good too.

Myth 3: Strength Training Will Make You Slower and Less Flexible

Ok, so the jury is out on this one. Bruce Lee was known to avoid weight lifting because he didn’t want to get too big, but building up lean muscle can actually help you speed up, depending on how you train and what your goals are.The stronger your muscles are, the more force they can exert. Weight lifting for body building is completely different from strength training for combat sports or agility

Click on this link for more strength training myths. It’s a really interesting article because it not only debunks these myths, but tells you where they originated.

Technorati Tags: isometric exercises, plyometric exercises, strength exercises, strength training

Plyometric exercises are used by top athletes to develop explosive power. Basically, combining speed and strength gives you power. Isometric exercises are geared towards developing incredible power by enhancing  “explosive” reactions via quick and powerful muscular contractions, usually done by some sort of jumping movement. Watch these plyometric exercise videos… better yet, do 15 plyometric push ups right NOW and see how you feel!

And if you’re still up to it, check out this video on plyometrics for combat conditioning, and for all you ninja’s out there, here’s a fun lower body plyometrics workout for ninja training. And check out these posts to learn how to overhaul your “regular” strength training routine with isometric exercises.

Some people may be skeptical about the results gained from doing isometric exercises, but I’ll tell you, if done properly, you’ll notice a change in your physique and physical strength.

Isometric exercises have been used for rehab for a while. In fact, Rutgers University’s CareCure Forum has posts about isometrics and rehabilitation. For anyone interested in how isometric exercises work, I read about an experiment on the BodyWeight Exercise Blog that took place in 1920. Scientists at Springfield College in Springfield Massachusetts ran an experiment where they took a number of frogs and tied up one of their legs, completely immobilizing it. The frog could only move one leg free, and couldn’t move the other one at all. They wanted to see the effects of atrophy on the boung leg.

Surprisingly, after two weeks, the bound legs had grown stronger and larger.  So much so that the frogs now actually jumped in a lopsided fashion. The researchers had actually made an incredible discovery concerning isometric training, but they simply didn’t realize it. Apparently, by binding the leg, the frogs had to use all of their muscles right down to their deepest fibers to try to move their leg. In contrast, it only took a small percentage of the frog’s muscle fibers to move the free leg.

Although isometric exercises don’t typically have a large range of motion, when the muscle is exerted continuously and vigorously, it will grow stronger and larger than doing a fluid, repetitive motion that relies on momentum (imagine a bicep curl done while swinging the dumbbell up and down). Strength and mass is achieved by working the muscles intensely and deeply.

Now that you know why isometrics are so effective, check out these posts to learn how to overhaul your “regular” strength training routine with isometric exercises and plyometrics.

Technorati Tags: isometric exercises, isotonic contraction, strength training exercise, strength training exercises

BodyWeightCulture.com is a great site. They put out this demo of good isometric exercises and dynamic tension exercises using a simple ladder-type device. I prefer dynamic tension exercises over pure isometric exercises for strength training because of the range of motion. As with all isometric exercises, it’s easy to cheat yourself because you can’t easily measure the resistance (as opposed to weights) A commenter pointed out:

“Don’t get me wrong, isometrics can be very effective in building tremendous strength, like in gymnastics… say a full body planche, or a cross, v-sit etc. (assisted of course) I’m not sure how isolation isometrics like here is really effective, especially when done without any measurable resistance”

But I can attest from personal experience, if you really focus, you’ll get an incredible strength training exercise workout.

And check out these posts to learn how to overhaul your “regular” strength training routine with isometric exercises and plyometrics.

Technorati Tags: isometric exercises, isotonic contraction, strength training exercise, strength training exercises

This blog is mainly about isometric exercises for strength training, but I came across a good article for people suffering from sleep apnea.

“A recent study showed that playing the didgeridoo to train the upper airway muscles “significantly ameliorated OSA syndrome severity and associated symptoms,”

With this in mind, the researchers chose a set of isometric and isotonic exercises for the tongue and soft palate area (oropharyngeal area) derived from speech therapy training that involved suction, swallowing, chewing, breathing and speech.

At the end of 3 months, the average apnea-hypopnea index, the sum of apneas plus hypopneas (episodes of shallow breathing) per hour of sleep, had decreased significantly from 22.4 to 13.7 events per hour in the exercise group. In addition, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality score improved from 10.2 to 6.9 points, snoring intensity was reduced from “very loud” to “similar to breathing,” and Epworth Sleepiness Scale scores dropped from 14 to 8.”

Pretty cool huh?

Click the link to read the entire article on using isometric exercises for sleep apnea

Technorati Tags: isometric exercises, strength training exercise, strength training exercises

Isometric exercises are undoubtedly useful for building strength and power for martial artists. Bruce Lee is known to have used various isometric exercises to build strength, but check out how Scooby applies isometric contraction to his pushups. This principle can be applied for most any exercise… it’s pretty interesting.

Technorati Tags: isometric exercises, isometrics, strength training exercise

I’ve been involved in martial arts since I was in 7th grade and was always told that lifting weights would hinder my progress. I learned about isometric exercises and have been an enthusiast ever since.

Isometric Exercises Defined

Isometric exercises involve contracting your muscles without movement of your body. Common examples include:

• Pressing your palms together in front of your body
• Pushing against a door frame).
• Holding a free weight in a fixed position)

“Isometric” comes from the Latin words “iso” meaning “same” and “metric” meaning “distance”. With isometric exercises, you contract your muscles while keeping them at a fixed position.

History of Isometric Exercises

Isometric exercises are nothing new and have been around in different cultures for hundreds of years. Martial artists in particular are quite Isometrics were first brought to the modern public’s attention by Angelo Siciliano aka Charles Atlas.He won numerous body building championships and later sold a popular strength training course to young me in comic books. Although Atlas used isometric exercises to build muscle, his specific technique involved moving his muscles during contraction, known as isotonic exercise. It is quite similar to isometric exercises with the exception being that the muscles are contracted AND in motion.

Isometric Exercises vs. Isotonic Exercises

For the purposes of this blog, I’d say both are equally effective, as long as you exert consistent force. In essence, doing pushups and lifting weights are isotonic exercises in that you are flexing your muscle in a full range of motion. However, this site is dedicated to isometric and isotonic exercises using self-resistance like pressing your palms together. Whether you choose isotonic or isometric exercises, you’ll notice an increase in strength without needing to purchase expensive equipment or gym memberships. The only thing you really need is motivation and commitment.

Check out these posts to learn how to overhaul your “regular” strength training routine with isometric exercises.

Technorati Tags: isometric exercises, isotonic contraction, strength training exercise