how good are isometric exercises?

[DiTi]

I've been using isometric training for many years now and from my experience i can say that they are not that good because they dont build strength at full range of motion so for example a straddle planche hold is not going to make you strong enough to do a straddle planche press to handstand. so i was thinking that maby instead of training for example planche holds or front lever hold maby is better to start training planche press to handstand or front lever press to inverted hand because in that way we would be building strength in full range of motion and would get alot more stronger than if we just trained to hold those positions

 

 

so anyway i just wanna know your opinion on this

thank you for your time

stay strong

 

also:

here you can read about NASA's studies on isometric exercises

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isometric_exercise

 

 

some other stuff i've been reading 

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/fitness/expert-answers/isometric-exercises/faq-20058186

 

 

http://strengthnutrition101.blogspot.com/2012/03/isometric-training-has-been-around-for.html

Edited June 25, 2014 by DiTi

[Alan Tseng]

how do you plan to get into the position if you can't hold it?

 

if you want to do a planche press to handstand, you have to actually be able be in the planche or handstand position first.

[Daniel Burnham]

I actually was able to do a planche press to handstand without specific training. I had a strong straddle planche on floor and just pushed up to handstand one day.

[DiTi]

i've been reading alot about isometric training and most trainers say that it only builds strength at 30 degree of that movement 

[DiTi]

how do you plan to get into the position if you can't hold it?

 

if you want to do a planche press to handstand, you have to actually be able be in the planche or handstand position first.

well i plan on doing this by using other straight arm movements to build strength and also i can already hold a straddle planche for 10 seconds so maby ill start by first training tucked planche press to handstand and than build my strength to do a straddle and maby full planche press to handstand. and i also mentioned that i have done alot of isometric training before and i have experience with this type of skill training

Edited June 25, 2014 by DiTi

[ASNB]

Planche is most difficult at horizontal and decreases in difficulty at dip and hand stand positions where stacking is vertical ie no lean so no leverage disadvantage.  So if you can do a planche and a strong handstand the press shouldn't be far off.

 

This changes everything, bc stacking does not change in bench press, so the carryover from one elbow angle to another is more limited.  

 

Training at the angle of most disadvantage will have a tremendous affect at other angles, the closest angles bc they are close and a little easier and the  vertically stacked bc they are so much easier.  

[Brian Li]

It doesn't build strength evenly throughout the whole ROM, but holding it at the hardest angle will strengthen your relevant muscles so much that you can be able to do the dynamic versions of the lever even if you don't train those angles once you get stronger in the hardest position. 

 

I had that experience before with being able to do a slow full lay front pull from hang to inverted hang while never really training front pull progressions before or FL at different angles when I was able to hold a more or less 10 second full FL. Same thing with full planche press, I was able to press to HS from full planche without training planche press progressions or lowering down to planche from HS due to my static planche strength.

[GoldenEagle]

i've been reading alot about isometric training and most trainers say that it only builds strength at 30 degree of that movement 

It only builds strength within 30 degrees of a particular position for a specific range of motion. To increase strength with the remaining range of motion simply change positions.

Edited June 26, 2014 by GoldenEagle

[Chris Hansen]

In general, no one will tell you to do just isometrics. You can do them at the beginning, middle, and end range of motion in addition to your normal strength training.

[ForzaCavaliere]

I can't remember where I read it, someone said that it provides a good %age boost to strength, maybe 30% (which is a lot) for relevant muscles (even in dynamic movements). 

 

Also, it's good for priming your nervous system for maximum exertion. I don't know if this is the same for simply holding a position (like holding a simple squat) but if you train isometrics such that you are maximally contracting (eg. squat under an immovable object and push as you can to lift it, even though you can't actually lift it) it will teach the body to exert at max strength. Or something like that. I don't know, but it sounds right.

[Brian Li]

I have a question relating to the topic. Is there really any point in doing static holds to strengthen the position itself if you can do the kinetic/dynamic version of the lever. This sounds exactly like the OP's question, but continue reading below please.

 

I can hold a BL for 29 seconds without doing max holds and rarely any holds in the position aside from the occasional 1-2 seconds holds when doing reverse cranks. I've been doing back pulls and can rep them out fairly easily which gave me the long BL hold. If I want to get to a 45 second BL, would doing max back pulls get me there faster or doing high volume BL holds get me there faster?

 

I assume the latter will get me there faster since I'm working directly on the position, but then again back pulls go through the position and require more strength compared to doing BL holds provided that they both have the same TUT so I'm not really sure.

[Chris Hansen]

Depending on your goals, there's no reason you <have> to do isometrics. I have seen people claim faster strength gains once they started including them but this was an addition to what they were already doing.

[ForzaCavaliere]

Yup B1214N, you're a lot more experienced than me lol, 

 

but I know that combining both provides best effects. I'm not sure which one, if trained alone, would get you there first. But consider previous practitioners of traditional Japanese martial arts. They are known to be able to hold the Horse stance (parallel squat position) for many hours at a time. They got there by primarily practicing the isometric hold, rather than heavy squats.

[Brian Li]

Yes, I agree training both will make you more well rounded. I think just doing isometric holds will probably get me there faster since I'm spending more time at that position/angle. This was just something I was curious to know. I believe that if you don't care about being great at holding a position for an extended duration or endurance, then just doing the dynamic version of the lever is more than good enough for building and maintaining strength of the lever and more.