A Morning Routine For Overcoming Isometrics
“Almost immediately after you start your practice with isometric contraction you will feel like a million. You will have lots more pep and energy, you will be lighter on your feet, have a new spring in your step. You will feel younger, act younger and have a new zest for living. This comes about because Functional Isometric Contraction training is not tiring. It builds strength in the muscles, it improves circulation, builds internal strength, functional and organic strength, as well as strength in the muscles which help in the functions of the body.” (p 68 Hoffman Functional Isometric Contraction)
Context
There have been several studies on overcoming isometrics concerning, strength, fat loss, tendon building, alzheimer's, and a few other aspects. However, there has been little if any on the energy aspect of Isometrics.
By energy, I simply mean how do you feel throughout the day. When you wake up are you ready for the challenges of the day? Can you shower, brush your teeth, dress, grab breakfast, and leap out the door with vigor? Or do you feel the opposite? Does each step and movement feel like an uphill battle? To improve your focus do you need coffee, a Bang, or a Monster?
Story Time
I’m a coffee/ tea drinker but I try not to become too dependent on them. The more dependent I become the harder it will be for me when I can’t drink them as consistently. Once when I was working for a concrete coatings company I decided to stop drinking coffee for a bit. Before this time I was drinking about an average of a cup per day. But the first week had me on a constant emotional and mental rollercoaster. Typing in coffee or caffeine withdrawal symptoms in google or youtube and you’ll find a plethora of articles and videos on the subject. It's a stimulant and although I still drink it from time to time I believe there is a better alternative.
Resolution
Overcoming isometrics have a way of either maintaining your energy levels, or giving you back more than you put out. You are training the muscles and the nervous system to fire powerfully all without the coordination and movement that will drain you of energy.
I think overcoming isometrics is a way to create an energy potential within oneself. If yall remember in physics potential energy is the energy held by an object because of its position relative to other objects, stresses within itself, its electric charge, or other factors. Although different in many ways the theories posited by Maxick present something similar in this idea of energy storing.
“This was the theory which I determined to put to test. This was the theory which - now no longer was a theory, but a proven thing - led me up from the slough of weakness and impotence to my present enviable condition of health and strength. But it was long before I discovered that by using the Will to control the muscles, not only did I gain development and strength but that I was storing energy. By giving nothing out, I was slowly conserving energy, and as the commerce of the world, interest is given for money, and the more money, the more interest; so, the more energy conserved, the more strength is proportionally attained, and with interest, because it reacts upon itself.” (p 9 Maxick, How to become a great athlete)
When a muscle or set of muscles are contracted powerfully for a short period of time without anywhere to go or nothing to do, that energy will stay there and be ready to use when needed. I have utilized overcoming isometrics in getting closer to the one-arm pull-up which although not there yet, I have improved drastically when I started to incorporate them in my workout. But the same storing of energy that got me here and is a side effect of both overcoming isometrics and muscle control, can be used to wake us up in the morning and keep us alert throughout the day.
The reasons for storing energy are manifold, but indicate first and foremost, the possibility of future action. (p 11 Maxick, How to become a great athlete)
Principles
Most people don’t have a great deal of time in the morning. Therefore, the least amount of setup there needs to be the better. All you need is a wall and a doorway which most people should have I hope.
Whole Body
When performing isometrics to wake up the body I try to use as much of my body as I can for two reasons.
Do more in a shorter amount of time
The body works as a unit. Therefore we should train it as one.
Planes
Not these planes…
These one’s
The human body is designed to move in multiple directions so our training should take this approach. This multi-angle/multi-plane training is where overcoming isometrics shine.
Teach your body to generate force at any angle or position of your choosing. The benefits of this are that it creates an overall better balance. Instead of one set of muscles that are mainly used in the forward or up-and-down position, the side-to-side and rotational also get a bit of love. If done correctly the tension/relaxation balance in your musculature around your whole frame will be as it should be, without pain and freedom of movement. I believe a proper diet of tension-based exercise is valuable in eliminating tight muscles.
Short Muscle Length Vs Long Muscle Length
Training at longer muscle lengths provides the most benefit. However, with longer lengths comes greater stresses that contribute towards muscle growth and stronger tendons. But with this stimulus provided the wheels will start turning for your body to say, “Let's use what we get from whatever they eat and direct it toward building up muscle tissue and tendon materials.” If this is a goal for you then no worries but the main object here is to replace that cup or an extra cup of coffee. In order not to direct our bodies energies toward tissue build-up/recovery we need to perform these in a way that doesn’t create a great deal of stress. Performing these at a short to middle position muscle length I believe is beneficial and should take the focus of our wake-up sessions while performing a long muscle length session should be a rarity.
Always. Breathe in, exert force while slowing breathing out, and then relax while taking in a deep breath before generating force again.
Intensity
Since the name of the game is just to make/keep yourself alert, shorter force generation phases at a lower intensity will be the best approach. It's difficult to know how hard one is pushing as there’s no weight you are pushing but this is where some body awareness comes in. You don’t want to be pushing to the point that your eyes are popping out.
Nor to the point where you are just passively holding a position.
Take the middle path. Have those muscles engaged and feel them engaging. If on some days you can push a little bit more while still staying below the eyes popping out intensity point go for it. See what level of exertion works best for you in keeping yourself alert.
Duration
Keep it short you don’t have all morning. A single six to eight-second force generation phase at multiple angles/planes of motion are good enough. but…
I started my isometric journey will the standard six to eight-second force generation phases. But I’ve grown to appreciate bursts reps. A burst rep is an overcoming isometric where the force you are generating lasts no longer than a second. Breathe in, press/exhale, and relax all within the span of two seconds. You will be performing several of them. For the purposes of waking myself up/providing alertness, I go no higher than ten burst reps. Burst style isometrics improve the rate of force production aka how quickly all your muscles can fire. This improved efficiency and readiness for one’s muscles to go from 0 to 100 is why I believe this style of overcoming isometric to be beneficial for the alertness it provides someone throughout the day.
Overcoming Isometric Library
Wall Push
Keeping your hips to your shoulders straight and your hands on the wall, try moving the wall forward with one of your legs and driving the force through your hands. You should feel most of your lower body muscles. Depending on the position you may feel other muscles more engaged like the claves or hamstrings. Once done on one leg switch to the other and vary the joint angles at which you generate force.
Sidewall Push
With the opposite hand, the nearest shoulder, and most of the nearest arm, press sideways into the wall. The lower you go the more stretch there will be in the quads. The leg farthest from the wall will be the one through which you will be generating force.
Wall Punch
Taking a fighting stance with one leg forward while the other is back, take the arm from the extended leg side and form the hand into a fist pressing into the wall. The closest position will not have your tricep too much in the stretched position so the first position can be used on any day. You should feel everything from your toes to your hand engaged. I prefer this overcoming isometric the most because it teaches most of our body to generate force in the upright position not because I like getting into brawls in the hallway.
Rotational Pillar Press
An overcoming isometric that will engage your core muscles to a greater degree than with the wall punch. You can either do this one armed or have the hands clasped together and drive into the wall or pillar. It will be more comfortable to have one foot back during this. If you are pressing towards the left have your left foot back, pressing towards the right have your right foot back. If you want to add some leg engagement put one foot forward and one foot back and try to squeeze them together during the side pressing.
Rear Deltiod Fly with Floor Movers
This can be performed in the doorway…
Or in the corner(The Stretched Position) where your fists are touching.
During this isometric, the force with your arms will be directed outward to the sides. With your feet, you can generate the force either outwards or inwards. They will be on the ground but imagine you’re trying to move the floor beneath you. You should feel this in the hip area. So if you're doing an eight-second contraction do one where you are trying to press out with everything(both hands and feet) and another where your hands are pressing out and your feet are pressing in. If you are using burst reps you can change it up between each press. One will be out-and-out while the other can be out-and-in. Your hands can be folded or opened.
Chest Press With Floor Movers
Similar to the above isometric but working your chest this time in tandem with everything else. I prefer keeping my hands flat but if you prefer your hands to be in a fist then go for it. The wider your arms are apart the more of a stretch you will get. The timing on this one will be similar to the rear delt fly variation. Play around with it. Teach your muscles and nerves to multi-task.
Wrap Up
You may use these exercises in your own wake-up routine. If you want to utilize other overcoming isometrics from some of my other blog posts and create your own go ahead. But my main goal is to provide you with knowledge on how to utilize overcoming isometrics to make you more alert in the morning as well as give you some ideas to incorporate(Or later modify) to train more of the body as a whole.
Thank you for making it to the end. Until next time…