Maximum intramuscular tension is attained for only a brief period in dynamic exercises (mostly due to the fact that the resistance has velocity and acceleration components), while in isometric exercises you can sustain that maximal tension for a longer period of time.So, the three benefits of isometric training can be summed up like this: Some people might see this limitation as a negative aspect of isometric action training however, some authors prefer to see this as a benefit because it allows you to exert a greater level of strength at a certain point in the motion, allowing the athlete to stimulate more strength gains at a point where he needs it the most (his sticking point). However, it's important to understand that the strength gains from an isometric regimen occur chiefly at the joint angles being worked, although there's a positive transfer of 20 to 50% of the strength gained in a 20-degree range (working angle +/- 20 degrees). In a recent experiment, strength gains of 14 to 40% were found over a ten-week period using isometric training. Isometric action training (or IAT) can lead to significant strength gains, no question about that. For this reason, I see isometric exercises as very beneficial for all classes of athletes. Isometric exercise can thus be used to learn how to produce this high level of tension, as it requires less motor skills than the corresponding dynamic action.

One of the biggest shortcomings of lower-class lifters is the incapacity to produce maximum intramuscular tension during a concentric contraction. In the past, isometric exercises have been described as a technique that should only be used by advanced lifters. In the long run, this improved neural drive could greatly increase one's strength production potential! (3) What this tells us is that isometric training can improve our capacity to recruit motor units during a maximal contraction. These findings are in accordance with the body of literature that finds that a person can recruit almost all motor-units during a maximal isometric action. 'Activation' refers to the recruitment of the muscle's motor-units.Ī recent study comparing the level of muscle activation during isometric, concentric, and eccentric muscle actions found that a person can recruit over 5% more motor-units/muscle fibers during a maximal isometric muscle action than during either a maximal eccentric (lowering) or maximal concentric (lifting) action that's 95.2% for isometric compared to 88.3% for the eccentric and 89.7% for the concentric. One of the most important benefits of isometric action training is that it's the contraction regimen that leads to the greatest activation level.

When to use isometric exercises