Isometric Exercise: Your Fitness Foundation

Isometric Exercise as a Key Ingredient to your Fitness Success

The beginning stage of everything that I do with my clients involves bodyweight and isometric exercise. A very simple way to think about it is this: If you can’t operate all of the buttons and controls in your car when it is parked, how are you going to get everything to work when you are on the highway going 65 miles per hour?

Well, the same is true for your body. If you are unable to activate and recruit specific muscles during movement (“at highway speeds”), you are setting yourself up for one of two things, injury or failure to see results; probably both.

A former faculty co-worker of mine used the phrasing “proximal stability before distal mobility.” What that means is that in thinking of the anatomy of the body especially in regard to fitness, we need to ensure proximal stability or “core control” through effective use of the deep core muscles before we will be able to amass the greatest benefit of the providers of distal mobility, otherwise known as our arms and legs, the pushing and pulling muscles of the upper and lower body.

With my Boston Personal Trainer clients and with my “Burning Calories Boot Camp” students, much of the early going is dedicated to educating my clients on the importance of isometric exercise and teaching their bodies how to perform each exercise correctly. It shows them success if they are new to working out and it is a major stepping stone to helping them to see the body transformation differences that they are looking for.

There are literally thousands of existing isometric exercises, and it is nice to have some variety so you and your muscles don’t get bored. Before getting to the fancy exercises, it is important to become a master of the basics. (Think about that car example again: The end result might not be so pretty if we put you right on the highway without teaching you how to steer!).

To help you get started at home, I have included the three most popular isometric exercises used by “My Personal Trainer School” at the very beginning of a new clients exercise program. Each of these exercises may be modified depending upon a client’s individual needs and circumstances. Also, it is important to have your doctor’s approval before starting any new exercise regimen.

Isometric Exercise #1 – The Lower Back Bridge

The lower back bridge should be performed lying flat on your back, with your heels together on top of a step or an adjustable bench, and legs straight. Your neck should be in a comfortable position as you press your heels down and lift your hips. The aim is to reach a straight line from your heels to your shoulders and to work up to holding for 30 seconds to 1 minute. You will be using some of the deep muscles that stabilize your spine and your hips, as well as your lower back, glutes, and your hamstrings. It is important to keep breathing the entire time.

Isometric Exercise #2 – The Plank

The plank is one of the now more widely recognized exercises outside of the basic crunch or sit-up. (I’ll let you in on a little secret, too: my clients do far more planking-type exercises than they do crunches!) In this exercise, you will want to have your forearms flat on the ground with your elbows directly below your shoulders, and your feet together. You’ll lift your knees and hips from the ground aiming not only for a straight line from the heels to the shoulders, but from the heels to your ears. Many people, personal trainers included, miss that last part. Having that straight line all the way to the ears ensures that your neck is in a neutral position and will be that much safer from injury. As always, you’ll want to keep breathing normally throughout the exercise, with an aim of 30 seconds to 1 minute again. An option that works effectively for many, especially if it proves difficult to hold the position for an entire minute, is to drop the knees to the ground, lift the feet, and maintain a straight line from the knees to the ears.

Isometric Exercise #3 – The Side Plank

Of these three exercises, the side plank may prove to be the most difficult. A good starting point is to lie on your side with your knees bent. Your forearm should be flat on the ground, perpendicular to your body, with your elbow directly below your shoulder. While pressing your forearm and your knees to the ground, you will lift your hips, aiming to create a straight line from the top of your head to your knees. Again, this will ensure that your neck is in a neutral position. Once you can maintain this position correctly for at least 30 seconds, you may want to try level two. Here, the upper body setup is the same, but your legs will be straight, stacked one on top of the other. In this version, lift the hips and the knees, creating a straight line from the top of your head to your feet. Again, keep breathing normally throughout the exercise as you aim for 30 seconds on each side.

Your Next Steps to Success

Mastering the above three exercises should put you on the right track to changing how you look and feel. Remember, your body will and should adapt to the new stresses that you put upon it, so when you are ready for more, either see our friend Dr. Charles Inniss, or if you are up for the “Burning Calories Boot Camp” in Boston and in Watertown, we are looking forward to helping you define your fitness success.

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