Isometrics - food for thought.

Well it's the opposite of food. Since it's about working out. But anyway I've heard this word forever, and would really love to know its "true" definition. I say the "true" like that because I'm looking online for answers. C'est la vie. My mom used to do these types of exercises in front of the TV when I was little. Then there was the pilates craze, of which I was a part. And now (well always but now for the public) yoga. So I thought they were just flexing and holding your muscle strength without full extension or contraction of a joint. Is that right? I don't know, so I looked at wikipedia.

From what I understand, there are isometric exercises and dynamic exercises. While dynamic exercises are slightly better than isometric exercises at enhancing the twitch force of a muscle, isometrics are significantly better than dynamic exercises at increasing maximal strength at the joint angle.

There are also overcoming and yielding isometric. Yielding is when the joint and muscle are in a static position held by resistance. An example of this is a bench press when you're holding the bar at a given spot even though you could go higher (or lower) and you're "feeling" the burn. In yielding isometric, one is pressing the exact amount of pressure necessary to negate the resistance, neither falling below or above it. Overcoming is when the joint and muscle are up against an immovable force. An example would be pressing the bar up into some type of resistance contraption that prevent you from pushing any higher (could be the length of your arms). In overcoming isometric, one can continue to exert more and more force, but the "bar" won't move.

Isometric exercises:

• Are a type of strength training in which the joint angle and muscle length do not change during contraction.
• Are static exercises that typically use the body's own structure and ground for resistance.