Isometric exercises help build strength, improve endurance, lower blood pressure and you don’t even need to move. So could holding still could be the missing piece in your workout routine?

Seeking a way to revamp your workout routine and boost its effectiveness? Try incorporating isometric exercises. 

They’re simpler than they sound. Isometric exercises simply involve squeezing and holding a muscle in one position. They can be just as challenging as moving through reps, and they’ll also work your body in a different way, helping you to maintain a varied exercise routine, which is essential for longevity.

What are isometric exercises? 

“Isometric exercises are a type of strengthening exercise, where the muscle is essentially held static for a sustained period,” explains Helen O’Leary, physiotherapist at Complete Pilates.

“This is in contrast to the type of strengthening exercise where the muscle shortens during a contraction when you move a weight, and then lengthens slowly under tension as you return the weight,” O’Leary continues, adding: “These are known as ‘concentric’ and ‘eccentric’ actions.”

What are the benefits of isometric exercises?

Isometric exercises can help you build strength in specific muscles. An isometric squat will target similar muscles to a dynamic squat, for example, but it might not feel as taxing. In fact, a 2019 study found that a few months of isometric training could increase muscle mass by up to 92%.

They can also help you improve your endurance, as holding one position for an extended period challenges your capacity. A recent study suggested that isometric exercises could improve running performance more than jumping workouts.

There’s also some evidence to suggest that isometric exercises are particularly effective for lowering blood sugar in a short amount of time. One study found that 12 minutes of isometric exercises three times per week for 12 weeks could significantly reduce blood pressure. 

O’Leary also recommends adding them into your workout as a way to switch things up, which is key to improving your overall health and helping you enjoy your workouts and maintain consistency. “Timed holds can be a motivating way to track your progress in activities, as opposed to counting reps,” O’Leary explains.

Is it important to do isometric exercises?

Everyone can benefit from doing isometric exercises, but there are some people who need them more than others.

“As physiotherapists we find isometric exercises particularly beneficial for rehabilitation of certain conditions,” O’Leary says. “In the early phase of a new injury, isometric exercises are a safe way to start strengthening muscles without straining them as much as moving through its range.”

“Isometric exercises are also thought to have a pain-relieving effect,” O’Leary adds – a recent study found that they could significantly reduce knee pain for people with osteoarthritis.

They’re also worth adding to your workout for injury-prevention, particularly if you’re weak in certain muscles. “Isometric exercises can be a helpful way of gaining some strength in a range where you may struggle during a regular strength exercise,” O’Leary explains.

Injuries aside, one of the reasons isometric exercises are beneficial is that they’re functional, which means they can mimic how we use certain muscle groups in everyday life, unlike some dynamic moves. “For example, the hamstring curl strengthens the hamstrings but we don’t often use this movement in most activities or sports,” O’Leary explains.

The best isometric exercisesWall sits

“Wall sits target the quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes, which are the largest muscles in the body,” O’Leary explains, adding that a wall sit is ideal for building foundational strength.

Stand with your feet just wider than hip-distance apart, facing away from a flat wall, around two feet away from it.

Start to squat down, leaning your back against the wall. Keep your torso upright.

Continue to squat until your thighs are parallel with the floor.

Hold for 30-60 seconds – don’t allow your back to hunch or arch. 

Push through your feet to slowly stand back up and repeat for three sets.
Plank

You probably know the plank as a core exercise, and it is a great way to strengthen the muscles in and around your torso. But it actually does so much more: “A plank is pretty much a full-body exercise – it targets the shoulders, abs, back muscles and the quads,” O’Leary explains. 

Start on your hands and knees with your hands planted on the floor directly underneath your shoulders. 

Push up onto your toes so that your body is in a straight line. Avoid hiking your hips into the air or letting them drop below your waist. 

Hold for 30 to 60 seconds and then drop onto your knees to rest.

Repeat for three sets.
Side plank

They might be similar in name and concept, but a side plank actually targets very different muscles to a conventional plank. In fact, according to O’Leary, it targets muscles that a lot of people forget about. “It strengthens the muscles down the sides of the body, such as obliques, the quadratus lumborum, the lateral glutes and the peroneus muscles of the lower leg,” she says. 

“These muscles are important for lateral movements, like skipping sideways on a tennis court. They are also really important for stability in any activity where you are standing on one leg, including running,” O’Leary adds.

Lie on your side with your body in a straight line. 

Bring your bottom arm underneath your shoulder and rest on your elbow.

Push up through your feet so that everything apart from your elbow and your feet is lifted.

Keep the body in a straight line, ensuring your core is engaged and you’re squeezing your glutes slightly. 

Hold for 30-60 seconds, then drop your knees to come back to a resting position.

Repeat for 3 sets.
Hand-grip squeeze

You might not have thought about strengthening your hands before, but grip strength is actually one of the most effective ways to test overall health and longevity. It also has practical benefits: “The hand grip squeeze is important for maintaining strength for everyday activities such as opening stiff jar lids and carrying heavy saucepans,” O’Leary says, adding: “It also helps improve other strength training exercises such as weightlifting or pull ups.”

To do this exercise, you’ll need an inexpensive piece of equipment called a hand grip. This is an exercise you can do regularly – at your desk, during your commute, or first thing in the morning.

Hold the hand grip in one hand with your palms around the handles.

Squeeze the handles together as hard as you can and hold for as long as you can. Start with five to 10 seconds and build up over time.

Rest and repeat for three sets.
Leg extension hold

If you train at a gym, you might be familiar with the leg extension machine. As well as doing reps using this machine, you can use it to do an isometric hold.

“The leg extension targets the quadricep muscles, which, as mentioned earlier, are some of the largest muscles in the body and the most powerful,” O’Leary says. 

Sit on the machine with your back against the seating pad and your knees at the end of the seat. Your feet should be under the extension pad.

Push the padded bar forward and straighten your legs.

Hold the position for 10 seconds to start, building on that time each session.

Bring your legs back down and rest. Then repeat for 3 sets.