Anthony Anholt - The Isometric Exercises Bible

Copyright 2013 By Anthony Anholt

Illustrated By Jonathan Fesmire

https://www.elance.com/s/jfesmire/

http://jonfesmire.com/

Discover other fitness titles by Anthony Anholt:

The Bodyweight Exercise Bible (coming soon)

The Abdominal Exercises Bible (coming soon)

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If youre reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Disclaimer

The exercises and advice contained within this course may be too strenuous or dangerous for some people, and the reader(s) should consult a physician before engaging in them. The author and publisher of this course are not responsible in any manner whatsoever for any injury which may occur through reading and following the instructions herein.

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I know a person who owns a Porsche sports car. Its his baby and he cares for it almost as if it were one of his children. He spends a LOT of money on regular tune-ups (Ive learned it costs a lot more to maintain a fancy sports car than say, a Honda Civic) and when he parks his car he covers it with a tarp. In addition to this he makes sure he drives it regularly, even if he has nowhere to go. The reason he does this is that he knows that a sports car is meant to be used. If you want to keep a Porsche in tiptop condition, you have to let it do what it was designed to do, which is to be driven (sometimes quite fast).

Most of us will never own a Porsche, and yet we all possess a machine that makes the Porsche pale in comparison. That machine is your body. More wondrous than a sports car and more fine-tuned than a Swiss watch, your body is an amazing machine. Whats more, it needs to be cared for and used as well. Your body is more amazing than any sports car. Shouldnt you treat it like one?

However, whereas cars require maintenance to stay in top form, human beings require exercise. In the not so distant past people used to get exercise, whether they wanted it or not, by performing hard, difficult labor. In the modern world though this just isnt the case. Most of us dont work on farms anymore, and even those that do rely on machines. Although the times have changed, our bodies havent. In order to stay in tiptop condition they still need to move and be worked. Most of us know this, but the time pressures put on us by modern society makes following any kind of exercise program difficult. This is why following a system of isometrics can be so valuable to you as isometrics, unique among forms of exercise, can be done quickly and easily, anywhere at anytime.

Isometric training involves working your muscles without actually moving them. It utilizes a principle known as the isometric contraction to accomplish this. Heres the science behind this idea.

Your muscles are made up of thousands of individual muscle fibers. It is these fibers that contract when you move a limb like your arm. Traditional forms of exercise, such as weight lifting, build muscle by progressively tiring out these fibers to a point of failure. As an example, lets say you are doing a bicep curl with a dumbbell. In order to move the dumbbell through the range of motion your brain activates muscle fibers to contract so that your arm can curl the weight. As you curl the dumbbell multiple times you will tire out these muscle fibers, forcing your brain to activate other, fresher fibers. The idea behind weightlifting is that you keep doing this until you have exhausted all of the muscle fibers in question. This works, but it can be time consuming. Wouldnt it be great if you could work all of those same muscle fibers at once?

This is essentially the idea behind isometric exercise. To demonstrate this concept imagine how your brain reacts if you start pressing against an immovable object, like a brick wall. Your brain will very quickly activate all the muscle fibers at its disposal in an (likely futile) attempt to move that wall. This process, by which all of the muscle fibers are used without actually moving, is known as an isometric contraction. The result is that while it takes many sets and reps to work all the muscle fibers lifting weights, you can hit them all in seconds using isometrics.

If the above confuses you, look at it this way. In order to pick up something light, like a paper cup, your brain only needs to activate a few muscle fibers. If you pick up something heavier, such as a barbell, your brain will activate more, but only enough to actually lift the barbell. Your brain will always only activate the muscle fibers it needs to accomplish a task. When it is faced with a task that it cannot accomplish, like pushing over a building, it will still try. This is why all the muscle fibers will get activated almost instantaneously. This is the principle behind the isometric contraction and is why isometrics can be so effective and yet save you so much time.

This book is a series of exercises based on this principle. However, instead of pushing against walls we will, for the most part, be using self-resistance. Before we get to the exercises though I need to explain the proper breathing procedure to follow in order to perform these exercises. The key point is that at no time when performing these exercises should you ever hold your breath. Isometrics are easy to do, but they are not easy. When you hold your breath it is possible to raise your blood pressure to dangerous levels. This could result in suffering a fainting episode or worse. Never do this! Instead, follow the breathing procedure listed below in order to perform these exercises safely and effectively at all times.

1. Breathe in through your nose for 3 seconds are you begin to build tension in your muscles. During this 3-second interval you should be building the muscle tension from nothing to the maximum amount youre capable of exerting.

2. When you reach the point of maximum tension after 3 seconds you will want to hold this contraction for 7 seconds. As you do so breathe out through your mouth by making a ssssssss sound. This is accomplished by placing your tongue on the roof of your mouth as you powerfully force air through your almost clenched teeth.

3. After 7 seconds has passed begin to relax the isometric contraction over a period of 3 seconds. While you do this make sure you breathe in through your nose.

And thats really all there is to it. Breathe in though your nose for 3 seconds as you build tension, exhale for 7 seconds as you hold the contraction, and then breathe in again through your nose. If you follow this procedure you will be able to perform these exercises safely and effectively.

When starting out you may want to use a clock with a second hand to make sure you are accurately counting time during the breathing procedure. If you dont have access to an accurate timepiece you can always count One thousand one, one thousand two in your head.

Remember; NEVER AT ANYTIME HOLD YOUR BREATH. (I know Im repeating myself, but I cant stress this enough)