Isometric Training

What is Isometric Training?

Isometric training involves exercises that use static muscle contraction to work the muscle. This type of training and exercise involves no movement, so the muscles and joints do not move during the exercise. Like other forms of training, isometric training can lead to increased energy, hypertrophy and strength.

What are the benefits of isometric training?

There are many benefits to isometric training, and this is why they are commonly used to this day. Here, we will look at some of the main benefits associated with isometrics.

Isometrics build muscle mass. It is strongly suggested that muscle mass CAN be developed through isometric training, good news for all of us who like staring at the mirror.

Isometric training builds strength in the muscles. In fact, some people argue that you can build strength much more efficiently using isometric training as you work the muscles more intensely. There is strong evidence to support the idea that, because we hold a static position for 3-6 seconds we are sustaining maximal tension for a longer period of time than when we are lifting weights, for example.

Isometric training builds strength at an exact point in a certain exercise. This can be a valuable thing if we have a weakness in certain exercises.

However

It is generally advised that isometric training is used as a routine that supports our main workout as opposed to it being the sole focus of our exercise routines. So, to use isometrics correctly we should aim to incorporate it into our training regimes. Luckily, isometric training does not use too much energy so when fitting it into our workout we should not need to alter much.

Isometric Exercises

We can turn almost any exercise into an isometric exercise. All we need to do is hold a position in the exercise to make it isometric! We can, from this, target moments in our range of motion where we are not as strong and build these up.

How Much Exercise?

How much exercise should we do each week?

A major question with regards to fitness and health is how much exercise should we do. Well, the answer really does depend on what the goals are, and even then the answer can vary. In this blog we will look to answer these questions. According to a report from the UK government, only 37 per cent of men and 24 per cent of women complete enough exercise to see any benefit.

General health and fitness

For general health and fitness there are a wide variety of guidelines available to suggest how much exercise we need to do. The NHS seems to offer a reasonable answer to this question. It is suggested that we should attempt to be physically active each day, and try to complete two and a half hours of exercise per week. On top of this we should attempt to include two days (at least) of muscle building exercise, exercise each muscle group. However, these numbers appear to only apply to the average adult and so people who are older, younger, overweight, underweight and so on may need to increase or decrease the amount of exercise they do in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Fitness

When we are looking to improve our fitness for other physical activities, like team sports, it is important that we do more than the required amounts for general health and fitness. To improve our fitness levels we must be looking at cardio-vascular training along with some strength training and flexibility training.

Muscle building

If our goal is to build muscle then our focus changes a great deal with regards to our exercise requirements. Two days a week weight lifting will not have us looking like Arnie in his hey day. I would suggest keeping the cardio exercise levels similar, mainly for the health benefits that we will get from it, but we must increase the days of muscle building exercise in order to really bulk up our muscle mass.For muscle building it is essential that the muscles have a rest period to recover, so if we work the arms one day we should give them at least one day off in between in order for them to recover and grow.

Losing weight

Although losing weight is as much about diet as it is about exercise, the amount of physical effort we put in has a major effect on weight loss. The key to weight loss is burning more calories than we consume so we must bear this in mind when deciding on how much exercise we are going to do. Obviously, the more exercise we do, the more calories we burn off.

So, the short answer to the question of how much exercise we need to do is that it varies depending on the goals we have and what we wish to achieve from exercise. From the basic levels of exercise that we need to live healthy lives we can adapt our routine to meet the goals that we want, whether that be improved fitness, muscle gain and/or weight loss. It is important to note that we must also watch our diet when looking to meet any of these goals.

Protein

Protein

I have previously posted blog entries regarding carbohydrates, fats and dietary fibres. This entry looks to discuss protein.

What is Protein?

Proteins, as a nutrient, are chains of Amino acids that contain around 4 calories per gram. Amino acids can be divided into either essential amino acids or non-essential amino acids.

In nutrition, protein is broken down in the stomach in order to provide amino acids to the body, including essential amino acids that cannot be created by the body itself. Our body does not store protein so it is important that we eat it on a daily basis for a number of reasons.

Protein is needed by us humans in order to grow and maintain our condition. Experts advise consuming between 0.8 grams and 1.1 grams of protein per pound of your body weight, per day.

Benefits of Protein for Weight Loss

Protein is an essential thing for the body in general, but it can also be extremely important to people wanting to lose weight or fat.

An important factor of protein is that it takes longer to digest and leave your stomach. This leaves us feeling fuller for longer, and this means that we are less likely to unnecessarily snack between meals, therefore we eat fewer calories. 

Protein also burns more calories through digestion, and general use, and so this can aid in any weight loss we are attempting.

It is important to note here that this blog IS NOT promoting an Atkins/high protein diet, or anything similar. I do not agree with these types of diets and am merely showing how through eating the right way protein can help lose weight.

Benefits of Protein for Muscle Growth

When weight training, our bodies need protein to develop and maintain muscle. Protein is used to repair the tiny tears that are made when we exercise. The protein also helps to increase the muscle mass. Because amino acids can be burned by the body during exercise it is essential that we refuel our muscles with protein, as well as carbohydrates.

Research appears to suggest that it is important to have protein shortly before and shortly after weight/resistance training to fuel our muscles and allow them to repair and grow.

Other Benefits of Protein

Protein, as well as the benefits previously mentioned, has a number of other benefits too. These include, but are not limited to;

• Repairing injured/torn tissue
• Protein also helps build skin, hair, nails and cartilage
• Prevention of various conditions such as anaemia and hypotension
• Helps with circulation
• Heals injuries

Be careful with Protein

As with all food intakes there are things to be careful of. There is, of course, a risk of eating too much protein. This can lead to excess calories, and potential weight gain. Also, if we eat too much protein and not enough carbohydrates the body can form ketones and release them into the blood.

Conclusions

Protein is something that we need to intake everyday. It is so important for our everyday health, but can also help us with weight loss and muscle building. As with all food, it is important that we do not over eat it though.

Pull Ups

Me doing chin ups

Today I am going to discuss an exercise that should form some part of any home workout, pull ups. To do a pull up we need something to pull up on, a pull up bar is an affordable and easy item to use, that can be inserted into a doorway.

To beginners, a pull up can be a truly challenging exercise, and it may be useful to use, for example, a chair to help practice good form. When we start getting good at pull ups though, they are one of the most beneficial exercises out there. Pull ups work the biceps and the muscles of the back; trapezius, rhomboids, the posterior deltoids, the latissimus dorsi and the teres major. The biceps get more work when the exercise is completed with the palms facing towards our self (this is the one often referred to as a chin up), and the back muscles gain more from the exercise being done with an overhand grip.

To complete a pull up, the body is suspended by the arms as we grip our pull up bar, and we pull ourselves up with muscular effort. The elbows will bend and we aim to bring our head above the bar and lower again. This is one repetition.

A good tip for when the pull up is mastered is to add a weighted belt (or any other weight) to make it even more challenging and to help develop our muscles further.

This exercise is highly recommended, and when we combine it with press ups, we get a decent upper body workout.

The Importance of a well balanced diet

When looking into fitness, health, muscle building and weight loss, diet is such a key thing to address. Essentially, a good diet is the key to a healthy body.

No one single food will provide all the nutrients that our body requires in order to function as it should so it is important to have a well balanced diet in order to get these nutrients. The body needs protein, fats, carbohydrates and fibre as well as vitamins and minerals.

For building muscle mass protein is key. However, carbs, fats and fibre should not be ignored. About 20 minutes after a weight lifting workout we should refuel our body and this should contain proteins and carbohydrates.

One of the most important pieces of advice with regards to weight loss is to not starve yourself. This will lead to more harm than good. The body begins to store fat and often weight can go on. You will not be living healthy by starvation.

A good diet can also help maintain everyday health and prevent long term disease and illness.

Eat right!