How To Tone Your Muscles...

Without Actually Moving

With recent advances in the understanding of core training, one of the buzz words for the last few years in fitness has been the importance of stability of this area.

Defined as the ability to resist movements while stabilizing the spine, the essence of "core stability" is the ability to consciously stiffen the glutes, abdominals and core muscles together to form a super stiff weight belt to resist unnecessary movement. In sports such as martial arts, soccer and baseball a stable torso allows athletes to transfer explosive force from the ground across the body more efficiently. And when it comes to back pain, a stiffened torso efficiently redistributes spinal loads to the glutes, hips when and abdominals bending over and twisting.

In this way, the key training for stability is teaching the muscles to consciously contract and hold in place. But while planks, side planks and bridging for the glutes are foundations of core training, the need for stability reaches far beyond the core.

For those returning from injury, one of the first steps in physical therapy is stabilization of the region surrounding an injured joint or muscle. For knee injuries for example, holding in half squats or split squat stance for 10-20 seconds at a time activates and strengthens the muscles around the injured joint by forcing them stabilize the patient's weight.

Known as an isometric contraction, the ability to tighten and squeeze the muscles while holding in a stable position builds specific strength, endurance and resulting stability in target areas of the body. And for those with neck, knee or shoulder pain, isometric exercises may just hold the key to training away your pain.

Getting A-head of your pain:

When it comes to your neck and shoulders, one of the most commonly reported causes of pain in this region is forward head posture. This posture refers to the caveman-like jaunt which results from hours of leaning forward at the computer and television. To assess whether this affects you, check the position of your head ears in relation to your torso. Are ears in line with your shoulders or jutted out in front of your body? If the latter, you are a prime candidate for this condition.

This sort of posture creates a strength discrepancy between the muscles which extend the neck forward and those which flex the neck backward and also places strain on the shoulders and rotator cuff muscles. In addition to stretching and soft tissue work for the neck, the key to alleviating much upper back, neck and shoulder pain is to re-train the position of the neck through simple isometric exercises.

* Standing towel retractions: Simply roll a towel up and place it under the chin. Hold this towel in place by retracting the chin and attempting to squeeze the towel in place contracting the muscles of the back of the neck. Perform three ten second holds and progress by 5-10 seconds per week for four weeks.

* Lying cobras: Lying flat on your stomach with your head touching the floor, retract the chin while squeezing your shoulder blades together and pulling your arms off the floor. Perform three sets of twenty seconds holds and progress by 10-20 seconds per week.

Re-train knee pain:

One of the more common causes of long standing knee pain is weakness and inactivity of muscles surrounding knee-namely the inner quad (VMO) and gluteus medius (located on the outside of the hip) Acting as buffers for force and strain during activity, these muscles bear much of the force during activities which involve bending the knee-squatting, climbing stairs, etc.

While exercises such as side lying leg lifts and knee extensions serve to strengthen these muscles in isolation, isometric holds are the key to to strengthening these muscles to activate and work together in real world positions.

Wall sit: Standing over a chair or bench, stick your butt out and lower down to the end of your pain free range of motion. Hold in this position for 10-20 seconds while attempting to contract your leg muscles and pushing your knees apart. Perform three sets of 20 second holds and add 10-20 seconds per week.

Split squat holds: Holding in a lunge position, place on hand on the inside of your knee and lower down to the end of your pain free range of motion. Attempt to contract your leg muscles with special focus being placed on pushing your knee out and contracting the muscle on the inside of your knee (this is your VMO) Perform three sets of 20 second holds and add 10-20 seconds per week.

Total body tone:

While we have touched upon some drills to address specific issues affecting the upper and lower body, isometrics also serve as a great way to warm up the muscles, improve total body endurance and stability and build muscle tone throughout the body. The beauty of these drills is that they can be customized to address virtually any area of the body and are performed in less than five minutes with no equipment.

With this in mind, the following full body isometric circuit is fast becoming one of my favorite warm up protocols:

Day #1:
Upper: Half push up hold
Lower: Wall sit
Core: Paloff hold
Joint specific: Half curl hold

Day #2:
Upper: Scaption hold
Lower: Split squat hold
Core: Plank
Joint specific: L-sit

* Change drills every 20 seconds and repeat three times

by Chris Kelly