Static Holds?

[ryanflyer05]

What does everyone think of these? Can they help with strength training, or are they mostly worthless?

[yessir]

I assume you're referring to isometrics, in which case, the answer is YES, they are extremely valuable. They don't just help with strength training, they are strength training. The thing I love about isos is that they're so damn efficient. In other words... look at it like this. In a regular dynamic repetition, you might get 1 second of proper contraction of the target muscle. With an iso you can really zero in on the contraction and get a lot more bang for your buck. They are a very underrated methodology.

[ryanflyer05]

I assume you're referring to isometrics, in which case, the answer is YES, they are extremely valuable. They don't just help with strength training, they are strength training. The thing I love about isos is that they're so damn efficient. In other words... look at it like this. In a regular dynamic repetition, you might get 1 second of proper contraction of the target muscle. With an iso you can really zero in on the contraction and get a lot more bang for your buck. They are a very underrated methodology.

Thanks. So when/how do you do them?

Right now, the only one I'm really familiar with is the one where you clasp your hands in front of your chest and flex every muscle that you can.

[yessir]

Hmm. We may be talking about different things, from the description of the exercise you mentioned. Not to say there couldn't be any benefit from what you described, but I was more referring to something like this, where the bodyweight is the resistance and you hold in a leverage disadvantaged position.

[Dada]

Here you go... http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/is ... cises.html

Also, one thing I've found very effective for pushup strength / endurance is by just going into the top position of the pushup - keeping body very rigid and holding the position for as long as possible. Sounds easier than it is. In the army this is called the front leaning rest postion. In basic training especially, recruits are often told to go to this position for extended periods of time while they get yelled at before they get told to actually do some pushups (at least that's how it was when I was coming up). Believe it or not after a certain length of time in this postion, the pushups feel like a relief compared to the front leaning rest (mostly because the muscles, especially triceps, are fully engaged during this postion). It really does help to improve your pushups. Although it works better when someone is there yelling at you not to move. lol But if you're disciplined enough to push yourself to hold the postion for a few minutes you'll get a lot out of it.

[Dada]

Just thought of another one, this time for the legs and to a lesser extent the shoulders. This time put your back to a wall and pick up a chair with your arms extended straight out in front of you. Now go into the midway to the bottom of a squat postion, keeping your arms fully extended holding the chair and back pushed straight against the wall. Hold for a few minutes, and enjoy the pain.

[Portillo]

Gymnasts sometimes hold a contraction at the top position of a parallel bar dip. Apparantly its good for the triceps.

[baatzt]

Check out http://www.beastskills.com/ for static stuff, though most of the stuff is pretty high tech for starters.

[aaron84]

I do also a lot of isometrics and I am very satisfied with my progress. They also help to develop a good and healthy feeling for you body and your muscles. I can recommend them, there are also a few easy exercises for beginners to get started without major problems.