How to Do Isometric Exercises With Resistance Bands

Step 1

Resistance bands are made for quick isotonic contractions in order to pump the muscle. However, they can be used effectively for isometric contraction exercises as well. What is an isometric exercise? It's one where your muscles don't actually move during the exercise (planks are a great example of this). Doing this kind of an exercise is great for your muscles to build a lot of strength, although it won't help develop much definition. However, they're a lot of fun to do, so let's take a look at some of the ways you can get them done by using resistance bands.

Step 2

Below I have a link to a set of resistance bands that I really like. The Black Mountain Products Resistance Band Set with Door Anchor, Ankle Strap, Exercise Chart, and Resistance Band Carrying Case is a great product for this kind of exercise. It comes with everything you need in order to work every part of the body with resistance bands, and can be set up right inside your own room. The resistance bands they have are high-quality so they won't break easily, and there are a lot of different levels of resistance offered in this set.

Step 3

Whether you plan to work your biceps, back, chest, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, traps, triceps, abs, shoulders, or any other muscle you can possibly think of, there is essentially one way to go about isometric exercise. Your main goal is to find a resistance that suits the muscle and then do a movement that would normally be isotonic. Instead of moving throughout the exercise, you'll find the spot where the muscle is under the most stress and then hold it. Below I'll outline the way to perform one exercise using resistance bands, and you can take that method and apply it to any other exercise you can think of.

Step 4

The bicep curl is a fantastic exercise for bringing a lot of pump to your muscle. However, doing it isometrically with resistance bands ads a twist that will have your bicep burning. You will hook the band up to wherever you have it anchored (a door, the ground, underneath your foot, etc..) and then lift the band into curling position. Bring the band up until your elbow is at 90 degrees (a.k.a. the hardest point of the exercise for your biceps) and then hold it there. Hold it for as long as you possibly can, then let the band down for a couple of seconds to rest. After a couple of seconds, bring the band back up and hold it again until you no longer can. This is how you perform an isometric exercise for the biceps.

Step 5

As you can see, the method of doing isometric exercises is extremely simple. You apply the same methodology to any muscle group and any exercise that you can do with the resistance bands, and wala! you have yourself an isometric training routine. This routine will bring your muscles a lot of usable strength. You'll find that your isotonic lifts increase a lot after doing exercises like this. Plus, isometric exercises can be a fun way to switch things up.