Promoting Isometric Exercise

There is a variety of different type of exercises with very different styles and approaches. Rehabilitative exercises use isometric and isotonic resistive training techniques that will target your specific problem areas.  One example is to strengthen a joint or muscle group to make it as strong as the opposite side to create balance in your performances.  This format of focusing on an area can be used in training for your sport or activity, you have an injury or inherent weakness. 

Resistive formats can be used to educate your body and inform your brain.  Using lighter weight for assessments will show you if you are flexing, extending, abducting, adducting, rotating bi-laterally, etc., each muscle group to its fullest capacity.  Meaning if you are a swimmer, you may notice it is easier rotate a shoulder or neck to breath on one side over the other.  Softball and racquetball players may be prone to sending the ball in a fairly constant trajectory to the same destination.   Runners can have, from a small to rather large lean to their stride, where you pull to one side and find you must correct to stay in a straight line.  Weight lifters may need to pay greater attention to keeping their arms level in overhead work, or feel weight greater in one knee or foot. 

While these situations may not cause any harm, they can impact your performance. With the proper approach you can still strengthen your muscles evenly.  What if you didn't need to exert as much effort keeping arms level in overhead weightlifting, you could have better form and greater energy reserve for the next task.  In running, the amount of steps could you save in a race by not having to pull yourself to the left or right could impact your finish time. A set pattern can dictate an action, so addressing changing the pattern can give you a different outcome.

To explain the benefits of cross training here are some explains. The idea that running is its own workout, that if you train properly you will gradually increase your distance and speed.  While that is true, it isn't the only way to train.  Meaning, that if you cross train with weight lifting, it’s probable that a leg that can press 200 pounds can run farther than a leg that can press 100 pounds.  And this is not a person to person comparative, it is your ratio.  Can you train to run farther quicker with learning resistive exercises to grow muscle capacity.  Technically, you should be able to increase your distance and speed just because your muscles and joints are now physically stronger.