Gym Lingo: Iso Hold

Here’s one that trips up many people on their program, iso hold. It’s short for isometric. Which is short for isometric contraction.

An isometric contraction is muscle contraction in which the length of the muscle does not change. A firing of the muscles where no joints move, rather the muscles keep everything in place.

In simple terms, sitting in chair with your best posture is essentially isometrically contracting lots of things.

Holding a plank is an isometric contraction (especially if you do it right).

An isometric contraction is present on any sort of pause squat or bench press as well.

Other common iso holds we use at GAIN are split squat iso holds, anti-rotation press iso holds, bottom of push up holds, wall sits, and if you were around for some Zoom workouts, bat wings.

Iso holds get you stronger in specific ranges of motion, they’re helpful for building strength and rigidity, and one of those things we could all use a little more of. Not to mention, a great way to train around an injury.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain