Often, fitness enthusiasts carry the goal of muscle growth and development during their training journey. The goal can be achieved through various approaches where individuals lean towards a certain technique. Exercise scientist Dr.
Mike Israetel talked about some of them in a podcast with Chris Williamson. Dr. Mike Israetel primarily focused on one of the approaches- isometric exercises and its contributions toward an increase in size.
Isometric workouts involve static stretch and contraction of the muscles without any visible movement of muscles in the surrounding joints. If the goal is muscle growth, Dr. Israetel firmly believed that including isometric workouts wasn’t necessary.
While they do involve contractions and stretching of muscles that could be beneficial in other ways, there are better approaches achieving the goal. Any form of isometrics involves pausing mid-workout to develop some sort of resistance. This step is good if the fitness enthusiast needs some variation in their workout, making it more challenging to perform.
However, Dr. Israetel raised his thoughts on the subject. To this, Williamson asked about the appropriate position to pause at if one chose that route during workouts.
The scientist reiterated that pausing at the stretched instead of contracted move could provide more advantages. Ultimately, isometrics are more helpful in building strength over the size of muscles, no matter how an individual performs. However, all this boils down to perfectin.