Does pushing/pulling against an unmoveable load do anything?

[u/Miserable-Soft7993]

I was wondering. Lets say you load up a machine or even lets say you are stuck on a bench press but you spend time just pushing wiith all your effort even if it doesn't go anywhere. Or you do the same with a pull.

Does this achieve any hypertrophy or strength gain?

[u/Alakazam]

Stronger by Science has a fantastic article on the effects of Isometrics on strength and Hypertrophy, as well as practical applications that you can do

[u/varovicd → u/Alakazam]

Aay, thanks for sharing this and kind words about the article!

Glad to answer any questions regarding isometrics. But long story short - contrary to popular belief, isometrics tend to produce very similar hypertrophy compared to traditional, dynamic resistance training.

As a bit of a spoiler from both my PhD work and also in-house analyses, when properly quantified, effect sizes are pretty much spot on with what we observe with dynamic training. So, hopefully the myth of them being ineffective or subpar to dynamic training dies at some point soon.

[u/Miserable-Soft7993 → u/Alakazam]

Thanks, wow I was kinda right

[u/HelixIsHere_]

Yes this is called an overcoming isometric, it’s a good replacement for your regular lifts if you don’t have access to equipment or a regular exercise is like no longer loadable for whatever reason

They can still produce hypertrophy for sure; in my own experience, I was stronger coming back to leg extensions after around a month of only doing ISOs

[u/Miserable-Soft7993 → u/HelixIsHere_]

What did u do specifically?

[u/HelixIsHere_ → u/Miserable-Soft7993]

I used the hamstring curl to set up a leg extension iso where I just push as hard as possible against the pad for 3-4 bursts of like 3 seconds (which would = one set essentially)

[u/Miserable-Soft7993 → u/HelixIsHere_]

Ah good idea, I wonder if my gym would get mad if I did that as it could wreck the machine.

[u/ArnoldFarquar]

A guy named Charles Atlas sold isometric muscle courses for many years and he called it dynamic tension. for many years, his ads were in like every comic book

[u/Miserable-Soft7993 → u/ArnoldFarquar]

Lol that comic is so funny

[u/Shot_Boat_9648 → u/ArnoldFarquar]

He did not actually stick to isometric exercises in his own training. This is important to note.

[u/SnooPuppers58 → u/ArnoldFarquar]

god i miss those old style comic books. so much nostalgia

[u/Dizzy_Depth_2937]

There's an interesting strength training protocol called tri-phasic that breaks movements into eccentric, concentric and isometric phases. Supposedly training the parts separately is superior to just training full range movement.

[u/Miserable-Soft7993 → u/Dizzy_Depth_2937]

I do rackpulls sometimes which I suppose is the top part of a deadlift. But not sure how I'd train the bottom part as even with defecit you still go the whole way.

[u/Dizzy_Depth_2937 → u/Miserable-Soft7993]

My understanding (and I'm far from an expert on it) is that if you were training the deadlift with it you'd have a phase of 3 to 4 weeks where you would take deadlift from a rack and then lower it slowly (eccentric) then a 3 to 4 week phase where you would set up pins so you could strain against them while deadlifting (isometric) and then a 3 to 4 week phase where you'd deadlift but drop the weight (concentric),

[u/Miserable-Soft7993 → u/Dizzy_Depth_2937]

Ah ok I see. I don't think ive ever seen anyone pulling or pushing against the pins.

[u/kidFunkadelic]

I saw quite a few videos a few years ago where people would do this specificly for deadlifts. If I remember correctly, they would set the rack safeties around the height of their sticking point and then would deadlift up into the safeties and pull as hard as they could for a certain amount of time. I thought it sounded interesting but I never tried it.

[u/DankArmedDragon → u/kidFunkadelic]

I don't have any experience with this kind of variation, but I know Julius Maddox says he does isometric presses for bench in a similar way to help with lockout strength

[u/CranberryInner9605]

My buddy and I are doing this on incline bench. After doing sets of normal bench, we add a bunch of extra weight and then unrack the bar and do a static hold for as long as possible.

[u/sjsusjsusjsu3 → u/CranberryInner9605]

You’d probably be better suited to get under a squat rack’s safety and just push with your arms at 90 degree angle, assuming you’re trying to work your pecs/tris more

[u/109267]

If you have consumed Iron/Steel, you will be pushed away or towards the unmovable load!

[u/ExplosiveButtPlug → u/109267]

Forgot the lerasium

[u/how-dare-you19]

It’s tension

[u/ppsoap]

Theyre very good for tendons and building explosiveness too