Isometric exercise creates stronger muscles, promotes physical endurance, higher performance levels and a healthier posture. It is a form of resistance training, which speeds up rehabilitation from sports or other injuries. You can do isometric exercises anywhere and without any exercise equipment. These exercises help to teach you an awareness of your body and reduces stress.

Isometric exercise, or resistance training, uses muscular contractions with an equal resistance force, or an immovable force, placed on the muscle for a short period of time. In this way, there is no shortening or lengthening of the muscle. Isometric exercise is actually capable of increasing muscular development in a very short period of time.

Yoga and Pilates are based on the same concept as isometrics. Hold your body in a static neutral alignment and the force of an immovable object, or gravity, will create muscular tension.

Muscle activation techniques are simple isometric exercises. It is an effective technique for strengthening muscles and aiding injury recovery, thus preventing future sports injuries. To restore the proper balance to the musculature, the weak muscles must be re-activated. Isometric techniques can aide in this process. The contraction should only last 6-7 seconds and be repeated 6 times. This allows for the peak tension to create changes in the muscle.

An example of an isometric exercise would be to hold a book with an outstretched arm for 7 seconds, then repeat 6 times. Once you understand the isometric contractions, they can be incorporated into your daily life and these exercises can be used anytime, anywhere. If you do this everyday, you will feel a change in your strength and bodily awareness. Including isometric exercises into you daily exercise plan will reap many benefits to your body.