Minute Isometrics

Using my doorway, and doorway chin bar I’ve been getting in surprisingly effective upper body workouts. (I had to link since they’re so damn similar.)

Since writing the above I’ve been doing the below protocol fairly regularly:

I set an interval timer for multiple sets of 1:00 and then inevitably suffer through the sets.

Horizontal push and pull using the door frame, and then vertical push and pull using the door frame and chin up bar.

I’ve also done arm extended sideways push/pull.

Almost every doorway set is one handed.

Don’t trash talk these without doing them, you’re getting in loads of time under tension, and if you’re doing it right it’s hard work.

At the very least you’re getting in a lot of wall/doorway/chin bar assisted posing and building mind muscle connection.

To end this particular workout I threw a towel over the pullup bar, bunched it up real tight vertically and squeezed it one handed like I was gripping a wrist. Since hindsight is 20/20 I wanted to kick myself for not doing this regularly while wrestling in high school. It was so damn similar to holding a wrist tight, and was crazy hard on the fingers to boot. To make it more interesting I also added some wrist motion in which made it even better.

I’ve said it about a million times, and here it is again… You’re never gymless!

Give some longer isometrics a try, but make sure you use a timer. I’ve found by checking that I can make a 100 count fit into as little as 10 seconds. The timer doesn’t lie, and 4-6 minutes can be enough to get in a stellar workout. It’s all about improvise, adapt, and overcome.

Why not test if Aerobic Isometrics work as well as Steve Justa states they do.

-J