A Brief History of Isometrics

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Isometric or Self-Resistance/Static exercise has been around for thousands of years. 

It is important to know and understand a little history of Isometric exercise.

There is documented evidence of this form of exercise having been used by 

various cultures throughout history.

Ancient documents show us that static exercises or what we call isometrics were used for training. 

In Ancient Greece, the people of Sparta were renowned for their strength. 

All Spartan males became soldiers at the age of 13 after having trained from the age of 6. 

Spartan women were also expected to be physically fit and healthy to produce strong healthy children and so were also physically trained.

 This training is documented to have included bodyweight and self-resistance exercises.

The ancient Greeks classified isometrics as "soft exercise" 

because it developed strength without undue exertion. 

1838 was when the word was first documented, literally meaning "of the same measure," from iso "the same, equal" and metric “measure”. The components are Greek: isos "equal, identical" and metron "a measure."  It was originally a method of using perspective in drawing; later about crystals. 

The physiological sense relating to muscular action is from 1889, 

from the German ‘isometrisch’ meaning equal in measure. 

This refers to the muscle remaining the same length.

Those who trained gladiators in Ancient Rome used various forms of static exercise 

and then throughout the middle ages,

 the military continued to use this form of training in Ancient Greece and Rome. 

In the Orient, self-resistance exercise has been practised in martial arts and yoga for centuries. In the twelfth century, the Buddhist monk, Bodhidharma, developed a series of twelve basic tensing exercises, the Yi Jin Jing, which he brought from India and introduced to the monks of the Shaolin Temple in China. Variations of these exercises were adapted 

to Kung Fu, Tai Chi, and Ki Gong and have been practised over the centuries, in one form or another, 

by martial artists the world over. 

In modern times, the renowned martial artist, Harry Wong, wrote a book entitled Dynamic Strength, 

a comprehensive compilation of self-resistance exercises 

geared towards strengthening martial arts practitioners.

However, it wasn’t until the latter half of the nineteenth century that self-resistance exercises began 

to be formally documented and published for the general public. 

Leisure was also beginning to emerge as living standards increased and the general populace 

could turn its attention toward amusements and pursuing personal desires.

One of those amusements that became popular during this period was Vaudeville. 

With a bit of additional time and money to spend, people were drawn to the many shows and acts 

that made their way around Europe and America. 

One spectacle that became popular was that of the strongman.

One of the first and most famous of these strongmen was 

Eugene Sandow, who not only amazed audiences with his incredible feats of strength but also drew the admiration of both men and women with his superb Herculean physique 

and he 'wowed' audiences throughout America, Great Britain and the Continent.

With Sandow’s success, other strongmen appeared, some becoming as famous as Sandow himself 

and the strongman act emerged as a regular feature of Vaudeville. 

The amazing feats of strength, which no ordinary man could duplicate, were just part of the show. 

As would be expected, men in the audience were struck with a burning desire to emulate these muscular marvels and to learn how they, too, could build the kinds of bodies that women ogled and swooned over. Indeed, Sandow, not famous for any sort of modesty, would charge women money 

for the privilege of feeling his flexed 18” biceps! 

Thus, the fitness industry was born.

Now, for the most part, these early strongmen were experts in human anatomy, physiology, nutrition and bodybuilding and there arose a ready market for their vast knowledge.  

Many of them published excellent books on exercise programmes and others found an outlet through 

mail-order courses that appeared in newspapers and magazines.

Of course, heavy and expensive equipment sent through the mail was impractical and those with access to gyms, which were beginning to sprout up in urban areas, were few and far in between, so these physical culture experts developed muscle-building programs which required little or no equipment. These men regularly used this system of exercise in the first place, 

so their systems of self-resistance exercise were tried and proven. 

The great Sandow, himself, maintained his strength and muscularity 

was exclusively achieved with self-resistance exercise while travelling.

The most famous and successful of the mail-order courses was that of Charles Atlas, which was a staple in magazines and comic books from the 1920s on through the 1970s. Charles Atlas, through the marketing genius of his business partner, Charles Roman, capitalised on his having been proclaimed "The World's most perfectly developed man" in 1922. 

The classic Greek form of Charles Atlas was a sculptor's dream 

and statues of Charles Atlas were plentiful! 

The Charles Atlas course still exists today.

Self-resistance is, in fact, an extremely effective means of building strength and muscle, 

strengthening connective tissue, building bone density and burning calories.  

As stated, those early bodybuilders perfected this form of exercise 

and used it as a mainstay in their workouts, achieving spectacular results.

There was a man by the name of Alexander Zass, who, as a Russian prisoner of war, 

held in Austrian prison camps during World War I, developed a powerful physique and tremendous strength by pulling on his prison bars and chains. He had been a strong man before the war, 

having worked out religiously as a young man, but as a prisoner, he discovered how extraordinary strength could be achieved. At one point, Alexander Zass found himself shackled in solitary confinement. He was concerned that, being unable to exercise properly, he would deteriorate and lose the strength and physique he had spent so many years developing. Then, he experimented with maintaining his strength by pulling on his chains and prison bars. To his great delight, he discovered that this type of training increased his strength. Finally, when the time was right, he bent the bars to his prison window, snapped the chains of his manacles, bent one of the bars clear around to be used as a j-hook for scaling a wall and made good his escape! 

After the war, he went on the road as a strongman and gained fame 

throughout Europe and England as "The Amazing Samson".  

He also sold a course of strength building, utilising the methods he had developed as a prisoner of war and which he, himself, practised throughout his illustrious career. 

Alexander stated: “When you strengthen the tissues and the ligaments surrounding the tendons, you're creating strength that could save a life one day and protect you from getting injured not just in sports but in everyday tasks. Have you ever hurt your shoulder carrying things? Had a hernia from shovelling snow? Landed wrong on your knees? These things happen, but if you practised Isometrics, these things could come to almost a halt and you'll have better protection on the joints. 

We can't always prevent an injury, but we can learn to lessen the impact and switch from being 

injury prone to injury-proof. This isn't to test if you're invincible; it's a way to understand that the stronger your tendons are, you can heal much quicker from certain injuries. 

Learn the value of Isometric Training and train to protect your body, looking good won't last forever but with strong joints, it is highly likely you'll be able to live with better quality and 

have a body that won't fail you as fast, even at a later age”. 

In the 1920s in a study at Springfield College, Massachusetts, a discovery was made when trying to prove that a limb when restricted from moving would become atrophied, however they discovered that the leg of a frog attached to an immovable object grew stronger than the other leg, which was free.  This is now known to have happened due to the effect of the isometric contractions 

as the frogs tried to move an immovable object in an attempt to free the leg. 

This research was carried out to help the war wounded in World War I 

but this science was never applied. 

This test is now known as “The Frog Test”.

In 1953 for ten years, momentous breakthroughs were made at the Max Plank Institute in Dortmund, Germany, a world-renowned centre of scientific excellence in many disciplines.

Dr Hettinger and Dr Muller performed hundreds of isometric exercise experiments on volunteers. 

The proven benefits of isometrics from their studies are too numerous to list here, 

but experiments proved that just one isometric exercise per day at two-thirds maximum intensity, increases strength by 5% per week! 

See my sources and references below for more details.

In the early 1960's isometrics suddenly appeared everywhere! High school athletic programmes adopted isometric exercises and little isometric workout books could be found at grocery checkout stands and isometric exercises appeared on the backs of cereal boxes. 

We all know that exercise keeps you fit and helps you to maintain a healthy weight. 

It is proven that one perfect 10-second isometric pose activates 95.2% of muscle fibres 

whereas 30 near-perfect biceps curls activate 89% of muscle fibres. 

So imagine how much these isometric poses are boosting your metabolic rate as well as toning muscles, strengthening connective tissue and increasing bone density among many other benefits.

In the same way that people know about all isotonic forms of fitness disciplines, 

through Tonetix, we will share this knowledge, awaken the skill that everyone possesses 

and Tonetix will become the go-to remedy for a sustainable, fitter, healthier future.