Before the arrival of Gyms in the UK in the early 1960’s the only way to tone and tighten the body was to perform Isometric exercise. This was usually done at home in the bedroom having responded to adverts in newspapers and magazines which offered an Isometric workout.
Once Gyms arrived on the scene however it put an end to Isometrics as people much preferred to work out in a gym environment and use machines.
For many years it had been assumed that Isometric exercise was a poor alternative to Isotonic (resistance) training but it turns out that nothing could be further from the truth!
New technology which makes it possible to measure muscle fibre contraction during exercise shows that Isometric exercise is a very effective way to tone and strengthen muscles and if this is combined with Isotonic exercise, it becomes incredibly effective – far more so that when performing either on their own!
That of course is why Gymophobics Instructors prescribe both modalities, knowing that by combining the two their members will achieve even faster results.
Isometric exercise is simply muscle contractions. By squeezing and holding a muscle in a contracted state for (say) seven seconds, then relaxing and performing a number of repetitions, the muscle is strengthened. When this is done in combination with Isotonic resistance exercise the effect can be quite dramatic.
Combining Isotonic and Isometric exercise has been developed by Gymophobics over the past few years and is now called ‘Resisted Tension’. Eventually a Trade Mark was applied for and achieved which makes it a unique system not available in conventional Gyms.
