I think that’s why all of those old school overcoming isometric courses advocated for doing calisthenics alongside the OIs. Isochain/isomax + burpees and pull-ups would probably be a phenomenal combination
Perhaps, but don't forget that human-beings have a tendency to over complicate things. Even when studies show that isometrics offer just as much muscle building as dynamic (without injury risk). People will still convince themselves that only dynamic lifting will do. In the video he mentioned that human beings were designed to move...but runners that use isometrics still get faster... We all know that if he did 100% isochain only for a year his health, strength, joint health, flexibility, tendon strength, tendon health and even his stabilizer muscles would improve. This would be providing he had adequate rest. I noticed increased strength in my rotator cuff muscles after isochain training as well.
That's what I've been doing. Was already 90% calisthenics and now I'm about 50-70% iso, then the rest calisthenics as an experiment for the Winter probably going into Spring if it continues to go well!
Sup Squad! Heads up, this is just a broad overview and will absolutely be covered in depth as there were alot of moving parts to this experiment including exercise choices, sets, reps, etc but I at least wanted to give us this heads up video first before I drop the in depth version! Enjoy!
@sampetersson5887 thanks man. And nah, worse, I'm *fatty* 🤣 I've been in a caloric surplus this whole year so I'm weighing in the heaviest I've ever been at 195 (at this thumbnail). For reference when I started the channel in 2020, I was 172. 👀 But don't get used to this size. I actually don't like it and began a cut about 3 weeks ago and I'm already down to 192. I'd like to get down to 180 and maintain. Probably will vlog on it tbh
Great insight! Just in time for me, as I was thinking of just doing the Iso-Max exclusively. I can tell you firsthand isometric exercise builds muscle. For years I trained at a hard-core powerlifting gym and neither my friends nor I did abdominal work, but when we dieted down to make a lower weight class, we all had bodybuilder type abdominals. When you are squatting your abdominals and your lower back muscles act isometrically as stabilizers, when you are doing tricep press downs your abdominals are stabilizing your body, etc. Kudos to you brother, for keeping it real and giving us the pros and cons even of the products that sponsor you
Love your channel dude.. Personally I found overcoming isos really helped my stabilizers better than anything.. Probably cause I do it from all types of angles.. Steve Justa was a big influence on me.. As far as endurance I'm glad you mentioned yielding isos cause that's the antidote or complimentary to overcoming isos..Keep going strong..💪👊
Im glad your stabilization improved! I know on my end, some of it was because of the choice of dynamic workouts. Had I chosen more exercises requiring stabilization, it may not have been that much of a drop off. But yeah yielding goes together so well!
I'd argue that the problem he mentioned about endurance were due to inadequate rest. When I used to lift weights, recovery was much quicker. But when I did just a few exercises with the Isochain suddenly I needed a minimum of 2 days rest and sometimes much more. I bet an isochain routine only but with adequate rest wouldn't have any issues. He talked about how we were designed to move but I remember him talking about increased flexibility from isochain use....
So what I do is this: I train push and pull both twice per week and the sessions are never entirely isometric. I decided to specialise only on 2 movement pattern, the dip and the overhead press. Same for pull, the row and the pull up that's it. So on day 1 I do iso of one of the two, OHP iso example second exercise I do endurance on dip in an emom fashion. ex 10 min dips emom, so in 20 minutes workout I get everything I need. I have the strength with isometrics, I have blood flow, pump and endurance with reps. It's working super well
That's why I like the strap with handles with quick adjust mech. As Hellboy wrote below,, It's easy to hit all sorts of angles, and lengths. Easy to slide strap where one arm is forward of the other and vice versa.. Someone Will come up with a micro gauge that is attached to the strap or handle.
Interesting topic and I look forward digging into your channel. The Bioneer, Adam Sinicki, mentioned your channel favorably, so I decided to stop by. You have some videos I'm excited to check out. Just wanted to let you know, you may be seeing more of us soon.
Here's my take on this as someone who has done traditional lifting for 20+ years and a blend of isometrics, weights, and bodyweight since 2020: The body adapts to what it does, so if you reduce your volume of dynamic exercises, you may have lost some endurance in terms of how efficient your body moves. I would also say if you are doing 6-second isometrics with breaks versus a continuous tension higher rep set, the latter will feel more difficult in terms of endurance. Keep up the great content.
Hi Chrys, As a 3 week noob Isochain user there are following topics(video ideas) I would love to see from you as experienced Isochain practitioner. 1) what are YOUR strength gains day 1 to now after 2/3 years? You made 14 days and one month number comparison thats cool, but what is to expect on longterm? What where your concrete gains to this day?100? 150? Are they still rising? 2) The 30-50% short term gains and stuff is amazing but how to train/program in order to get super powerful like Bruce lee or Alexander Zass etc over the years? How to not stagnate? Change up angles or change to whole other exercises? When? 6-8 weeks as book recommends? When I look into Bruce lees routine its nothing special. Nor is Alexander Zass with his chains. So what is it exactly? Just same routine over years? How exactly did Zass manage to not stagnate but always gain more and more strength with OI?🤔Couldn't find anything on that in the web. I wasted too much time training wrong in the past. I want to use the isochain as best as possible.
Great questions! Let me answer them as best I can. 1. When the channel first started, I was plagued with lower back issues. This significantly blocked my progress. My core and glutes were weak and it had a cascade effect on my body. Im in a much better position now so the real results have only just recently started, sadly. Trust me, everyone will be kept in the loop but so far the progress has been ABSOLUTELY WILD 2. 6 to 8 weeks is the limit for our programming. After that we tend to hit accommodation and its the struggle bus from there. My second to last livestream talks about programming. Its stuffed to the brim with isomax programming that I'd highly recommend listening to if you haven't already. 3. By themselves, the programs do look lacking. Honestly, thats the beauty of it. Its so simple but the results they provide are insane over time. As for their progression methods, Bruce decided to increase time under tension from 6 to 12 seconds. Zass chose to use different isometric exercises (he didn't have an isochain to my knowledge) Hope this helps!
@@NoLimitSquad yes, that helps a lot thank you for your time. Whenever I will stagnate, I will try to mix things up. Either angles or new/other exercises. Whenever I find the time I will send you my results so far to your mail.
I guess, every exercise has a place and time to implement to get fully beneficial. I target one muscle group I want to train. First I start warming up with bodyweight isometrics until I feel the targeted muscles. (For example with push-up planks) Then I try to keep those muscles active and do explosive calisthenics (polymetrics) for the same muscle group and to raise my hart rate. (Pop-ups) At last I finish of with bodyweight dynamics with additional rest-pause reps and partial reps. This way it takes roughly one hour to do pushups, cause I mix also some joint circling, stretching and animal drills. Also I found out that doing medium intensity isometrics on rest days when my muscles are already fatigued help with blood flow, recovery and ease the tense.
Human-beings over-complicate. Bear in mind that this guy has never tried an 100% Isochain only routine for a long length of time because he loves dynamic lifts so much. With adequate rest times, I bet there would be no issue with one.
Ive used one for many years but find the Isochain vastly superior. It is the sheer efficiency of the isochain that is the 'problem'. Dynamics are much more forgiving.
Id keep the cardio on the interval training/hiit side but generally no. The cardio would have to put you in a significant enough deficit to be a hindrance but a nice 15 to 20 min session would be fine
Seems like stabilizers and endurance was just being out of practice with those movements. Willing to bet if some minimal weighted versions of those lifts were kept in(as a practice like throwing a baseball) then there probably wouldn’t have been nearly as much of a difference in those areas.
Yeah more than likely. This happened last year when I did the iso only for a month Experiment but the drop offs weren't nearly as bad this time vs then. But yeah, it's very much "use it or lose it" when it comes to these areas
Have you ever tried to implement plyometrics as an intermediary. Specifically the concentric aspects of push/ pull movements to maintain structural integrity of secondary/ stabilizer muscles? Let me know what's up if you try it and if it works for you. Stay strong bro. 👌🏾💪🏾
@@NoLimitSquad I implement them both( Plyo's and Iso's) as opposed to hypertrophy volume training alone during the time where I look to add strength to my size gains . I box and do martial currently but I have a powerlifting and bodybuilding base. And that method works really well for me. Looking forward to seeing you touch on it soon in a video bro! Let me know how it's works for you. Stay strong.💪🏾
I got strength from the OI. But stabilizers got worse (I wasn't using them) and endurance was lower (I wasn't holding for long enough on the isometrics to match the endurance I had prior to)
I think that’s why all of those old school overcoming isometric courses advocated for doing calisthenics alongside the OIs. Isochain/isomax + burpees and pull-ups would probably be a phenomenal combination
Yeah. When combined with methods involving lots of movement, imo that's when it truly shines
Perhaps, but don't forget that human-beings have a tendency to over complicate things. Even when studies show that isometrics offer just as much muscle building as dynamic (without injury risk). People will still convince themselves that only dynamic lifting will do. In the video he mentioned that human beings were designed to move...but runners that use isometrics still get faster...
We all know that if he did 100% isochain only for a year his health, strength, joint health, flexibility, tendon strength, tendon health and even his stabilizer muscles would improve. This would be providing he had adequate rest. I noticed increased strength in my rotator cuff muscles after isochain training as well.
Hold one dumbbell over your head is the best iso and the first one you need
That's what I've been doing. Was already 90% calisthenics and now I'm about 50-70% iso, then the rest calisthenics as an experiment for the Winter probably going into Spring if it continues to go well!
Sup Squad! Heads up, this is just a broad overview and will absolutely be covered in depth as there were alot of moving parts to this experiment including exercise choices, sets, reps, etc but I at least wanted to give us this heads up video first before I drop the in depth version! Enjoy!
You are getting huge! Are you still natty?
@sampetersson5887 thanks man. And nah, worse, I'm *fatty* 🤣 I've been in a caloric surplus this whole year so I'm weighing in the heaviest I've ever been at 195 (at this thumbnail). For reference when I started the channel in 2020, I was 172. 👀 But don't get used to this size. I actually don't like it and began a cut about 3 weeks ago and I'm already down to 192. I'd like to get down to 180 and maintain. Probably will vlog on it tbh
Great insight! Just in time for me, as I was thinking of just doing the Iso-Max exclusively. I can tell you firsthand isometric exercise builds muscle. For years I trained at a hard-core powerlifting gym and neither my friends nor I did abdominal work, but when we dieted down to make a lower weight class, we all had bodybuilder type abdominals. When you are squatting your abdominals and your lower back muscles act isometrically as stabilizers, when you are doing tricep press downs your abdominals are stabilizing your body, etc. Kudos to you brother, for keeping it real and giving us the pros and cons even of the products that sponsor you
Love your channel dude.. Personally I found overcoming isos really helped my stabilizers better than anything.. Probably cause I do it from all types of angles.. Steve Justa was a big influence on me.. As far as endurance I'm glad you mentioned yielding isos cause that's the antidote or complimentary to overcoming isos..Keep going strong..💪👊
Im glad your stabilization improved! I know on my end, some of it was because of the choice of dynamic workouts. Had I chosen more exercises requiring stabilization, it may not have been that much of a drop off. But yeah yielding goes together so well!
I'd argue that the problem he mentioned about endurance were due to inadequate rest. When I used to lift weights, recovery was much quicker. But when I did just a few exercises with the Isochain suddenly I needed a minimum of 2 days rest and sometimes much more.
I bet an isochain routine only but with adequate rest wouldn't have any issues. He talked about how we were designed to move but I remember him talking about increased flexibility from isochain use....
So what I do is this: I train push and pull both twice per week and the sessions are never entirely isometric. I decided to specialise only on 2 movement pattern, the dip and the overhead press. Same for pull, the row and the pull up that's it. So on day 1 I do iso of one of the two, OHP iso example second exercise I do endurance on dip in an emom fashion. ex 10 min dips emom, so in 20 minutes workout I get everything I need. I have the strength with isometrics, I have blood flow, pump and endurance with reps. It's working super well
That's why I like the strap with handles with quick adjust mech. As Hellboy wrote below,, It's easy to hit all sorts of angles, and lengths. Easy to slide strap where one arm is forward of the other and vice versa.. Someone Will come up with a micro gauge that is attached to the strap or handle.
this needs to happen
Interesting topic and I look forward digging into your channel. The Bioneer, Adam Sinicki, mentioned your channel favorably, so I decided to stop by. You have some videos I'm excited to check out. Just wanted to let you know, you may be seeing more of us soon.
So glad Adam dropped that shoutout! So glad to have you guys here and I hope you find value in our channel! :)
Great video. Very educational.
Thanks! Glad to provide value!
Here's my take on this as someone who has done traditional lifting for 20+ years and a blend of isometrics, weights, and bodyweight since 2020: The body adapts to what it does, so if you reduce your volume of dynamic exercises, you may have lost some endurance in terms of how efficient your body moves. I would also say if you are doing 6-second isometrics with breaks versus a continuous tension higher rep set, the latter will feel more difficult in terms of endurance. Keep up the great content.
I agree with you. Its always interesting to me how the body just goes along with the demands we continually place on it
I do lots of overcoming isometrics combined with calisthenics at the moment. Finding great results. 👍💪
Love it!
Good heads up!
Thanks! More to come!
Hi Chrys,
As a 3 week noob Isochain user there are following topics(video ideas) I would love to see from you as experienced Isochain practitioner.
1) what are YOUR strength gains day 1 to now after 2/3 years? You made 14 days and one month number comparison thats cool, but what is to expect on longterm? What where your concrete gains to this day?100? 150? Are they still rising?
2) The 30-50% short term gains and stuff is amazing but how to train/program in order to get super powerful like Bruce lee or Alexander Zass etc over the years? How to not stagnate? Change up angles or change to whole other exercises? When? 6-8 weeks as book recommends?
When I look into Bruce lees routine its nothing special. Nor is Alexander Zass with his chains. So what is it exactly? Just same routine over years? How exactly did Zass manage to not stagnate but always gain more and more strength with OI?🤔Couldn't find anything on that in the web.
I wasted too much time training wrong in the past. I want to use the isochain as best as possible.
Great questions! Let me answer them as best I can.
1. When the channel first started, I was plagued with lower back issues. This significantly blocked my progress. My core and glutes were weak and it had a cascade effect on my body. Im in a much better position now so the real results have only just recently started, sadly. Trust me, everyone will be kept in the loop but so far the progress has been ABSOLUTELY WILD
2. 6 to 8 weeks is the limit for our programming. After that we tend to hit accommodation and its the struggle bus from there. My second to last livestream talks about programming. Its stuffed to the brim with isomax programming that I'd highly recommend listening to if you haven't already.
3. By themselves, the programs do look lacking. Honestly, thats the beauty of it. Its so simple but the results they provide are insane over time. As for their progression methods, Bruce decided to increase time under tension from 6 to 12 seconds. Zass chose to use different isometric exercises (he didn't have an isochain to my knowledge)
Hope this helps!
@@NoLimitSquad yes, that helps a lot thank you for your time. Whenever I will stagnate, I will try to mix things up. Either angles or new/other exercises.
Whenever I find the time I will send you my results so far to your mail.
I guess, every exercise has a place and time to implement to get fully beneficial. I target one muscle group I want to train. First I start warming up with bodyweight isometrics until I feel the targeted muscles. (For example with push-up planks) Then I try to keep those muscles active and do explosive calisthenics (polymetrics) for the same muscle group and to raise my hart rate. (Pop-ups) At last I finish of with bodyweight dynamics with additional rest-pause reps and partial reps. This way it takes roughly one hour to do pushups, cause I mix also some joint circling, stretching and animal drills. Also I found out that doing medium intensity isometrics on rest days when my muscles are already fatigued help with blood flow, recovery and ease the tense.
So i think it would be a good idea to train oi 2 times a week and do the dynamic full body on the third day.
Human-beings over-complicate. Bear in mind that this guy has never tried an 100% Isochain only routine for a long length of time because he loves dynamic lifts so much. With adequate rest times, I bet there would be no issue with one.
Id go 2 and 2 for a nice mix!
Have you ever looked into the Isokinator? It provides dynamic movement with isometrics.
Ive used one for many years but find the Isochain vastly superior. It is the sheer efficiency of the isochain that is the 'problem'. Dynamics are much more forgiving.
what if I do overcoming isometrics combined with pylometrics and endurance workouts will that be ok?
Yes. You will be well rounded. And more than likely very explosive
Have you added yielding isometrics?
Sparingly. The yielding I do add are part of my weightlifting routine
Should I be doing OI at the start or end of my workout?
The start
does cardio kill strength gains from powerlifting or oi?
Id keep the cardio on the interval training/hiit side but generally no. The cardio would have to put you in a significant enough deficit to be a hindrance but a nice 15 to 20 min session would be fine
Did you maintain your hypertrophy or did it gain?
Seems like stabilizers and endurance was just being out of practice with those movements. Willing to bet if some minimal weighted versions of those lifts were kept in(as a practice like throwing a baseball) then there probably wouldn’t have been nearly as much of a difference in those areas.
Yeah more than likely. This happened last year when I did the iso only for a month Experiment but the drop offs weren't nearly as bad this time vs then. But yeah, it's very much "use it or lose it" when it comes to these areas
Have you ever tried to implement plyometrics as an intermediary. Specifically the concentric aspects of push/ pull movements to maintain structural integrity of secondary/ stabilizer muscles?
Let me know what's up if you try it and if it works for you. Stay strong bro. 👌🏾💪🏾
I have not personally but theres an increasing amount of people interested in how they mesh so well! Needs to be a video tbh!
@@NoLimitSquad
I implement them both( Plyo's and Iso's) as opposed to hypertrophy volume training alone during the time where I look to add strength to my size gains .
I box and do martial currently but I have a powerlifting and bodybuilding base. And that method works really well for me.
Looking forward to seeing you touch on it soon in a video bro! Let me know how it's works for you.
Stay strong.💪🏾
So you gained muscle mass only from overcoming isometrics? but stabilizers it got worse right?
I got strength from the OI. But stabilizers got worse (I wasn't using them) and endurance was lower (I wasn't holding for long enough on the isometrics to match the endurance I had prior to)
I would just increase the time of the holds
In retrospect I should've...
first
613th! lol