strength – Living Lab

Welcome to 35 minutes! we have arrived at the recommended time it takes to mitigate the effects of sitting at work all day. How do you feel? Over the past six weeks you’ve been increasing your Time Under Tension – the total time in your workout that you are doing work (versus your recovery time). Time under tension usually happens as you increase the length of your workouts so that you are asking your body to endure more effort and adapt to that effort.

TUT is different that VOLUME – where volume is pretty much the number of reps you do of a movement. For example – doing the almighty 100 push ups – fast – versus 100 push ups where you’re doing at least one second up and one second down – it’s the same VOLUME in terms of number of reps, but the INTENSITY is different for the slower version: slower movement, more time where the body is under load between recovery bouts – so TUT is greater.

Getting to more time under tension is associated with greater muscular and associated metabolic responses, which is fantastic, but takes time – like adding a block a week – to build up to that level.

Isometrics for Time under Tension

And if we’re looking at really being able to look at Time under Tension, isometrics let us focus on those holds – isolateral isometrics also add an additional strength challenge

In our last week of this pilot, you can put together blocks any way you wish AND, building on last week’s bilateral isometrics, explore isolateral isometrics this week.

YOu can put together your blocks any way you wish this week – one recommendation would be to keep your week five blocks and add a final isolateral isometric block.

YOu can make any isolateral movement an isotmetric by finding a challenging point – usually where its at the most loaded or lever disadantaged – and use that as your hold point.

Some examples of isolateral isometrics are the side plank (shown). In one block simply alternate sides – hold up for 15; recover – 5 times side a/ 5 times side b, you know the drill. Each five is one set.

Other isolateral isometrics include the Bulgarian Split Squat – try holding that in the most challenging position (front leg bent to squat position – also shown)

You can also choose a push up, but move the hand positions so that one hand is either up on a block or stack of books or further back or in front of the other hand that stays in a kind of normal position – and then keep your body just an inch or so above the deck.

In fact you can do the same with the feet in the push up

elevate one leg in a push up for your isolateral isometric.

-raise one back foot then the other – while holding your upper body still.

Gain Total-Body Strength With These 17 Push-Up Variations | Project NEXT — ways to create isolateral isometrics with push ups removing a hand or changing hand position

Staggered Arm Push Up | Exercise Illustration — alternating hand position for an isolateral plank hold

How to do an L-Sit Hold | Calisthenics Athletes — a one leg l-sit from the top of a dip – like chair dip – position

You can also do L-sit variants where you raise and hold one leg out while the other is tucked – THis is effectively a dip (using two chairs) with one leg out.

In other words, you can explore whatever alternating limb holds you wish – by all means use the closest thing to what you try from the list available in the app, and make a note of what you did.

Where BALANCE comes into strength.

A key difference between isolaterals and bilateral – whether isometrics or not – is not only change in strength management but the balance part of strength comes into play too. This change creates a new kind of challenge for the body – but just in terms of strength – also often brings smaller stabilizer muscles into play in the spine. That’s a good thing.

When we make isolaterals also isometrics we get to explore our endurance with those wee muscles too – another good thing.

In the case of these iso iso’s – be gentle with yourself – explore where the challenge parts are in the movement, as places to which you can return over time.

RECOMMENDED – only do one block this week as isolateral isometrics – give yourself a chance to get used to these.

Yielding and Overcoming Isometeric Isolateral?

REMINDER FROM LAST WEEK – you can change any bodyweight yielding isometric (remember what yielding is?) into an overcoming isometrics by pushing or pulling against a fixed point, as shown below.

Push-Ups: How To Use Them To Build Muscle (4 Science-Based Tips) — making a push up as isometric – a yielding type – an overcoming one by adding a strap or band

Can you see options for exploring isolateral isometrics? One below shows a person in a lunge (isolateral) position while hanging onto handles on a rack in a weight room, and then would be trying to stand up from that left side leg. How might you try something like this at home or outside – perhaps with a stairway banister, maybe a rope too?

OVERCOMING ISOMETRICS: MYELINATION TO REACH MAXIMUM POTENTIAL

Exercise Index: Overcoming Isometric Towel Lateral Raises - YouTube — another isolateral isometric overcoming style – not in the app but for information and exploration

Ok, hope you have fun this week

Celebrating getting to 35 minutes a day
building up time under tension (TuT)
exploring a new kind of isolateral
feeling stronger!

Thank YOU!

Thank you so much for your help in this study -we’ll be reaching out for feedback to review what we think we’ve heard you request, and to co-design with us towards the next study in the fall.

On Teams, please let us know, what would you like/need to help you keep going with your strength practice once this study is over? If we can support you further, now that we’ve got started, we will.

Welcome to week 3 preparation!!
A push a pull a hinge and a squat. This week, with TWO BLOCKS we get to do one of each.

BILATERAL FOCUS – exploring togetherness

For Week 3 , we’re focusing on “bilateral” versions for each of the moves for each block. That means both main working limbs are equally engaged – and at the same time. So a push up with both hands in same positions relative to body side; squats with both feet on the floor – these are bilateral. I’ll explain why this focus at the end of this post

First, let me give you the types of moves to choose from, and then offer some suggested combinations, ok? Questions, please ask in the Strength Questions channel in TEAMs.

Some BILATERAL moves

Each of these moves are illustrated in the xb-strength-moves page

pulls All the table pulls, the door pulls, the towel pulls, the sheet pulls, the negative pull up, the pull up itself using feet on the floor to assist.
pushes the two handed pushes – so all the variants of the push up we have with both hands evenly placed.
squats All the squat variants – including holding the edge of a table or a door to get up or down
hinges The glute raises, table position, full bridge – each of these have both feet on the ground and push up the hips, and work the back of the legs – the back – all the “pull” muscles.

Suggested Combinations for blocks

upper body pull can go with upper body push or lower body push or lower body pull for one block

PRINCIPLES: With the PUSH PULL HINGE SQUAT – we can divide the moves in two ways: PUSH / PULL and UPPER/LOWER – Everything we’ve been calling push pull on the moves page happens to be upper body work; everything labelled squat/hinge is lower body work – this is just The Way these things get discussed.

The idea of a block is to put together two moves complement the muscles working in that block. We have TWO blocks this week, that’s a possible four moves. What are useful combinations?

We can do one block that does lower body push/pull and another that does upper body push and pull. For example: a squat variant and a bridge variant. That can be a bit intense – check it out – see how that combination works before committing.

We can also complement and upper and a lower against two blocks – you can do an upper and a lower PUSH in one block – like a squat and a push up variant in Block 1, and a PULL upper and lower in the second – a door pull and a bridge raise and lower in the second.

lower body pull can go with a lower body push (like the box squats) or upper body push or upper body pull for one block

We can cross combine a lower/upper push with a lower/upper pull – something you may have done in your first block. So Block 1 might be an upper Push and a lower Pull and block 2 might be a lower push and an upper Pull. Or vice versa –

The key thing here is within two blocks you’re complementing your upper and lower push pulls.

an example block: upper body (box push up)+ lower body push (box squat)

Why Bilateral right now

The ideas we’re exploring are: how do you build up a strength experience – knowledge, skills, practice – to really FEEL the experience of a strength practice – that a push FEELS like this; a PULL like that. When i work legs i feel like this the next day but rarely that the next day with upper body pulls. I feel sharper when i get at least X blocks of strength in, in a day. i FEEL like i could do more practice on the weekends or i feel the weekend off really helps me feel perkier on mondays.

BILATERAL MOVES let you focus on STRENGTH by lessening the balance and coordination challenges of strength that come when doing one side only (sometimes called unilateral, isolateral or ipsilateral depending on the way the movement is put together).

A TEST to EXPLORE all on THE FLOOR work

Standing on one foot, chair support, spotting required — balance test in prorgess

For example – have a chair close by for this – and simply stand up, both feet on the floor. Now close your eyes – and just notice how stable you feel with your eyes closed. Try to stand there for 20 seconds.
Perhaps you feel a wee bit less than when they’re open, but maybe not much. NOW, with your eyes open lift one leg and hold that for 20 seconds. How is your stability? put it down. FEEL that. Note that. A little less stable? Last, close your eyes and lift the OTHER leg – see how you feel? Perhaps the least stable?

This is your body finding the extra sensory input to compensate for not having vision to help you balance. This demonstration models what happens when you do a single leg movement – you are not only exploring strength but also balance – so you can’t initially lift as much as you could being more stable.

unilateral move example for weeks 5 and 6

We’ll get to isolateral/unilateral work a little later – and i’m sorry with not making that idea of progression at the beginning when exploring all the moves – thank you for your help to refine this process.

hope you have a great long weekend – and are able to relax, restore and have a fun double block on monday!

Tag: strength

Week 6: Isolateral Isometrics – and Free Stylin’