Stuff I Learned - Isometric Contraction
Perhaps you remember Hans and Franz of Saturday Night Live? They were keenly interested in pumping you up , and demonstrated the results of their workout regimen at the slightest provocation. Hans and Franz want to pump you up. You can see the results as they contract muscles isometrically. Posing like Hans, Franz or California's former Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, involves isometric muscle contraction. When you make a muscle , you're contracting your muscles isometrically. While Yoga tends to de-emphasize bulking up with muscle mass, most yoga poses also involve isometric muscle contraction. Isometric muscle contraction is different than dynamic muscle contraction in some significant ways. One key difference between dynamic muscle contraction (found in common activities like walking, running or biking) and static muscle contraction is the rate of blood flow to the working muscle. In dynamic muscle contraction, the blood flow to the working muscle increases. In sta...