Whether you’re vying for a deadlift or marathon PR, your core is at the center of your performance. These five isometric holds from Andy Speer, C.S.C.S., creator of the Men’s Health Anarchy workout series, will help build the core you need to reach your goals.
Isometrics are a simple concept: You contract your muscles as hard as possible, but you’re not working to move anything. You can use isometric reps to improve your big lifts at the sticking points—but they’re also extremely effective for training the core.
For the first no-movement move, a ring support, focus on pushing your hands down forcefully toward the floor and in toward your thighs, and keeping your shoulders back in a proud position. This will help you lock your shoulders in place, engage your triceps, and light up your lats. Keep your body in a tense, straight line, squeezing your core to prevent any arch in your low back.
Start with a neutral grip (palms facing your thighs), but gradually work to turn your palms forward; in the long-term, you’ll be improving your shoulder stability this way.
The second exercise is a tuck-hold on parallettes. Just like in the ring support, the goal is to drive down with your hands to help you create total-body tension. While keeping your upper-body and core braced, the real challenge here is to push your hips forward in front of your hands.
This is an advanced exercise, so if you aren’t able to hold the tuck-hold, stick to the isos that are challenging, but doable, to build to core strength needed to crush this one. If you don’t have parallettes, you can perform this exercise with your hands flat on the floor, but it will be even more challenging that way.
The third exercise is called a planche plank, and progresses your typical planks with a smaller, offset base of support. Maintaining a high plank/hollow-body position, push through your toes and pull back with your hands to rock your torso forward. Keep your mid-back slightly rounded and your glutes tight.
For number four, a reverse plank, keep your shoulders pulled back “as if you’re wrapping your upper back around a telephone pole,” Speer says. Pull your abs tight and ribs down. Drive your feet into the floor to help you actively squeeze your glutes. If you feel pain in your front shoulder, sit this one out; it can be demanding on your shoulder flexibility.
Last up, the fifth iso is a compression pike, and it’s great in that it’s completely scalable. “The closer your hands are to your feet, the more challenging the hold becomes,” he says.
Speer recommends hitting one to two of these exercises per day, performing them as part of your warmup, a core move in a circuit, or a standalone exercise within your workout. Here’s how to program them each way:
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