Stronger muscles, sharper brain, less stress

The librarian of Fort Biblio, a Youtropolis community, recently wrote an informative article called “Isometrics and Hope Molecules,” which references a book entitled “You Are Not the Target.” The book contains 33 activities designed to “beautify, illuminate, or teach us how to transform negative energy into positive, radiant health through a variety of exercises,” including isometric muscle contractions.

The book’s author, Laura Huxley, says that isometrics, the repeated contractions of a muscle group, will not only strengthen those muscles, but can calm the effects of stressful encounters and situations.

When an animal in the wild narrowly escapes from a predator, it calms its stress response by rapidly and repeatedly shaking its body. By a similar mechanism, isometrics can have the same effect on people by reducing heart rate and blood pressure, and anxiety. I learned this firsthand from a recent experience.

While driving on one of Los Angeles’s infamous freeways and making my way over to an offramp, a driver in the next lane suddenly cut in front of me, missing my front fender by inches. I hit the brakes and laid on my horn. He responded by giving me the finger and speeding away.

Not surprisingly, I arrived home still feeling agitated. To decompress, I laid down to do some deep breathing when Fort Biblio’s isometrics lesson came to mind. In a position similar to a bicep curl exercise, I placed my forearms on my stomach with palms turned toward my chin, tightened my arm muscles for a few seconds, and then relaxed them.

After several contract/release cycles, I noticed a warm, “buttery” feeling in my arms and then moved on to my legs. My thigh muscles tightened by softly locking my knees straight, producing the same warming sensation after a few cycles.

It wasn’t long before my body was entirely relaxed, and I felt deeply content, the effects of the freeway incident behind me, physically and mentally.

As a fitness trainer, I’ve learned another important but lesser-known benefit of isometric contractions is improved kinesthetic awareness, otherwise known as body awareness. People with good body awareness typically have healthy posture and alignment, less pain, and fewer injuries. They move confidently in all planes of motion with balance and stability, and a lower likelihood of falling. Most importantly, heightened body awareness increases activity in many brain regions.

With all these benefits, what’s the best way to practice isometric muscle contractions?

1) Following my above example, start by lying down, focusing on your breath and body. After a few breaths, place your forearms on your stomach, turn your palms toward your chin, and contract your upper arm muscles.

2) Hold the contraction for 5-10 seconds, then release it fully, repeating for 5-10 repetitions. You can then move on to your legs, using the soft knee locking technique.

3) To heighten brain activity, try to visualize the muscle fibers engaging and even changing colors as you flex, and then “see” them relaxing and cooling.

When contracting your muscles, you may tend to hold your breath, but it’s important to breathe fully while keeping the rest of your body as tension-free as you can.

You’ll notice some muscles are easier to flex, especially on your dominant side. You can also do individual isometrics, like one thigh at a time. Tune in to the different sensations and enjoy the process, knowing your efforts create new neuromuscular pathways.

In our world, where mind-numbing distractions and sources of stress are plenty, isometrics check many boxes: stress reduction, stronger muscles, and all the benefits of a heightened brain/body connection.

What are your thoughts about spending time on this activity? If you give it a try, I’d love to hear about your experience.

You can learn additional benefits and activities to boost your body awareness by following this link:
https://www.epainassist.com/fitness-and-exercise/kinesthetic-awareness