Maintaining healthful muscles is essential for movement and daily activities, and building muscle tissue can increase your strength and energy. Most of the muscles you use for movement are striated muscles, which make up approximately 40 percent of body mass, according to the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Muscles that are affixed to joints contract and develop strength and stamina when regularly used during isotonic exercises.
What Does Isotonic Mean?
Isotonic exercises involve contracting the muscles and moving the joints, which differ from isometric exercises. Isometric exercises require muscle contractions while the surrounding joints remain still. Isotonic exercises involve performing range of motion exercises of the joints while using your muscles for resistance. While executing an isotonic exercise, your muscles undergo two stages: contraction and elongation. The first stage occurs when the muscle contracts, or shortens, and is known as the concentric stage, while the second stage of lengthening is known as the eccentric stage.
Types of Isotonic Exercises
One of the most common forms of isotonic exercises is lifting weights. By lifting a weight, you are contracting the muscles and moving the joints of the arms to lift, then lengthening and stretching the muscles using the force of the weight as you push forward or up overhead. A pushup is another example of an isotonic exercise. During the concentric stage, your muscles contract as you bear a large portion of the weight of the body on your arms and shoulders. You then enter the eccentric phase and elongate the muscles of your arms as you straighten them, pushing yourself up. Some other examples of isotonic muscle exercises include using resistance bands or medicine balls to provide a form of resistance training.
Benefits
For those who want to build muscle bulk, isotonic exercises work to strengthen muscles and increase size. Additionally, you may progressively increase the amount of isotonic exercise that you want to perform. You can start with light weights and gradually add more as your muscle builds and you are able to tolerate more resistance. Isotonic exercises require little equipment and can be done at home or in the gym. You can use free weights, resistance bands or even your own body weight to help you with isotonic exercises.
Increasing Strength
Performing isotonic exercises help you build muscle strength because you are using your muscles in a manner that bears more weight than usual. Your muscles are accustomed to a certain amount of weight that they can handle, and it takes time to build up strength through repetitive contractions of isotonic exercises. For example, if you are unable to lift a 50-pound bag, you might build up strength in your arms through isotonic exercises and eventually, you will have more power in your arm muscles, giving you the capacity to lift heavier objects. Isotonic exercises require the muscles to contract against forces that are heavier than their normal workload. Pushing the muscles beyond their normal workload is known as overload, and the muscles respond by changing to become stronger and by building endurance.
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