Avoiding Burnout with Isometric Exercise

Isometric exercise is particularly useful for people who cannot, for any number of reasons, exercise in what is typically thought of as the usual manner (also called dynamic exercise). While pregnant, I discovered the joys of isometric exercise, as this form of resistance exercise requires less range of movement and can be done by people with minimal flexibility. However, one of my favorite things about dynamic exercise is the fact that you feel like you're getting somewhere. As a particular fan of aerobic exercise even over strength exercises, I found the isometric exercise experience a bit dull for my taste. As such, I stumbled upon a number of ways to improve the experience and actually ended up enjoying myself quite a bit.

The biggest thing that I did to avoid isometric exercise burnout was to vary the types of exercises that I engaged in. At first, in an effort to work the particular muscles that I wished to work, I fell into the trap of using the same exercises every day. An active person, I found that I quickly grew bored of the same thing day after day. After all, there's only so many things you can do to engage your mind while you're doing the plank. Mixing up the exercises that I did, which I achieved by searching through Babyfit.com and using my favorite search engine to find more exercises, allowed some variety to my exercise "diet" and allowed me to continue exercising more easily.

Secondly, I mixed up when I exercised. Instead of always exercising before lunch, as I had become accustomed to, I decided to try doing some in the morning, some in the evening. This helped avoid the sense that I always did the same thing over and over each day and gave me the sense that I was progressing, although logically this made little sense.

Next, I found ways to engage myself while exercising. This is easy in isometric exercising, if thought and planning goes into picking the right exercises. Some poses can be done while listening to books on tape, while I could even read while doing others. I found it particularly easy to engage in isometric exercise while watching TV and continue that habit on through today.

After my baby was born, I used isometric exercise as a way to actively engage her. Small children work great for resistance. Obviously, you need to be cautious not to put your child in harm's way at any point here, but I would lay her on my legs and use her much as one would a 10-pound weight.

Location, location, location also helped. Although at first I always exercised in the locker room before lunch, I later learned that doing exercises outside, at home, or in any other location could greatly help reduce boredom during isometric exercise.

DVR and DVD helped, too. I have a channel that has several programs of isometric exercise. Completing the program (which usually lasted no more than 15-20 minutes) gave me a sense of accomplishment that allowed me to continue.

Recording my progress also helped. Particularly as I became more pregnant, it was nearly impossible to see any real results from isometric exercise. A journal of my progress helped because it was written proof that I was improving, even if the changes to my body due to pregnancy overshadowed any physical improvement. As a result, I maintained an active lifestyle all the way through my pregnancy and was up and running again a week after my daughter's birth.

One of the very best things about isometric exercise is that it can be accomplished in small bursts. In dynamic exercise, you really have to exercise until your body starts to feel it to start to see any results, but isometric exercise is built to be done in 10-minute increments throughout the day. As soon as I embraced that notion and allowed myself to grab a few minutes here and there, my burnout decreased by an extreme amount.

Having friends who are also on a fitness plan always helps reduce boredom with exercising, particularly if you can all exercise together. Even if you can't find a friend who is willing to engage in an isometric exercise program, most gyms offer classes. I had great luck with an online community of like-minded people.

Finally, sometimes it helps to just push through the boredom. After exercising, I always felt a bit better than I did beforehand, which raised the incentive to go ahead and exercise the next day.

Isometric exercise is by its very nature a low-key, relaxing sort of exercise. It provides many of the benefits of dynamic exercise, with some obvious benefits and enhancements. If you can keep your program going, you really will see fantastic results.