1.
-
Continuing to breathe normally
2.
-
Tensing (without external movement) one or several groups of muscles
3. -
Achieving maximum contraction
4. -
Maintaining this contraction for between one and seven even breaths, while
keeping the rest of the body relaxed
5. -
Releasing the muscular tension
6. -
Breathing out deeply to relax.
Above all do things gradually and NEVER
STRAIN.
â EXAMPLES
OF ISOMETRIC EXERCISES:
a) To strengthen your back
Say goodbye to painful and debilitating back pain!
You
will now be able to create a strong back by strengthening the deep-seated
musculature that supports the spine.
Here is a specially adapted isometric exercise:
Join your hands in front of your head, with your palms pressed against your
forehead. Pull your arms backwards, pushing your head forwards against the
resistance of your hands.
Join your hands behind your head, with your palms resting on the back of your head,
above the nape of your neck. Push your hands forward against the resistance of
your head.
Observe the techniques of isometric
contraction. For this exercise, which can be done sitting or standing but with
the back straight, your head must be perfectly aligned and your eyes
looking straight ahead (you can check your position by standing in front of a
mirror).
b) To strengthen your abdominal
muscles
This will enable you to accumulate a great
deal of energy around your stomach area and consequently form abdominal muscles
that maintain the digestive organs in place (crucial to prevent you getting a
“stomach”!)
Lie down on your back, with your arms
resting on the ground at your sides (use a relatively firm surface, for example
a carpet or, better still, an "exercise mat " rather than a soft
mattress).
As you
breathe in, raise your legs, keeping them straight and without supporting
yourself with your hands. Maintain the contraction for several even breaths.
Then release the contraction by lowering your legs to the ground.
Start from the same position and raise your
legs and your back. At the same time
raise your arms, keeping them straight and
parallel in front of you. Only the lower back and upper part of the
buttocks should remain in contact with the floor.
Look at the tips of your toes, while trying
to keep your back straight.
Maintain the contraction, for several even
breaths. Lie back on the floor as you breathe
out.
Practising this exercise each day, for a few
minutes at a time, will ensure good digestion and clear intestinal transit. No
more flatulence or constipation!
c) To relieve pelvic congestion
This exercise, which aims to draw blood into
the muscles of the buttocks, is an effective cure for bleeding of the uterus,
period pains, gynaecological problems, haemorrhoids and to prevent prostate
problems.
Several times a day, tense the muscles of
your buttocks, perineum (area between the anus and genitalia) and the anal
sphincter muscle, according to the isometric principle. This exercise can be
done in any position.
d) Isometric
exercises for the face
This exercise is extremely useful for
relaxing tension in the face and eyes.
Following
an isometric contraction, the subcutaneous muscles placed under tension relax
deeply. Their improved elasticity prevents them becoming wasted which is one of
the principle causes of ageing of the skin.
In
fact, imperfections of the skin (wrinkles, age spots) are more
effectively treated from the inside, by developing the musculature of the face,
than the outside (beauty creams, plastic surgery, etc.).
The regeneration of the facial muscles leads
to a remarkable improvement in the circulation of the blood. This in turn leads
to the elimination of waste tissue and revitalises the layers of the skin.
All you have to do is practise as many
different grimaces as possible, stretching the facial muscles as far as you can
and holding each position for a few seconds (isometric contraction). Breathe
evenly as you do it and then relax the taut muscles as you breathe out.
All these movements are beneficial, provided
they are not excessive or painful.