The Iso Push-up

What if I told you I could increase your shoulder health, stability, power,
and strength, all in as little as a minute and thirty seconds, three times
a week? What would you call me?

Wait, there's more.

What if I said you could do this without even having to move? Now
what would you call me? A liar, a cheat, a conman? Or worse, an infomercial
trainer?

Well, if you can get past calling me that – along with trusting me – I'll
forgive you and tell you how it can be done.

It's as simple as this:

Start using Iso Push-ups!

An Iso hold is the most basic part of training. You simply lower yourself
down into the 90 degree, or bottom position of a push-up, and hold it for
as long as you can. (You can actually hold in a variety of positions,
but I'm focusing on this one position in this article.)

Stupid, right?

Easy, right?

Try it. It's extremely versatile, and you can do this along with your
current program.

In fact, don't change anything you're currently doing. Simply
add the Iso push-up. This won't offset your current program. You may
get a little sore the first time, but you'll be fine after that.

What To Expect

•  Pain. Beyond that, you'll probably shake and
feel extremely weak, just seconds into doing the movement. That's okay.
Stick it out until your form breaks.

•  Once you're finished, you'll get a crazy, deep
pump that will last for minutes.

•  You'll get a great feeling of stability in your
shoulder girdle, chest and arms. You'll also have the urge to stiff-arm
someone (due to that feeling of increased stability). This feeling is truly
amazing.

•  The carryover to your stability in the bench
press and dumbbell bench press is also amazing. Simply from adding this
Iso push-up hold, you'll feel much more confident in your regular chest-based
pressing lifts.

Parameters

I feel that a minute and a half is a pretty good duration that'll develop
optimal stability.

Once you've progressed to that you can:

•  Maintain

•  Try to hold the position for even longer (progressively)

•  Begin to add a light weight on your upper back
for added resistance.

Do this three times a week on non-upper body pressing days.

You can eventually try the Iso-hold for other movements such as Bulgarian
squats, dips, and inverted rows, but stick with the push-up position for
now.

Hold it!

Conclusion

In reality, you've probably played around with something like this
before – spent a few seconds holding a weight here or there – but never
performed it in a structure manner long
enough to reap the benefits.

What I want you to do, however, is categorize it, perform it with progression,
and give it a place within your program.

By adding in this simple exercise and giving it parameters, you'll
feel healthier, stronger and more stable than you've ever felt in your
bench pressing life. Sounds to good to be true? Give it a try.