Today we’re going to talk about using isometric exercises for pain relief. We’re going to look at some of the best science-based practices that are currently available. We are about to release our Brain-Based Practitioners Guide to Isometrics. So we have been spending thousands of hours, honestly, looking at isometric research and there’s some really amazing stuff that’s coming out now.
We’ve known for a long time that isometric exercise outperforms other forms of exercise in terms of pain relief. The research is still, though, complicated. So sometimes it looks like it’s much better, sometimes it looks like it’s a little bit better. But in general, if you ask most practitioners, most scientists will still say, if you’re going to choose a mode of exercise to deal with pain, particularly kind of chronic issues, isometrics are the way to go.
Now I’m gonna give you some specifics about that. Whenever we discuss isometrics and pain, there are a couple different mechanisms, we think, alright? Uh, the first thing we know is that whenever we’re contracting hard, we are going to get what’s called a positive nociceptive input, which basically means it’s a training stimulus.
We know that we’re not being injured by it. Whenever we get a positive nociceptive stimulus, it means that we’re going to tell the brain, Hey, you’re under load, but it’s safe. So the key takeaway there is if you’re going to set up an isometric exercise for someone, they need to feel safe in doing it.
Alright, it’s very possible for a positive exercise to suddenly become a negative exercise if people feel like they’re going to be injured. So, number one, the setup is important. You have to have good conversations either with yourself, if it’s for yourself, or with them. Then, we look at the fact that isometric exercise and cardiovascular control are
linked within the brainstem. In fact, nuclei that control pain also control our blood pressure and our heart rate. So another reason that we may see a reduction in pain from isometrics is the fact that we’re elevating the heart rate, we’re elevating blood pressure a little bit, and that can have positive effects on pain.
But what that then tells us is we have to be selective in the type of exercise that we choose, uh, within the whole universe of isometrics. So I’m just going to give you a few examples. Some details, uh, and a quick, uh, drill to follow now, before I get into that, if you are new to Z Health, we are a brain-based education company.
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When we’re doing isometrics for pain. We have a contraction intensity that should be between 30 and 50 percent. Most of the research that shows the best results are between 40 and 50.
If you’re in the 10 to 25, it doesn’t do much. If you are in the 80 to 100 percent, so max effort, it also doesn’t do very much, probably too threatening. So the sweet spot for isometric contractions for pain relief is 30 to 50 percent of your maximum. Now I’m going to imagine that I have some right trap pain.
So what I’m going to do, I’m setting up, I’ve got a nice strap here over my shoulder. I’m going to step on this other strap so I have a little bit of resistance. What I’m going to do is I’m going to begin an upper trap. I’m going to shrug. Basically, I’m going to shrug up. I’m going to shrug up and I’m going to shrug until I feel I’m between a three and five intensity out of 10.
That’s going to be the easiest way to get a client to understand what contract and contraction intensity we want to use. Now, here’s the second part. Once you’re here, remember we have the nuclei related to cardiovascular control being impacted and we know that the, that also impacts pain inhibition. We need to stay here long enough
that those areas become upregulated. Here’s what the research shows. If I hold this for one minute, I will get some modicum of pain relief. However, if I want to maximize the amount of pain reduction I’m getting from my time spent doing this isometric, I want to aim for around five minutes. That’s a very, very long time to hold this contraction.
So you have to really pay attention. Now, the reason for that is when it’s compared minute by minute, a three minute isometric is twice as effective for reducing pain as a one minute and a five minute isometric is twice as effective as a three minute. So if we can last the full five minutes, we are going to get about a four times greater reduction in pain than if we just do a one minute isometric.
So this whole time, I’m holding this around a three out of five. But what I can tell you is I’m starting to feel my heart rate go up just a little bit. If I were to continue doing this, I’m going to start sweating a little bit, so I can tell that the autonomic controlled nuclei are getting some stimulation.
People should start to get a little hot. They should start to go, I’m not out of breath, but I can feel my heart rate going up. Some people will start to sweat. You’ll start to see their cheeks getting a little bit red. So, we know that they’re working. It’s not threatening however because it actually feels kind of good whenever we have the right exercise.
So, this is a basic approach to using pain relief isometrics. Remember 30 percent to 50 percent of the maximum and you want to aim for about a five minute hold. Obviously, if they’re deconditioned, you’re going to have to play with those parameters, but that’s kind of the ideal world that we’re seeing in the research right now.
If you are interested in isometrics for everything under the sun, from blood pressure to strength and hypertrophy and sports and injury prevention, et cetera, we talk about all that from a current research perspective in the Isometrics module. So make sure to check that out when it becomes available.
Otherwise, try this. It is really, really remarkably effective for many people. I hope you get a lot out of it.
