Isometrics and Football?

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pkchamp31

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I just started Weight Lifting in December and next year is going to be my first year (I'm a freshman now) playing High School Football. I want to know if Isometrics would be better than Isotonic exercises for Football. I've read that Isometric exercises are better, and I've also read reverse. I've noticed after much weight lifting with Isometric exercises that I've gotten so much stronger, and I want to play Defensive End.

Here are my current stats:

Height - 5'10
Weight - 185 lbs
Squat - 285 lbs
Bench Press - 160 lbs
Power Clean - 155 lbs
40m - 4.75 s


Although, my coach argues that isometric exercises are bad, and that I should be following his exercise regimine, while my other coach said that they're great for strength, but terrible for sports.

I'm confused, can somebody clear this up for me?
 
Unless if your sport requires you to hold something in a certain position for a long amount of time than isometric contractions are pretty pointless. It's all to do with specificity.
 
Yes pkchamp31, always train to do what you intend to do!
That's where free moving resistance exercise and bands come in great.

For example, for swimmers they use stretch cords to train their strokes. They train the motion they want to increase their strength in, INSTEAD of training with pull ups to target a specific muscle (Latissimus Dorsi).

Hope this helps.

Sam Chng
LivewithFitness.com
 
But here's what confused me.

With Isometrics, my 1 rep max for my full range of motion squat is... 285 lbs, and it was 215 when I first started it, which was only around a couple of months ago.

With doing a full range of motion, my muscles didn't grow and I wasn't seeing any strength gains.
 
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Ultimately isometerics only carry a 15 degree range of motion carry over in stregth gains at best. So, in order to see a gain in strength in all range of motion, you'd be training a VERY long time with isometerics. Yes, isometrics can be a handy tool to use but they are not the be-all-end-all of training methods and are only a small piece of the puzzle.

Listen to your head coach and what he wants to do,this will ensure you're successful in playing. Too many people are caught up in absolutes and most don't know where to structure training methodoligies or are too lazy to figure it out.

If your entire workout consists of isometerics there is something wrong. If a portion of your workout has isometeric work in it, then fine. If your squat is still in the 200s, I don't see the need for you to be using isometerics.
 
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