Isokinetic exercise is not mentioned very often because you need specialized equipment to do it. It is a type of strength training where the speed of the movement remains constant no matter how much force you apply. With standard weight training, if you push hard on the bench press, for example, the bar will move faster. With isokinetic exercise, the harder you push, the more it pushes back. If you exert less force, then it will also exert less force towards you and keep you moving at the same speed. The speed of exercise can be adjusted to whatever you need at the time.
Purpose and Benefits of Isokinetic Exercise
Isokinetic exercise is often used for injury and rehab training. The reason it works so well is because it allows you to control the training environment better. With a barbell, you could move the weight too fast and hurt yourself. With isokinetic, the speed is controlled at all times. Meaning if you are coming off of recent injury, you can make sure the speeds are slow to decrease your chances of injury.
Control of Speed with Isokinetic Exercise helps to:
- Increase muscle control and development
- Prevent injury
- Control environment while training
- Increase muscular flexibility
- Improve muscle tone
- Help to improve balance and coordination
- Provides a boost to your metabolism
- Has significant benefit for core muscles that stabilize the spine
Risk of Isokinetic Exercise
Isokinetic exercise is one of the safest forms of exercise because you do not have to overcome inertia. With normal weight training, you have to move the bar when it is not moving at all. With isokinetic exercise, the weight moves at one speed, so there is less risk. If you are injured, it is harder to push yourself outside of your limits. This form of exercise is also much harder to be sore from.
The main risks with isokinetic exercise are trying to come up with a program on your own when you have no idea of what you are supposed to be doing. You can go to any gym in the world, and you will always see a handful of people not having a clue about what they are doing. Isokinetic exercise is a relatively unknown form of exercise to the general public. If you have the chance to use one of these machines and you do not know what you are doing, you can do more harm than good.
If you have no idea of what you’re supposed to be doing, get help! When you work with professionals they will be able to show you how to use these machines safely. This is especially true when coming off of an injury. You need someone to help you set goals and an accurate timeline for success. Some of the machines are so complicated they are only found in sports science labs.
Treatment with Isokinetic Exercise
The common thing people do when they suffer an injury is stopping all activity. Sometimes rest is needed but often times staying as active as possible is the best way to treat an injury. The best way to think of it is if you can’t run, jog, if you can’t jog, walk, if you can’t walk, crawl. The point being that the body was not made to do nothing for very long. If all you can do on a daily basis is walk then you should do that.
Treatment with isokinetic exercise allows you to keep working out but also, stay safe with your injury. You can test things out with low resistance levels and lower speeds. If things do not hurt, you can still get a workout in that may not be possible using normal free weights.
Isokinetic Exercise Safety
It is important that you treat these workouts just like any other workout. It is always in your best interest to warm up, stay hydrated throughout the day, and stretch after the workout.
You should not just jump on a maching and start doing resistance training. You want to get the blood flowing first by jogging, doing jumping jacks, riding a bike or doing whatever else you’re capable of doing to warm up.
The human body does not work optimally without water. If you have not got in the habit of drinking water throughout the day you should start. Not only will hydration help your isokinetic exercise but it will also help you recover from your injury quicker.
After working out, make sure that you stretch. If you are coming off an injury ask your health care provider for some safe stretches you can do. The reason you want to stretch is because after working out a lot of your muscles start to get tighter and shorter. Even though they are getting stronger, the shortening of the muscles can create problems in other places.
Finding The Best Local Sports Medicine Providers for Isokinetic Exercise or Your Athletic Injuries
9INE POINT Health is the best place to start your search for a health care provider to help you stay healthy. The key to success as an athlete is staying healthy and making sure the injuries are dealt with appropriately. Any athlete that throws suffers an injury could use some isokinetic exercise.
9INE POINT Health lets you search for providers by type and skill. For example, you can look for a Physical Therapist with any skill set you need. It does not matter what kind of provider you need, 9INE POINT Health can help you find them and help you to sort through their skills.
If you are unsure where to start your journey, 9INE POINT Health will ask you questions and help you figure out the best starting place. All you have to do is answer a few questions. From there, 9INE POINT Health will connect you with the type of provider best suited for your needs. It does not matter if you are injured or just looking for new ways to train, isokinetic exercise can help you.
The platform makes it easy to compare health providers as they are all given a 9INE POINT Number. How do you decide which healthcare providers are the best? Reading bios and reviews is just not enough because you need more than that.
Skill Sets to Look for In Sports Medicine Providers
Skill sets are the things healthcare providers learn after they graduate. A healthcare provider can take courses and get certifications for different skill sets. These skill sets are valuable and help them approach injuries from different perspectives so that you can get the best help at the right time for any isokinetic exercise.
- Dry needling
- Acupuncture
- Joint Manipulation
- Active Release Technique
- Graston Technique
- Functional Movement Screen
- Fascial Stretching
- Strength and Conditioning Coach
- Athletic Trainer
- Sports Background
- And many more
KHO Health was acquired by was acquire by 9INE POINT in the summer of 2019 and is now referred to as 9INE POINT Health.
