Static Holds: Legit or Not?

STATIC HOLDS: A DIGESTIBLE, YET IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS

I am often asked about the effectiveness of static holds. Over the years my opinion on them has become quite scientific and specific. Here is what I mean, and all you need to know about when and if including static holds is worthwhile.

What is a static hold supposed to do/why to use it?: IN THEORY, a static hold is a way of performing a unilateral movement and overloading it on one side in an isometric fashion. This means there is no movement occurring at that joint (on one side). The load is being stabilized by the muscle working isometrically as the other side of the body does the movement eccentrically/concentrically through a full ROM. I.E. in a lateral raise, one side holds the abducted position (extend to the side) while the other side raises.

Is this effective?: IT DEPENDS. This is hugely dependent on a few factors. The first factor is the position of the joint on the static hold/isometric, and what demands that places on the muscle. For example, an isometric bicep curl where the elbow is placed at 90 degrees of flexion allows the bicep to work relatively hard to stabilize the elbow against that downward force. But at a 45-degree angle, that static hold becomes incredibly easy for the bicep (from a physics standpoint) because the load is not as “demanding” on the isometric from that angle. So when selecting static hold, the hold should be performed at a joint angle that maximally challenges the muscle without presenting an inherent risk to the joint. This caveat drastically limits the number of exercises you can do a static hold on, and in many ways is inferior to simply performing a full flexion/extension cycle that fully lengthens/shortens the target tissue.

How to properly incorporate a static hold?: I find static holds can be EFFECTIVELY applied to serve three main purposes, joint stability, core recruitment, and a unique hypertrophy stimulus here is how I do each of those with an example.

Stability: (e.g. DB bench press) to increase the stability demand on the shoulder, elbow, wrist joints I will have a client perform one side at a time DB bench while the other shoulder stabilizes the load in the extended position.

Core Recruitment: (e.g. Pallof Press) Having the core work to limit rotation while I hold a load isometrically at a distance that challenges this anti-rotation. Various video examples of the core "statically" contracting to avoid rotation shown here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsfbmAn0eTU&t=4s . Yes, Planks are a fine example of a static (non-moving) core exercise. But they aren’t resistance a directional force, so i don’t consider them a static hold.

Hypertrophy: (e.g. Shoulder press) Pressing with one arm overhead while the other arm remains at 90 degrees with the deltoid muscle under some degree of tension. This is a novel training stimulus, which has some application no doubt. Notice I said NOVEL, not superior. See an example of static holds being used for hypertrophy in action video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0ZKc1B1bpY

In closing, I think static holds have a place in most training programs, regardless of the goals of the particular trainee. Where I remain skeptical is HOW much they should be incorporated, and to which movements the technique can be applied effectively.