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Isometric Workouts for Strength

Strengthen your core, abs, legs, and more with expert isometric workout plans: A routine type that develops strength without high-impact movement.

Isometric workouts may sound technical to beginners, but it's one of those foundational pieces in many strength-training plans. And a natural part of lots of exercises you may not even realize.

The point of an isometric workout is to hold your muscles in a static or stationary position under prologued tension, without moving any surrounding joints. Technically speaking, it's these sustained contractions that recruit muscle fibers, and offer low-impact training for everyday strength.

Because it's so foundational, Tonal incorporates isometric workouts across many of its strength training and athletic programs. That includes many championed by Tonal's own Coach Tanysha Renee, who says people are often pleasantly surprised by the intensity yet approachability inherent to isometric moves.

"Because static holds create strong adaptations with relatively low fatigue, they’re especially effective for improving stability, coordination, and positional awareness," she describes. "Holding still under load teaches the body how to organize force, not just move through it."

Seasoned fitness pros to newbie enthusiasts alike can get help building stability, balance, and more precise muscle control by integrating isometric routines. Here, we've taken some of the best leg, core, and upper-body moves from our isometric-focused Tonal plans and re-worked them into a single, effective isometric routine you can do anywhere.

50-60 Minute Duration

Full Body Program

~180-310+ calories Calories Burned

7 Different Exercises

Recommended 3x/Week

Contents
  1. Isometric Workout: Example Routine
    1. Warm-up & Cool-Down
    2. Estimated Calories Burned
    3. Recommended Number of workouts
    2.
  2. Muscle Groups Targeted
  3. Equipment Used for Isometric Workout
  4. Coaching Tips & Best Practices
  5. Who This Workout is Best For
  6. Answers to FAQs about Isometric Workout
  7. Concluding words on Isometric Workout

Isometric Workout: Example Routine

An isometric workout uses static hold patterns to help develop endurance and build functional strength.

Format: 7 exercises total, 3 sets each | 45-60 secs rest between sets.

The Isometric Workout:

  • Wall sit (45 secs)
  • Plank hold (45-60 secs)
  • Isometric lunge hold, each leg (30 secs)
  • Glute bridge hold (45-60 secs)
  • Shoulder external rotation hold (30 secs)
  • Hollow body hold (30-40 secs)
  • Isometric push-up hold, mid-range (30 secs)

Warm-up & Cool-Down

Even though isometric routines are usually low impact, your muscles still need gradual activation before undergoing all that tension. A short warm-up prepares you to handle the workout's static loading, and can help prevent strain and injury.

Warm-Up (3 minutes):

  • Arm swings (30 sec)
  • Leg swings (30 sec)
  • Glute bridges (30 sec)
  • Shoulder rolls (30 sec)
  • Bodyweight squats (30 sec)
  • Inchworms (30 sec)

Cool Down (3.5 minutes):

  • Seated hamstring stretch (30 sec)
  • Wall chest opener (30 sec)
  • Child's pose (30 sec)
  • Standing quad stretch (30 secs each leg)
  • Deep diaphragmatic breathing (1 min)

Estimated Calories Burned

  • Women 120-150 lbs: 160-220 calories
  • Women 150-180+ lbs: 220-270 calories
  • Men 150-180 lbs: 200-260 calories
  • Men 180-220+ lbs: 260-330+ calories

Generally speaking, even a high-quality isometric workout done with great technique may not leave you dripping sweat, or falling to the floor completely exhaustion. That's not always the point of these movements. Actual calories burned will always vary person to person.

Because these movements are static, an isometric workout's calorie expenditure or burned calories may be lower than other types of strength-based workouts.

Don't worry. Muscles are still being challenged when you do your workout with proper focus, intensity, and form. Depending on your overall training program, isometric plans can be a piece in how you support preventing overtraining.

Recommended Number of workouts

  • Beginners or those new to strength training should start with 1x weekly sessions, focusing on consistent form.
  • More advanced athletes can challenge themselves with longer holds or by adding additional reps or circuits to the routine.

Always adjust your workouts based your needs, goals, schedule, and lifestyle. But remember: Steady repetition and control drives long-term results in this style of training.

Coach Tanysha further explains how to better work in isometric training. "Where you place isometrics changes what they do, which is why they work best when they’re timed, not tacked on.

"Used early in a session or earlier in the week, they wake up stability, control, and joint positioning. Used mid-set, they clean up form under fatigue. And used later, they reinforce resilience without beating you up. That timing matters, because it allows isometrics to support consistency, coordination, and performance across multiple training days, not just one workout."

Muscle Groups Targeted

This isometric workout targets muscles across your core, abs, and legs, as well as key supporting areas like the glutes, shoulders, and back.

Major muscle groups:

  • Stabilizers: Core and abs
  • Lower body: Quads, hamstrings, and glutes
  • Upper body: Shoulders and chest

Key individual muscles:

  • Rectus abdominis, obliques, and transverse abdominis
  • Quadriceps and gluteus maximus
  • Deltoids and pectorals

Part of the beauty of isometric training is its precision. It can help teach your body to engage specific muscles, accept and hold tension, and develop endurance under load. That engagement creates the potential to build strength, whether you're targeting specific muscles themselves or your whole body.

This workout targets muscle groups including glutes and legs, chest and arms, and core.

Equipment Used for Isometric Workout

This isometric workout can be done entirely without equipment. It's intentionally designed to be accessible for anyone, anywhere.

If you prefer more resistance in the routine, add:

  • Resistance bands (shoulder and glute holds)
  • Stability ball (during wall sit variations)
  • A yoga block (to enhance hip engagement)

For more advanced progressions and deeper muscle activation, you might try incorporating:

  • Dumbbells (increases light static load)
  • Tonal's Smart Handles (for measurable resistance feedback)
  • Weighted vest (adding resistance to every exercise)
  • Balance board (to dial up joint stability)

Coaching Tips & Best Practices

"Because everyday movement often requires maintaining position under load - standing, carrying, and maintaining joint alignment - isometrics enhance neuromuscular coordination and load control, helping the body stay ready when movement demands increase."
Tonal Coach Tanysha Renee

Who This Workout is Most Effective For

This isometric workout is perfect for anyone building strength without the stress of higher-impact training. It’s especially effective if you're:

Answers to FAQs about Isometric Workout

Yes! An isometric workout can assist in developing endurance, strength, and stability, and even some functional strength.

Even without tons of visible movement (e.g. planks), your muscles contract and learn to increase strength capacity over time and using proper technique. Again, it can seem slow, but keep at it.

Absolutely! In fact, core and ab training are regularly incorporated into many isometric programs. Think classic ab exercises like performing a 30 to 60-second plank, to more advanced core movements like hollow body holds and dead bugs. All of these positions can help you focus on strengthening this part of your body.

Holds will vary person to person, and depend on a lot of things. For instance, someone might get a lot of work out of performing a 25-second wall sit, whereas another individual can go all the way past 60 seconds.

The key to most isometric-focused routines are maintaining tension with good form throughout the holds. Think quality over quantity.

Isometric exercises can be a helpful way to challenge your legs without a lot of movement, especially when you want to focus on control and steady muscle engagement.

Holding positions — like wall sits, split-stance lunges, and squats holds, for instance — can build awareness in the hips, quads, and glutes while keeping the motion predictable. Many people also find that these holds give them a chance to practice alignment with joints, which can complement more dynamic lower-body training.

As with any style of exercise, the key is choosing variations that feel manageable and progressing gradually.

Concluding words on Isometric Workout

An isometric workout proves that powerful results for your body and goals don't always come from fast, sweaty sessions. By simply "holding still" under tension, you help develop and strengthen key muscles, support joint health, and prove you're capable of more than you think.

What's more, if you enjoy this style of workout, Tonal has several additional free, targeted workouts inspired by isometric principles. Check out our newly launched Pilates session, or our at-home beginner-friendly yoga workout.

Free Workout Tips