Final update (I hope!): The full video with graphics should now be available. Please let me know if you have any other technical difficulties, and thanks!
Update (2:10pm on 2/8): I’ve uploaded the full-length video, just without the graphics and countdown timers. We’ll get that added ASAP! Thanks so much for your patience.
Update (1:40pm on 2/8/26): Hey team! Huge apologies, but I just learned that there was an upload error with this video and it cuts out after only one round of the strength circuit. Fixing it now! But in the meantime, you can always just go back and repeat the circuit manually. —AM
Back in January, I wrote a workout story for The New York Times about bodyweight isometric exercises. I already knew that isometrics — where you hold a muscle contraction in a static position — could be a fun and challenging way to improve strength without requiring any equipment (and that they can lower blood pressure!), but I learned so much more about the benefits through my interviews with Esme Hovekamp, a strength and conditioning coach in NYC, and Keith Baar, PhD, a professor of molecular exercise physiology at the school of medicine at UC Davis Health who has done some really cool research on isometric exercises.
In particular, isometrics can be powerful for those recovering from injuries:
For one thing, they actually trigger injured tendons to heal: the muscles contract while the tendons lengthen, and the time under tension loads the injured parts of the tendon in addition to the healthy parts (which doesn’t happen during a more dynamic exercise), Baar told me. This loading — known as “creep” — helps signal the cells inside the tendon to rebuild the collagen matrix. An isometric hold also helps lubricate the tissue and improve elasticity, he said.
And, because these exercises involve activating the muscles with very little movement, they can help calm your nervous system and reassure your brain and body that exercise is safe, Hovekamp told me. (In fact, isometrics are some of the lowest injury-risk exercises because of the relative lack of movement, according to Baar.)
Of course, if you’re dealing with an injury, you should always check with your medical provider about the kind of exercise that would be most appropriate for you.
Isometrics can also be great for beginners, and for those looking to improve their range of motion for challenging movements like squats, split squats, and push-ups: If you can hang out in the deepest part of a squat or the lowest point of a push-up, you’ll feel more confident getting into and out of that position during a more dynamic rep.
So today, we’ll do the workout Hovekamp designed for my NYT article together. I’ll list the exercises below, but there won’t be gifs or written instructions because the Times did that for us! Here’s the gift link to the article one more time if you just want to check out the movement demos and written instrux.
No equipment today, other than a mat.
