Can you really build muscle using dynamic tension?
For those of you who are not familiar with the term “dynamic tension” it is the name of the exercise system that Charles Atlas gave his course. It became very popular in the 1920s.
However, “dynamic tension” are not isometric exercises as we know them today.
The idea behind this muscle building system is to use your own body weight or resistance to pit one muscle against the other. In some exercises, you tense a particular body part and then move that body part as if you were performing an exercise with a dumbbell or resistance band. In other words, you want to move your body throughout the movement of the exercise.
Dynamic tension uses some isometric, isotonic, and isokinetic exercises. The biggest benefit of dynamic tension according to some people is that it is impossible to injure yourself using this method. For some of the exercises you need two chairs to train. This helps build endurance just by exercising your body weight.
This is a great muscle building technique and is part of every dynamic tension workout..
For example, in an exercise that Charles Atlas refers to as “dips,” you place two chairs about shoulder-width apart and then do push-ups while diving as low as possible between the two chairs. Once, you can easily perform this exercise (a third chair is brought into play) on which you place your feet. I would continue to do push-ups between chairs just like normal push-ups.
However, let me assure you that they are much more difficult than regular pushups and you get a great breast pump.
Another great exercise to develop your triceps is to place two chairs about shoulder width apart. Then you place your palms on the edge of the chair and do a triceps dip.
To build your back, again use two chairs and place a broomstick or bar on top of the chair and then do a pull-up.
To develop the muscles of the shoulders, nothing better than doing push-ups. To perform this exercise, you need to move closer to the wall and then push yourself up so that your toes are resting against the wall. Then you lower yourself until the top of your head hits the ground and then you push up.
Perform as many repetitions as possible. You can increase the difficulty by playing with the placement of your hands. The further apart the hands are, the more difficult the exercise becomes.
This is a great exercise to strengthen the shoulders and triceps and was used by many of the strong men of yesteryear to strengthen the upper body.
These are just a few examples of some of the best exercises to build muscle using dynamic tension.