Isometric Exercise Equipment: A Brief History of Isometric Equipment

If you’ve done your homework and researched isometrics, you’ve probably discovered that the most effective way to increase muscle size and strength is to use isometric exercise equipment.

Even the great Alexander Zass knew this. While he was a prisoner of war during World War I… he used the chains that bound him to perform isometric exercises. As crude as it was, it was probably the first isometric exercise equipment.

Many things can be used to perform isometric exercises. Here are the most common.

* Free weights using a power rack

* Resistance bands

It wasn’t until the 1970s that Gert F. Kobel, a German inventor, expanded on an existing patent for an exercise device. That patent created by Arthur A Pons, was patented on April 16, 1912. It was a simple 2-tube compression device with handles at each end.

Mr. Kobel improved the device by adding a steel cable; wrapped in a plastic sleeve that went around both handles. This allowed the user not only to compress the device but also, by pulling on the wires, to perform pulling movements.

To my knowledge, this was the first commercially marketed isometric exercise equipment.

Originally sold under the name Tensolator, today it has been recreated and marketed as Bully Extreme.

The benefits of isometric exercise equipment is that it allows the user the ability to ultimately measure their progress. You see, unlike hands-free isometric exercise, isometric exercise equipment has the ability to measure and track the amount of resistance the individual is applying.

Just like with free weights, when you use a dumbbell to lift 50 pounds, you can plan the next time you work out to increase the weight/resistance. The same is true for this type of isometric exercise equipment. They allow you to measure your growing strength.

And because of its ability to compress and pull…it allows you to perform many more exercises than you would normally be able to do using freehand isometric exercises. Some of these devices can perform more than 82 exercises.

It’s this versatility… to provide progressive resistance that makes this revolutionary new isometric exercise equipment a must have in your bodybuilding and strengthening programs.