Static Exercise Moves: Sculpt A Tight, Toned Body Without Moving

Want To Mix Up Your Workout? Don't Move A Muscle

By Greg Presto for Shape.com

If you've ever quaked through the last 10 seconds of a forearm plank, you know that staying still can leave you drenched in sweat and work your core harder than hundreds of crunches.

But static moves can work much more than your core and offer a host of benefits that make them worth mixing in to your regular routines.

"You simultaneously work strength and flexibility, as well as mobility," says Jeremy Frisch, owner and director of Achieve Performance Training in Clinton, Mass. These exercises also build tendon and ligament strength, and you can do them all at home. "It's loadless training -- you can use your own bodyweight to train, and it'll work you like crazy."

Holding a single position of an exercise can also help the body learn the right form for the normal, repetitive movement, says Frisch. And they're great for runners: "Because you're not moving, you can recover from injury or the stress from running while you build strength."

Mix some of these non-movements into your next workout. They're great between sets of repped exercises or strung together as a total-body workout on their own.

Feel The Burn In Your Abs And Legs

tone without moving

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