A bridge is a critical connection between core strengthening and lower body conditioning.  Bridges don’t properly teach the glutes how to work with the lower abdominals to stabilize the pelvis in neutral.  A healthy bridge is accomplished only when you maintain a pelvic curl throughout.  A bridge is when you suspend the pelvis off the floor with the rib cage and pelvis and hip in neutral alignment.

1. Pro-roller Arch

Place your pro-roller arch under your skull at the apex of your occiput to provide a counterforce for maintaining a Head Nod.  A head nod is when you rock your skull back on C1 into its neutral position.

1. Pelvic Curl

Perform 4 pelvic curls before starting your head ups to make sure you are completely flattening your back.  Maintain the pelvic curl throughout each curl-up.  The pelvic curl keeps your lumbar spine in neutral alignment.

1. Bridges holding Pelvic Curl

Maintaining your pelvic curl push into your heels to recruit your glutes and lift you pelvis off the floor.  Only come up to the level where you can maintain a pelvic curl.  DO NOT extend the low back.

1. The Hold

Hold a bridge for 4 seconds.  Your abdominals and glutes should be working together to maintain neutral lumbar spine alignment.  If you don’t feel your abdominals, you went too high and are now in lumbar spine extension.

1. The roll down

Segmentally come out of your bridge back to neutral spine alignment.  Once your sacrum taps the floor, repeat.  Perform 4 to 8 perfect bridges.  Push into your hands to help your upper abdominals stabilize the rib cage.  This also recruit’s the obliques which stabilize the rib cage and pelvis in relationship to each other in the rotational plane.

You know your performing this exercise properly when you feel your abdominals and glutes working at the same time.

Levels of Progression:

• Perform 8 perfect bridges (level 9)
• Perform 8 perfect bridges with an 8 second hold (level 10)
• Add alternating arm lifts; perform single leg bridges (level 11)
• Add alternating heel lifts; Add a physio ball (level 12)

Summary:

Conditioning yourself to do a healthy bridge restores the dynamic pelvic control needed for sport and recreational activities.  The key to a healthy bridge is maintaining neutral pelvis positioning throughout.

Safe Progressions:

When you can perform a 12 second head-up, start doing curl-ups maintaining a head-up.  When you can hold a perfect curl-up for 12 seconds start adding heel floats.  We suggest purchasing a Functional Fitness 4-pack and scheduling an online coaching session to learn how to safely condition yourself to perform bridges for specific fitness conditioning or sport.  Or you can upgrade your DIY maintenance subscription to a Functional Fitness subscription which provides 2 online coaching sessions a month.

Don’t forget to use the SafeProgress feature within the PostureIQ dashboard to let us confirm your are doing your exercises properly.