I'm not a flexibility guy, but I've desided to add th bridge to my list of goals, anything that relies on throatic and shoulder mobility can only benefit me so I'm pret keen. Only thing is, I have no idea how to get started, where to go from there or what I should be doing. Anyone got any tips or progressions they fancy shooting my way?
I am sure that there are tons of YouTube vids but here's one suggestion that might be a good place to start. Stand a couple of paces in front of the wall facing away. Put your hands above your head and look back above your head towards the wall. Lean back until your hands touch the wall and then try to tilt your head back until you are able to touch your nose to the wall. You can adjust a whole load of things such as starting distance, how far you out your had back, maybe try this sitting in a low backed chair (the chair back as fulcrum) etc... Just a warning, you, as many people, may not be used to lookng above your head and this can make you feel light headed. Now if you have any medical conditions or issues with your neck you may want to talk to your doc first before trying this. You might want to start out , irrespective of your medical status, with a spotter until you get used to the shift in your balance/the stretches etc.. I used to get really light headed when I was on rides with my kids after having been away from grappling for a few years. After I did these starter bridge warm ups for a few weeks that sort of thing went away. I might speculate and think that the thoracic spine or some part of my neck loosened up. It is also possible that the receptors in my neck and ears became re-acquainted with my head being in different postions so that could also explain things settling down a well. Anyway, with a bit of caution this is an easy thing to try out. See what you think and let me know .... it's helped to keep my neck functioning while I play rugby and overall these days (after having had lots of previous neck injuries in sports) I am doing as well as I ever remember doing.... (maybe this says something about my memory going or a second childhood or something like that ..... :' P ) LFD
Do you mean being able to simply hold the bridge position or being able to lean and fall back into the bridge from standing?
umm If that was directed at me righty I mean to be close enough so it's safe and you can't fall. You get a stretch but it is controlled. This isn't a supplex heh heh ;' ) (offending picture removed at the request of those that want to keep their lunches down... :' P ) (If the question wasn't addressed to me... Sorry :' P. ) LFD
No that was for steve. Lying on your back and raising yourself with your hands and eventually with no hands straight onto the head would be an easier away to get into the bridge than standing and leaning back. So I'm not sure if the goal is to be able to hold the bridge regardless of how you get there or to be able to lean back as you are describing LFD.
LFDs method is probably the best way to start, (but did he really have to take his shirt off to show it!) Pressing up into the bridge from laying down from the start can cause some bad habits, you see people press up into a bridge but there’s no reach arch in their body its almost flat, wall walking is a great way to teach the arch and build the flexibility to actually hit a correct bridge I also think it depends on what sort of bridge Steve is looking for, a gymnastic bridge or a wrestling bridge, personally im not sure a wrestling bridge is needed unless you are actually wrestling and are going to be bridging onto your head in competition, you can get the same flexibility from a gymnastic bridge but having said that I did neck bridges for years without any issues
I can neck bridge already, I do it to try an thicken the stack of 5ps I have for a neck I hadn't thought about pressing up or falling back, just being there seems hard enough to achieve, I guess pressing up would be slightly easier than fallin back?
SS , the question is why bridge? Strength, flexibility? Neck/upper back v trunk/upper back? Do you have a functional reason for bridging? In wrestling we had at least 2: back arching for doing supplex throws , bridging to allow a kick over OR roll over to reverse things and take top position... The end justifies the means ;' ) LFD
The deep overhead squat is a precursor to back bridges. Not having the mobility of the shoulders, arms, shoulder blades and thoracic spine which is required for the deep overhead squat hurts the shoulders and forces over-extension of the lumbar spine. Nail the OH squat before trying the back bridge. LFD offered a very good exercise. But before beginning work on the back bend you should learn the front bend. You should begin learning a skill (in this case, back bridges) with the easiest skill in the easiest direction. Forward bends make you limber enough to bend backwards. There are neurological, structural, muscular, fascial and skeletal causes that make it easier to bend the body forwards than to bend it back. Believe it or not, these causes all have to do with the location of the eyes, mouth and nose - they're all on the front of the head. If they were on the back of the head, then of course it would be a different story! Stand with your back to a wall. The closer your heels are to the wall the more difficult it is. Fold your arms across your chest and bend forwards. Keep your abdomen tight. Turn your shoulders occasionally so you're facing each leg. This movement compliments the deadlift because in the DL flexing your lower back is dangerous, but here it's okay. Hold the bottom position of this forward bend for 15-20 seconds, rise back up, and repeat a couple of times. Next, keeping your heels against the wall (or as close as you can get them for your level of skill in the exercise) lean forwards and place your hands on the floor, butt raised in the air like the starting position for a divebomber/Hindu push-up. In yoga this is called Downward Facing Dog. Stay in that position and try to push your chest to the floor. You should feel this in your scapulars. It may help to squeeze your shoulder blades together, and down towards your hips. Push your chest to the floor (it won't move that far) as much as you can, hold for 15-20 seconds, relax, and repeat a couple of times. This exercise works T-spine mobility. Next, move from the divebomber/Hindu push-up starting position into the cobra stretch and back again. Keep the flow steady and controlled. You want to lift your chest up and out as far as you can in the cobra stretch. Focus on pushing your hips down. Repeat the flow about 10-20 times, or as many times as you need to feel it working. No matter how advanced you get, it's always a good idea to do these forward bending precursor exercises before your back bends! Once you get savvy with these, try LFD's wall back bend exercise. I find three paces from the wall is a good starting distance. It's perfectly acceptable to go up on your toes when you first get your head to the floor. As you make progress, get closer to the wall. Make sure you push your chest towards the wall to maximise bending of the thoracic spine and hip joints. Try to work your chest at different angles (imagine pulling your left shoulder blade to your right hip and right shoulder blade to your left hip), and get it as close to the wall as possible. If you need more T-spine mobilisation work, grab a Swiss ball and light kettlebell. Sit on the ball and stabilise your midsection by tensing your abs. With the weight on your chest, lean your head back and down over the ball. (The middle of your shoulder blades should be placed over the centre of the ball, neck and head off it). Try to get your head a bit further down with each repetition. Think of it as doing Swiss ball crunches without lifting your shoulders up, and your head dropping backwards. When you get to the point where your head can touch the ball, lift the kettlebell up and let it too drop backwards as if preparing to do a pullover. Repeat the "head crunch" movement, feeling your chest stretch out as your head and arms drop back. Your head will stop when it touches the Swiss ball, but you want your arms to continue past this point. Try and get a bit further with each repetition. When you feel comfortable with this, walk your feet out to move the ball further up your spine and make the exercise a bit more difficult. Be sure to tense the abs hard and always tense the same muscles you feel stretch on the way back up. Repeat the exercise. Eventually you'll move so far down on the ball that the kettlebell will touch the floor behind you. It then becomes more of a maintenance exercise for mobility. Foam rolling the back will always help too.
Honestly? A party trick, it looks cool, if I can do it that's something else I have achieved in this silliness I call fitness training. The end does not justify the means, but the same reason I nearly tore my thumb off training for a 3 plate 1 arm deadlift, because I can't do it and I want to be able to.
VZ, I've a 70kg OHS roughly and a 75kg snatch balance would that be suficient? I weight 88kg currently (SKINNNY!) However I can barely get and ROM on the front bend, I should be working on that a lot before even attempting a bridge correct? EDIT: decided to just video it: http://youtu.be/7DPT6ukiZxs http://youtu.be/7DPT6ukiZxs http://youtu.be/i_eCSlGZh_Q
theres something wrong with the world when i can bridge and steve cant.... get a video from the floor?
I spent ages typing a training exercise for building a (wrestlers) bridge. I then couldn't be bothered and also got very confusing. So heres a vid. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEvS-Z2Gm9s"]Wrestlers Bridge with homemade bulgarian bag to strengthen Neck/ increase ROM - YouTube[/ame] (take away the bulgarian bag). You can make things easier by simply placing your hands down by the side of your head (shoulder width and parallell to your head).
Perhaps this will help? [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVlORJ9g0J8"]How to do a back bend bridge stretch tutorial- improve backbend flexibility - YouTube[/ame]
