Wow, great instruction! I think this may be one of the greatest calisthenics exercises. I can see you exercising every muscle in the body from your toes to your fingertips. I need to move on from just bridging against a wall.
Steve, I just wanted to thank you for all these recent videos on inspiration, stretching, mobility, force (the mace was great! although I replaced it with a bag of rice). All these great exercises are now part of my daily routine.
Steve, I am at the second step of the progression. Currently I cannot extend my arms at all (which I know isn't part of this step); will this strength come through doing the second step, so I can progress to the third step?
Hi Carl, yes the 2nd step is a helpful progression to gradually build the strength and flexibility. It is possible the limitation is due to restrictions in the shoulder and or chest rather than the triceps
Hi Vladimir, I can only guess without seeing your position. My first assumption is that you should consider doing some specific hamstring stretch before the bridge practice. Such as swinging your leg forward them back with the knee fully extended. Do some stretching before and try it and please let me know if that helps relieve the hamstring cramping
Ram, yes it would be good to do both before and after Kettlebell Training. I suggest you do a few easy sets of the first version before and then after, when your body is very warm, go deeper
Hello Steve, I'd like to include bridging in my weekly routine, but my chiropractor insists this type of bridging is unsafe...something about not using your head as a lever. I do have arthritis in my neck but no other injuries. I'd love to hear your opinion Sir. Thank you
Hi @Jeffro , thanks for your question. Because you mentioned a spinal herniation, this is where the line has to be drawn between a physical trainer and a medical professional, which I am not. So it would be irresponsible and even unethical for me to give a medically-oriented opinion. I will have to be fair to your chiropractor and give him or her the benefit of the doubt. This is assuming that your chiropractor is at least somewhat knowledgeable about exercise science, which may or may not be the case. With the exception of the intermediate version that I show on the video, which is using the head as a wedge, the first and third versions should not put undue stress upon the neck. However, there is a learning curve to get to the point in which the person understands how not to put pressure on the neck. Therefore, I would suggest that you work alternatives that put zero pressure on the neck and upper back vertebrae.
+Steve Cotter IKFF an example would be leaning back over something like a pommel horse set to the proper height, so that you could lay back over it and completely relax, letting gravity provide the elongation without having any weight at all on the head or upper spine. Hopefully you can gather what I'm describing
Thank you Steve! I do understand what you've explained. I believe bridging could be a great benefit to me if I carefully follow the steps you've so wonderfully outlined. I have recurring pain in my neck and upper back. My chiropractor is a very skilled practitioner. I have great respect for him and I appreciate the respect and care that you show to him. I also hold you in very high regard and when I saw that you were endorsing this technique, I wanted to ask you about it to see if it might be a common warning you hear reported from chiropractors. I could see how carelessly performing this exercise might be risky. I'm truly grateful for your time and assistance Sir.
+Jeffro my primary audience up to this point has been fitness professionals, athletes, coaches, military personnel, etc. so I more often than not and working with/speaking to those types of audiences. It will probably be a good idea for me to add some disclaimers to explain that it may not be advisable or maybe contraindicated for certain people with medical exceptions and so on. Another thing you can look into, maybe there is a gym in your area that offers classes and "anti-gravity" which uses yoga like movements with the help of Zug suspension straps. They are sort of like hammocks that you can hang on in different positions and it may be very beneficial for decompressing the spine in a safe manner for you.
+matt champion i don't consider it dangerous, however good idea to do over a padded, non-slick surface as there is a learning curve and you are likely to fall a few times on way to mastering
