In a modern city dweller, the spine is under little load - it mainly performs a supporting function. As a result, the cartilage of the discs becomes coarser, the ligaments grow, as a result of which the mobility of the vertebrae relative to each other decreases. Even if you don't have back pain, it can be difficult to bend forward to reach your toes without bending your legs. It's even harder to bend back to see the wall, let alone stand on the bridge. If these symptoms are present, you should urgently begin exercises that can restore flexibility.
You can easily check this even at home: Make a mark on the wall or door at shoulder level.
First test: you need to see the mark by bending back, for which you need to stand with your back to the wall, a step away from it.
Second test: Turn your right side to the wall and straighten your left hand, try to touch the mark with it. Repeat the same steps for the left side. If you do these movements without difficulty, your flexibility is excellent. If effort is made for this, it’s good. Well, if the tests cannot be completed, it is bad and needs to be urgently restored.
People who fail the tests will not be able to stand on the bridge - training is needed to develop flexibility. When starting, be sure to do a warm-up that will warm up your body and help you achieve your goal.
Warm-up of the shoulder girdle:
- Exercises during which you rotate your arms simultaneously or alternately back and forth are great for warming up this muscle group. To do them you need to stand up straight and not bend your back.
- Bend your left arm at the elbow joint and place it at chest level. The forearm is parallel to the floor. Turn your upper body to the right, twisting your spine. Then, repeat everything for the right side.
- Pull the arm raised and bent at the elbow (forearm behind the back of the head) down and to the side with the other hand. Change the position of your hands and repeat on the other side.
- Straightened arms are in front and clasped. Lift them up, arching your back and shoulders.
Warm up the shoulder girdle and lumbar region:
- Place your hands on your lower back and bend your back back while throwing your head back.
- Bend your torso forward while simultaneously drawing in your straight and closed arms.
- The hands are closed, the arms are straight. Swing above the back of your head, tilt your body forward until your fingers touch the floor, swing again, etc.
- Legs straight, with your palms grab the back of a stable chair and the crossbar (at waist level). Try to bend downward in your shoulders and spine as much as possible.
Warm up the back muscles:
- Circular rotations. In the starting position, the legs are straightened, the back is straight. Try to describe a circle with your upper body.
- Place your feet shoulder-width apart. Without bending them, bend to the sides, straightening your upper arm parallel to the floor.
- Get on all fours and arch your back up and down with maximum amplitude, as a cat does.
- From the same starting position, perform the following exercise, which will help you later stand on the bridge: imagining a crossbar that is located close to the floor, as if crawling under it.
- Lie on your stomach with your hands clasped at the back of your head. Bend your upper body towards your lower back.
- From the same position, arch your spine back.
- Having laid out a gymnastic mat, roll from chest to hips and back.
- Hips on the floor, place your hands on the floor and bend at the lower back, throwing your head back and trying to reach the back of your head with your toes.
- Starting position: lie on your stomach, then, straightening your legs and arms, try to rise as high as possible and stay in this position.
- Another exercise useful for standing on a bridge: you need to kneel, grab your heels and bend at the lower back.
- Without changing position, i.e. while kneeling, swing your leg, bending your neck and lower back. Try to see your foot above your head. Swings are performed alternately with both legs.
After completing the required deflection complex, you need to arch the spine. To do this, you need to sit on your knees, placing your buttocks on your heels and your stomach on your hips, stretching out your arms and placing them on the floor: arch your back upward.
This option is the simplest. To do the bridge, first lie on your back with your knees bent and your heels close to your buttocks. Place your palms, fingers facing your body, behind your head (above your shoulders). Raise your pelvis, tensing your leg muscles and leaning on your arms. Bend your back, trying to straighten your legs. Returning to the starting position, first touch the floor of the shoulder blade, and then the buttocks. The exercise is repeated several times.
If the shoulder girdle is insufficiently flexible, it is possible to stand on the bridge mainly by leaning on your legs. In this case, the body weight is distributed unevenly, so the position is unstable. In addition, the palms and feet are located at a great distance from each other, which increases the load on both pairs of limbs.
Those who can stand up correctly have straight legs and arms perpendicular to the back. To achieve this, try to arch your back from the “bridge” and straighten your limbs.
Rocking in the foot-to-head direction is recommended. As flexibility increases, you need to reduce the distance between your palms and feet so that your limbs experience less stress. And it will become easier to stand on the bridge.
To stand on the bridge, you need to bend your knees (your feet are on the surface and your back is straight), put the palm of one hand back, and slightly turn your torso towards it. Leaning on this hand and feet, lift your buttocks off the surface and describe an arc with your free hand, lowering it to the surface.
To return to the original position, perform the movements in reverse order. With the acquisition of flexibility, it is recommended to master inversions performed from the bridge. Do it like this: rotating your torso to the left, move your right hand (behind your left), then move your right leg behind your left. As a result, your back will be up, and the emphasis will be on your feet and palms. To do the bridge again, you need to move your right leg and left arm almost simultaneously. At the same time, learn to roll over to the other side.
When you have mastered inversions, you can easily stand on the bridge from the “sitting” and “lying” positions; you can try to do the bridge from the “standing” position. At first, a Swedish wall will help you do it: go up and turn your back to it. Bend over and grab the bar. Arching your back, slowly “walk” down the bars
If there is no wall bars in your house, use a regular one: bend over and move your palms over it, moving down. Return to the starting position by “walking” with your palms up.
Shoes and surfaces should not be slippery to avoid falling and hitting the back of your head.
When you can touch the floor with your palms using the wall, you can stand on the bridge, which is considered the most difficult: bending your knees slightly and leaning your body forward, bend at the waist, straighten your arms and throw your head back to see the floor. Bend over and stand on the bridge.
Gymnastic bridge
If you have long dreamed of getting on the bridge, but nothing works out, don’t despair, we will teach you. The gymnastic bridge looks very nice from the outside and you will soon be able to show off your flexibility and excellent physical shape.
Before standing on the bridge, you need to stretch the muscles of your back and shoulders, that is, do. Later, you will be able to do the bridge quickly and without special preparation, but for this you need to make this exercise familiar and ordinary to you. For beginners, warming up your muscles is a must.
So, in order to quickly and painlessly learn how to perform a bridge, you need to master special exercises that very well develop back flexibility.
- Exercise No. 1. Lie on your stomach with your arms extended up. Raise your arms and legs together, bending as much as possible. Keep your knees straight. It is necessary to fix the position for 30-60 seconds.
Exercise No. 2.
Lie on your back, bend your knees and straighten your arms along your body. Raise your pelvis as high as possible, hold for 5 seconds and smoothly lower onto your back.
Exercise No. 3.
While kneeling, place your feet hip-width apart. Slowly bending back, reach your heels with your hands. The back should be arched and the head tilted back.
Exercise No. 4.
Lie on your stomach, grab your ankles with your hands. Bend over, lifting your head, chest and legs. Hold for a few seconds.
Exercise No. 5.
Bridge on fitball. Lie on your back on the fitball. Place your feet shoulder-width apart, raise your arms and try to reach the floor.
Exercise No. 6.
Lie on your stomach. Place your arms straight at hip level. Arch your back. Now your task is to touch your head with your toes, bending your knees and raising your head. Try holding for 30 seconds.
Exercise No. 7.
Bridge from a prone position. Lie on your back. Next, bend your legs and arms, place your hands close to your shoulders, pointing your elbows up. Now try to bridge from this pose by straightening your legs, arms and arching your lower back. When you feel that you cannot bend further, hold the pose at your limit for a couple of seconds. When you get good at this exercise, make it more difficult by moving your hands as close to your legs as possible. Rock back and forth.
Do these exercises every day. If you have problems with the spine, you will quickly forget about them if you are not lazy, and soon you will be able to easily stand on the bridge no matter how old you are.
How to stand on the bridge while standing:
When you are good at doing all the exercises of the preparatory stage, including the gymnastic bridge from a lying position, begin to perform the bridge from a standing position. If you have a wall bars, great, but if not, take advantage of the free space near the wall.
Standing with your back to the wall (at a distance of about 80 cm), raise your arms up and place your feet shoulder-width apart. From this position, lean back until you feel the wall with your fingers. Bend further, moving your fingers along the wall (or along the slats if you are working at a wall bars). This will lower you into a bridge position. After holding this position, return to the starting position in the same way (while moving your hands). Do this exercise until you master it well.
The next step is to refuse the help of the wall. The exercise is performed on a gymnastic mat. It will be more reliable if someone backs you up. Stand facing the other person with your feet shoulder-width apart. Raise your hands up. At this stage, your assistant can already back you up, supporting you under your back. Lean back, fix this position for a second and, without making sudden movements, lower yourself onto the bridge. Stay a little in the bridge position and, pushing off with your hands, return to the original position. Don't refuse help from another person until you can do this exercise confidently and independently.
How to properly stand on the bridge:
Agree, it is important not only to be able to stand on the bridge, but also to do it correctly and beautifully.
When you do a bridge from a standing position, the main thing is not to be afraid and do not make the common mistake of going into the bridge with your shoulders and back. That's right - only with your hands.
The next mistake in performing this exercise is that some people do the bridge with their backs, without taking into account their shoulders. The result is an ugly and unstable bridge with bent arms. It is correct to transfer your body weight to your arms, after warming up your shoulders. Ideally, the angle between the floor and your hands should be 90º. To achieve this, you must, standing on the bridge, rock back and forth, this will stretch your shoulders.
Video - how to stand on the bridge:
Well, who hasn’t dreamed of standing on the bridge and demonstrating their flexibility and flexibility?! Almost all. What is the problem?! Let's together, with the help of this article, step by step review all the necessary exercises that will prepare our body for this. Don't give up on your dreams! Dream, take care of yourself, your body and you can easily achieve the desired results.
Play sports and
!The gymnastic bridge looks very nice from the outside and you will soon be able to show off your flexibility and excellent physical shape.
Before standing on the bridge, you need to stretch the muscles of your back and shoulders, that is, do a warm-up. Later, you will be able to do the bridge quickly and without special preparation, but for this you need to make this exercise familiar and ordinary to you. A must for beginners.
So, in order to quickly and painlessly learn how to perform a bridge, you need to master special exercises that very well develop back flexibility.
Exercise No. 1. Lie down with your arms stretched up. Raise your arms and legs together, bending as much as possible. Keep your knees straight. It is necessary to fix the position for 30-60 seconds.
Exercise No. 2. Lie on your back, bend your knees and straighten your arms along your body. Raise your pelvis as high as possible, hold for 5 seconds and smoothly lower onto your back.
Exercise No. 3. While kneeling, place your feet hip-width apart. Slowly bending back, reach your heels with your hands. The back should be arched and the head tilted back.
Exercise No. 4. Lie on your stomach, grab your ankles with your hands. Bend over, lifting your head, chest and legs. Hold for a few seconds.
No. 5. Bridge on fitball. Lie on your back on the fitball. Place your feet shoulder-width apart, raise your arms and try to reach the floor.
Exercise No. 6. Lie on your stomach. Place your arms straight at hip level. Arch your back. Now your task is to touch your head with your toes, bending your knees and raising your head. Try holding for 30 seconds.
Exercise No. 7. Bridge from a prone position. Lie on your back. Next, bend your legs and arms, place your hands close to your shoulders, pointing your elbows up. Now try to bridge from this pose by straightening your legs, arms and arching your lower back. When you feel that you cannot bend further, hold the pose at your limit for a couple of seconds. When you get good at this exercise, make it more difficult by moving your hands as close to your legs as possible. Rock back and forth.
Do these exercises every day. If you have them, you will quickly forget about them if you are not lazy, and soon you will be able to easily get on the bridge no matter how old you are.
In fitness, each muscle group has its own complex, but there are also universal exercises that work literally all major muscle groups. One of them is the “bridge”.
Benefits: what are the benefits of the bridge exercise?
The “bridge” involves almost all major human muscle groups:
- muscles of the upper and lower extremities;
- back muscles;
- abdominal muscles;
- muscles of the thoracic region.
Benefits of doing the exercise:
- blood flow improves;
- posture and gait become correct;
- the shape of the buttocks improves;
- digestion is normalized;
- saggy belly goes away;
- the work of the muscles of the arms, hips and legs is stimulated;
- coordination develops;
- the back muscles become more elastic, due to this the mobility of the spine is ensured;
- prevents the development of bone and muscle diseases;
- the functioning of the respiratory system improves;
- healthy sleep is established;
- the likelihood of nervous disorders is reduced.
Harm: contraindications to exercise
Exercise may be harmful to you if you have:
- pregnancy;
- diseases of the spine or gastrointestinal tract;
- joint injuries or diseases;
- high blood pressure;
- headache;
- intervertebral hernia;
- Recently there were operations on the abdominal organs.
In these cases, do not bridge.
How to learn to make a “bridge”?
“Bridge” is a difficult exercise that requires good physical fitness. Strong arms and legs will make this practice much easier to master.
To get on the “bridge”, beginners need to warm up properly. A whole range of exercises is provided for warming up.
Lying hyperextension
- We lie down on our stomachs.
- We stretch our arms forward.
- We raise our arms and legs at the same time, trying to bend as much as possible. Keep your knees straight.
- We stay in this position for 30–60 seconds.
"Half Bridge"
- We lie down on our backs.
- We bend our knees.
- We extend our arms along the body.
- As you exhale, smoothly raise your pelvis as high as possible.
- We hold for 5 seconds and smoothly lower ourselves onto our backs.
"Camel"
- We get down on our knees.
- Feet hip-width apart.
- Smoothly bending backwards, we reach our heels with our hands. If this is difficult, we place our palms on the lower back, thereby maintaining the deflection. We don’t throw our head back too much, our chest is open.
"Onion"
- We lie down on our stomachs.
- Bend your knees and clasp your ankles with your palms.
- We bend, rounding our chest and raising our head, chest and legs.
- We pause for a few seconds. Smoothly lower to the starting position.
Video: What exercises need to be done before standing on the “bridge”
Having warmed up, we proceed to the “bridge” itself. But before performing its classic variation, you will have to go through a thorny path of “bridges” of varying complexity (with emphasis on the shoulders, side, reverse and others). Let's start, of course, with the easiest one.
When performing a bridge, remember:
- breathing should be slow and measured;
- the back should be well arched, but without a bend in the lower back: strive for an arch in the thoracic region;
- arms and legs tend to straighten;
- The pelvis should be higher than the head.
“Bridge” with emphasis on the shoulders
This exercise is also called the “glute bridge,” from which you can understand which muscles are additionally pumped by this exercise. The exercise is very useful if done correctly.
- We lie down on the floor.
- We stretch our arms along the body or to the sides.
- We rest our legs bent at the knees on the floor.
- As you exhale, lift your buttocks off the floor, strain and push your pelvis as high as possible. The body and hips should be positioned so that a visual straight line can be drawn from the point where the shoulders touch the floor to the bent knees.
- We strain our gluteal muscles and stay in this position for a few seconds.
- Inhaling, we return to the starting position.
You can complicate this position by first stretching one leg forward, and after a while, when the muscles are sufficiently stretched, upward until it is perpendicular to the floor. Then repeat the same on the other leg. To achieve results faster, you should perform this exercise about 10 times in a row in 3 approaches.
Video: Technique for performing the “gluteal bridge”
Video on how to properly perform a “gluteal bridge” while lying down.
Not easy, but involving many muscle groups at once, and therefore a very effective exercise.
- We sit on the floor, legs extended and connected.
- Place your palms on the floor slightly behind you, shoulder-width apart.
- As you exhale, raise your pelvis, torso and legs until a straight line is formed. The tailbone is curled.
- We tense the muscles of the abdomen and buttocks, moving our shoulders away from our ears.
- We try to stay in this position for 15 seconds to two minutes.
If you feel pain or discomfort, your legs begin to shake, you feel tired - go down and take a break. Between sets, remain seated or bend forward to give your muscles a rest.
The correct execution technique, and not the duration and number of approaches, will help you achieve excellent results here.
Do this exercise 3-4 times a week, as shown in the photo, and then your posture will improve, your muscles will tighten, and your gait will become more beautiful.
You can also perform a simplified version, which is also called a “table”. To do this, bend your knees and repeat the same steps as described for the classic reverse plank.
"Bridge" on fitball
Do not perform this exercise if you have lower back or balance problems.
- We sit on the fitball: the back is straight, the feet are firmly on the floor, the hands are located on the knees or on the hips.
- We stretch our arms forward, smoothly move the body forward, leaning on the fitball.
- We move our hands back behind our heads and move our legs forward. We roll over the ball with our backs.
- Slowly lean back and place your arms slightly bent at the elbows on the floor. Let's stay in this position for 5 seconds, tensing the muscles and exhaling.
- To return to the starting position, bend your knees, forming a right angle between your hips and the floor. Raise your head and return to a sitting position.
Don't let your feet leave the floor or let the ball roll to the side.
Technique for performing the classic “bridge”
A long way has been passed, the “finish line” lies ahead. But first, make sure that your muscles are sufficiently strengthened and elastic.
- We lie down on our backs.
- We place our feet parallel to each other close to the buttocks.
- We bend our arms, place our palms close to our shoulders, and point our elbows up.
- As you exhale, we go out into the “bridge”, straightening our legs and arms, arching our back in the thoracic region and lower back.
- Stay in a comfortable position for a few seconds.
- Inhale and release slowly. Don't rest your head on the floor!
Once you have mastered this exercise, you can make it more difficult by moving your arms as close to your legs as possible and then rocking back and forth. Avoid pain.
- If you have not played sports or done any exercises before, you should not start your sports life with a “bridge”. The exercise requires strong arms and legs, without which it is very easy to get injured.
- Perform all movements smoothly and slowly.
- Don't overwork and don't rush: gradualness and correct technique are the key to safety and success.
- When performing the exercise, make sure that the curve of the spine is uniform and the lower back should not be “broken.”
- With each exhalation, try to bend a little more, if your flexibility and degree of comfort still allows.
- Do not turn your head during the exercise to avoid injury to the cervical vertebrae.
- The pelvis should be higher than the head and shoulders.
- When performing the exercise, try to breathe a little deeper and slower than usual.
Video: How to properly stand on the “bridge”. The most common mistakes
Despite the complexity, learning how to make a “bridge” is possible and even necessary. Having mastered this exercise, you will improve the general condition of the body. The main thing is to remember to stick to the rules and not give up halfway, then the result will not be long in coming.
The question of how to stand on a bridge from a standing position interests many, because not every person can perform this exercise. At first glance, it seems elementary, but if you try to do it yourself, problems arise. Before doing a bridge, you need to pay attention to your own physical fitness. In order to stand up and not become the owner of unnecessary problems, you should develop flexibility and increase your tone.
Why does the spine lose flexibility?
How to stand on a bridge from a standing position will be discussed below, but first you need to understand why many people lose flexibility. Modern city dwellers do not put much strain on their spine, since it only performs a supporting function. Because of this, the cartilage of the discs quickly becomes coarser, the ligaments grow, and then the mobility of the vertebrae decreases.
Even in the absence of sharp and stabbing pains, bending forward or backward can be very difficult. If you have even the slightest problem when bending forward and cannot reach the floor with your hands due to pain in the lower back or spine, then it’s time to start exercises that help restore flexibility.
Flexibility Test
If the above symptoms are present, it is better not to even think about how to make a bridge, because first you need to deal with the main problem. There are a couple of good ways to test the flexibility of the spine:
- A mark is made on the wall located at shoulder level. A person should stand one step away from the wall and, bending back, try to clearly see the mark.
- Another mark is placed on the same wall, but a couple of centimeters higher than the previous one. While still at the same distance from the wall, you need to turn your right side towards it and reach the mark with your outstretched left hand.
If these movements did not cause any difficulties, then everything is in order with flexibility. If you had to put in a little effort, it is recommended to perform simple exercises to improve flexibility. And if you can’t pass these tests at all, then your spine urgently needs help.
Exercises
Fortunately, there are never any problems with how to stand on a bridge at home. This does not require additional equipment or any special skills; you should devote only 10 minutes a day to improve your own health. A simple set of exercises will help develop flexibility:
- and stretching out on the floor, you need to take a deep breath and exhale, and then raise all limbs up as much as possible. To do this, you will need to bend over as much as possible and try to lift your hips off the surface at least for a while. It is recommended to hold in this position for a minute, while breathing should not be jerky.
- Turning over onto your back, you need to rest your feet on the floor and stretch your arms along your body. From this position, you need to raise your hips as high as possible and fixate for literally 5 seconds, and then slowly return to the starting position. The number of repetitions ranges from 10 to 20.
- With your knees shoulder-width apart and your hands on your hips, you need to stretch your entire torso up, then lean back and grab your heels with your hands. As you exhale slowly, you should bend your lower back, as well as your thoracic spine, and lift your head. You need to remain in this position for about 30 seconds, but the emphasis should not be on the heels, but on the legs as a whole.
First steps towards the goal
Before getting on the bridge from a standing position, you should try to move into this stance using simpler methods. First you need to get up from a lying position. This is the simplest option, since it is completed in just 2 elementary steps:
- Lie on your back, pull your heels towards your buttocks, and place your palms above your shoulders and rest them on the floor (fingers should be turned towards your body).
- Leaning on your feet and palms, raise your pelvis and bend your back, straightening your legs as much as possible.
The next step is a bridge from a sitting position. It is done as follows:
- The legs are bent at the knees, while the feet are clearly fixed on the surface and the back is straight.
- The palm of one hand is placed back and turned slightly towards the body.
- The emphasis is on the arm and feet, the buttocks are lifted off the surface, after which the second arm describes an arc and falls to the floor.