Old Forum "...ask what the hip bridge can do for me"

[tbone42486]

So, as the title implies, whats it good for?

I broke the rules today.  I've been on S&S since it debuted, and I'm aggressively attacking the 32.

The problem I have is the hip bridge, I yawn while doing it.   sandwiched between the excellent goblet squat and halo. it just doesn't do anything for me.  In all seriousness though  I'm not  attacking the movement, just the concept of me using it.   So as I said I broke the rules and changed the program.  I did the pump instead...aaaand...my swings felt awesome, my hips feel loose and my getups were tall and proud.  Ok, maybe it wasn't that spectacular but i did notice a major difference.

So any opinions?   does anyone feel a necessity for the HB, or is the warmup, unlike the main event in S&S, more of a personal preference thing.   I personally didn't care much for the wall squats in the last PM warmup, once I was able to do them easily I moved on to goblet squats.  Basically just looking for pros and cons of the two movements.

 

[Pnigro]

"The problem I have is the hip bridge, I yawn while doing it.   sandwiched between the excellent goblet squat and halo. it just doesn’t do anything for me."

I feel EXACTLY like that.

Glad I'm not the only one.

It's a good exercise, but I only feel a noticeable difference if I hold it and try to lift my pelvis as high as I can for at least 10-15 seconds.

I'd rather do them at the end of the workout along with some kneeling hip flexor stretches.

It is the ONLY thing I don't like about S&S. 

 

[Steve Freides]

The warmup drills are just that; they are not the program.  Do others if you feel they serve your purposes better.

-S-

 

[jgruginski]

The only thing I can add on the hip bridge is that it "reminds" the glutes to fire and wakes them up before you start swinging. The pump doesn't do that, but it does provide a bit of a hip flexor stretch which would help "release the brakes" on hip extension. For those of us prone to gluteal amnesia and having an adductor trying to take over hip extension, the bridge is a critical part of my prep. So while I agree with Steve that it isn't part of the program and can be substituted, I think it's something that's worth doing every once in a while to check-in with yourself and make sure the motion is being driven by the glutes and nothing else.

 

[Pavel]

Excellent comments, Steve and Joe!

Once you can consistently "pop" your glutes on every swing, you can stop bridging.  (But don't stop squatting.)