Bodyweight Bridge Spine Extension

[WhatWouldHulkDo]

I'm a fan of bridging, but I'm awful at it. Looking at guys like Kavadlo, they get a pretty serious curve in their spine when they get up. My spine stays pretty straight, so my shoulders are forced to do all the work of getting off the ground.

Any favorite drills for improving spine extension? All I can come up with is cobra pose.

 

[JeffC]

Bridge standing against the wall. Work your way closer to, and further down the wall. It a very good drill for Bench arch.

 

[Glen]

Up dog down dog - shoulder mobility and spinal extension work.

Noticed the inclusion of this has improved my bridge immensely

 

[Shahaf Levin]

OS head nods and rolls, shoulder bridge (+rolls) , wrestlers' bridge. The other stuff mentioned before onothe thread. And maybe check what Kavaldo writes about bridging....

And drive with your feet glutes and abs

 

[Neuro-Bob]

Additionally, child’s pose but with you hand on a coffee table or some sort of bench/couch.

 

[User 7569]

wall walking is a great drill if you are able to do it.

 

[Steve Freides]

I'm a fan of bridging, but I'm awful at it. Looking at guys like Kavadlo, they get a pretty serious curve in their spine when they get up. My spine stays pretty straight, so my shoulders are forced to do all the work of getting off the ground.

Any favorite drills for improving spine extension? All I can come up with is cobra pose.

Bench Press, IPF-legal with your butt on the bench. When you learn how to set up for this, you'll be practicing your bridge before the start of every set.

Remember the idea of "spread the load". This is one of the "three s's" we teach at Flexible Steel. Try to get a little bend out of every vertebral joint. I like to start at my head and make a little "wave", going down my spine and trying to bend everything a little.

-S-

 

[WhatWouldHulkDo]

Follow up: I got some good advice on this thread, more than I could actually follow, of course. In addition to hitting the cobra pose in my hindu pushups harder over the last two months, I put wall bridges in my static stretching sequence that I've been doing near daily for 2 months. And, wouldn't you know it, it seems to be working; my bridge looks more like a bridge than some kind of upside-down plank now.

Not to the point of being able to walk down the wall yet, but maybe someday.

Now gotta do something about that lousy overhead shoulder mobility...

 

[Pavel Macek]

I'm a fan of bridging, but I'm awful at it. Looking at guys like Kavadlo, they get a pretty serious curve in their spine when they get up. My spine stays pretty straight, so my shoulders are forced to do all the work of getting off the ground.

Any favorite drills for improving spine extension? All I can come up with is cobra pose.

Lots of drills - and you have to try them to find out which will unlock what is needed. Here is what I will teach at the StrongFirst Resilient in the Back Bridge block of the workshop:

• The Spine Decompression Hang
• SFG Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch
• Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch with a Kettlebell Overhead
• Hip Flexor/Quad Stretch
• Rib Pull, Brettzel, Armbar, Bent Armbar
• SFL T-Spine Extension Drill
• Cobra & Cat Stretch
• Elevated Catch Stretch
• Loaded Lat Stretch and T-Spine Mobility Drill
• Kneeling Wrist Stretches
• Elevated Bridge
• Full Bridge
• Wall Walk Bridge
• Wall Rotation Bridge