Exercises to get on the bridge. Anyone can do a bridge after these exercises. Lifting from the bridge to a vertical position

Before standing on the bridge, you need to stretch the muscles of your shoulders and back. Later, you will be able to quickly perform the exercise without much warm-up, but for this it should become simple and familiar to you. Beginners in gymnastic exercises must warm up.

To successfully perform a “bridge,” you need to master exercises that develop back flexibility.
Exercises for spine flexibility

Exercise No. 1. Lie on your stomach and stretch your arms up. Raise your arms and legs above the floor at the same time, bending as much as possible. Keep your knees straight. Stay in this position for 30-60 seconds, lower yourself, relax your body. Repeat several times.

Exercise No. 2. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your arms straight along your torso. Raise your pelvis as high as possible, and after 5 seconds smoothly lower yourself onto your back.

Exercise No. 3. Get on your knees, place your feet hip-width apart at right angles to the floor. Slowly arching your back and arching your head back, reach your heels with your hands.

Exercise No. 4. Lie on your stomach and, raising yourself and bending over, grab your ankles with your hands. Raising your head, chest and legs, bend further. Stay in this position for a few seconds.

Exercise No. 5. Try making a “bridge” on a fitball. Lie with your back on a gymnastic ball, place your feet shoulder-width apart and try to reach the floor with your hands.

Exercise No. 6. Lie on your stomach, with your straight arms resting on the floor at hip level. Now, bending your knees, arch your back, trying to press your head toward your heels. Hold the position for 30 seconds.

How to do a “bridge” from a lying position

Lie on your back. Next, bend your legs and arms, placing your hands close to your shoulders and pointing your elbows up. Straightening your arms and legs and bending at the lower back, try to stand on the “bridge” from this pose. At the moment when you feel that you cannot bend further, stay in this “ultimate” pose for you for a couple of seconds.
Once you get good at the exercise, you can make it more difficult by moving your hands as close to your legs as possible. You can also rock back and forth in the “bridge” position.
How to stand on the “bridge” from a standing position

Try to do flexibility exercises daily. When you have learned how to stand on a gymnastic “bridge” from a lying position and stay in this position, try to stand on a “bridge” from a standing position. Use a wall bars or free space near the wall for this.

Stand with your back to the wall at a distance of about one step, place your feet shoulder-width apart, raise your arms up. Lean back from this position until your hands touch the wall. Bend further, moving your fingers along the wall or steps of the wall bars until you lower yourself into a “bridge” position. Stay in this position for a while, then return to the starting position, moving your hands along the wall in the same way. Practice doing this exercise until you get good at it.

It is most correct to stand on the “bridge” from a standing position without the help of a wall on a gymnastics mat. At first, it is advisable to use the help of someone who will back you up. Stand facing the person with your feet shoulder-width apart, raise your arms up and lean back. Your assistant can back you up by supporting your back. Stay in the “bridge” position and, pushing off with your hands, return to the starting position.

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:

We usually learn how to do a gymnastic bridge at school. Well, how, we learn - some quickly and easily get into it, either from a lying position, or from a straight stance without any walls, others try to push an unyielding body into the desired position, and still others, the most unlucky and stubborn ones, also get injured in the process.

Just four years ago, gymnastic bridges as a lifting exercise were of interest only to dancers, and even to a narrow group of the population who wanted to bench press more than their own weight. Today, the bridge is promoted by almost every sports publication. Yes, the ability to perform it is an indicator of the flexibility of the spine, shoulder and hip joints, and an indirect indicator of the youth of our body. And if you are afraid, you should still do the bridge, but... This is one of the most traumatic exercises for an amateur, and you should not “push” your own body into the bridge at any cost.

Why is it not given to everyone

The most important thing to understand before doing all the popular exercises is that not everyone can do it. Some people can’t bench press more than 40 kg for years, some can’t do pull-ups, and some can’t stand on the notorious bridge. Which is totally fine unless that someone makes a living teaching yoga and pole dancing. In general, a full gymnastic bridge performed independently is contraindicated until:

you cannot, in a straight stance, with a straight back and a non-bent thoracic spine, raise your straight arms up and move them back so that the line connecting the palms passes at least 2-3 cm beyond the top of the head;
you are not able to lift a light stick with a grip slightly wider than your shoulders and move it behind your head;
you cannot bend your lower back in the opposite direction and pull your pelvis towards your shoulder blades just by lying on your back.

These are mobility restrictions; they are the same for children and adults. Those who want to know how to teach a child to make a bridge should take this into account. If this is the case, you need to do building exercises and return to the bridge only when the restrictions cease to be so. If the matter is complicated by the presence of hernias in the spinal column, as well as arthrosis of the main working joints, it is worth consulting with a doctor about the possibility of bridge training. The same applies to injuries of various origins.

Warm-up and warm-up

In the process of performing a bridge, not only increased joint mobility is required, but also the preparation of muscle tissue and fascia. If you do strength training in your free time from bridges, and/or do serious amounts of cardio, you should start not with stretching in the spirit of school physical education, but with joint warm-up and myofascial release.

The complex could be like this:

8 rotations clockwise and counterclockwise with the wrists, then a figure of eight with the hands gathered in a finger lock, then rotation with the elbows clockwise and counterclockwise, arms to the sides, circles with the shoulders back and forth, lifting and lowering the thoracic spine, circles with the pelvis, deep squats without weight to the full amplitude, bending forward with a straight back and maximum flexion at the hip joint, foot circles with a weightless leg;
Separately, you should perform a set of head rotations and lowering the chin onto the chest;
Next, you need to take a foam roller or a hard ball and “roll” the calf muscles, the back of the thigh, the back from the sacral to the cervical, the front surface of the body, and separately the triceps, quadriceps, hips and shoulders;
after this, you can perform about 10-12 minutes of light cardio exercise of any available format to improve blood circulation and increase body temperature.

half-bridges - that is, the separation of the spine and pelvis in a supine position, the heels are brought to the buttocks, the support is on the shoulder blades, then the exit is on the shoulders, the head lies on the floor, and the heels rest against the floor;
deflections in the thoracic region - from a lying position, you need to collect your shoulder blades and, as it were, lower them into the back pockets of your trousers (push them towards the lower back), while the pelvis remains on the ground, and the lumbar and thoracic regions are lifted off the ground;
squats with a light stick behind the head - perform a regular weightlifting jerk (dynamic lifting of a light stick behind the head and a deep squat, literally “buttocks to the floor”) and, stretching the pectoral muscles and lowering the shoulder blades to the pelvis, try to bring the stick behind the head.

All exercises are static, the fixation should be held for 40 to 120 seconds, and 3-4 sets of each should be performed.

So-called exercises for developing spinal flexibility

Strictly speaking, the spine cannot be inflexible. If you have pain in certain areas and are unable to bend yourself into a bridge, the reasons can be very different:

hernias and protrusions that you don’t know about. Yes, this happens to most adults, some blame it on incorrect posture and weak muscles, some blame it on deadlifts performed off the platform, in general, neither athletes nor those who play sports are immune from this. despises. If there is a stabbing or aching sensation around one or two vertebrae, arms and legs go numb, and there is discomfort when running and walking, you should consult a doctor and not do bridges at home;
low mobility in the shoulder joints. If your hands do not move behind your back with a straight back, you should develop mobility in the shoulder joints, and not “spine flexibility”; any training should begin with joint warm-up and mobilization of the shoulders;
weak back extensor muscle. It’s like this for everyone who doesn’t deadlift and doesn’t bend over with a barbell;
atrophied latissimus and rhomboid muscles and a “round” habitual back posture, that is, “office posture”;
curvature of the spinal column - the reason here is not the “inflexibility of the structure”, but the uneven development of the muscles of the back and legs, which can significantly affect the biomechanics of movement and complicates the bridge with a raised leg;
arthritic changes in the joints (unfortunately, there’s nothing much you can do about it, if you stubbornly want to exercise, do more warm-up, and if you follow the classic recommendations, sign up for swimming and massage);
the banal fear of “breaking your back”;
changes in the thoracolumbar fascia, they are called “tension nodules” in sports medicine, they appear due to too active strength training. You can knead the nodules with a self-massage roller, or periodically go to a massage therapist.

Complex for shoulder joints

Rotations

Stand up straight and rotate the heads of your shoulders back towards your shoulder blades, making a very slow movement, literally for 12-15 straight counts. Repeat 9-15 times, then work back. The pace should be such that one set of rotations takes at least one minute.

Rotations with straight arms

Remember the exercise with a light dough stick? You do the same thing, only without the stick. The goal is to minimally raise the shoulders towards the ears. We begin the rotation with straight arms lowered along the body, bringing them out in front of the body, and bringing them behind the head, and then lowering them along the same trajectory in front of the body.

Rotations with rope

The same option, but we take a rope or jump rope in our hands with a wide grip, the grip is 20-30 cm wider than the shoulders, the amplitude is comfortable, but the goal is again not to bring the shoulders to the ears.

Rods of rubber shock absorbers in front of you

We attach the shock absorber to a hook at chest level and pull it towards the face, with the elbows placed behind the back as much as possible. It is enough to do this exercise in 3 sets of 15-20 times at an average pace.

Exercises to correct weak back muscles

If the reason for the lack of a bridge is weakness of the latissimus and rhomboid muscles, it is necessary to master (these muscles work as stabilizers), pull-ups on the horizontal bar and rows of barbells or dumbbells in an inclined position towards the waist. Exercises should be done in strength mode for 5-6 repetitions, followed by hypertrophy, that is, 8-12 repetitions.

Techniques for making various bridges

From a sitting position

You need to sit on the floor on your buttocks, feet near the pelvis, start by bending in the lumbar region and placing your hands behind your head, support yourself with your hands and lift your pelvis off the floor. Despite certain aesthetic advantages (can be used in some types of dance, for example), this is biomechanically the most incorrect and dangerous type of bridge. It creates greater compression in the lumbar region, and is safer the faster you can lift your pelvis off the floor. In general, this option is not recommended for beginners.

A variation of this bridge is the bridge while sitting on a gymnastic bench. In this case, you should sit as vertically as possible, straight, so that the pelvic bones are in a plane perpendicular to the floor. After this, the abdominal muscles are relaxed and there is a strong bend in the lower back. Then we lower our shoulders onto the bench, and arch our back upward, supporting ourselves with our shoulders. If this bridge is done for the needs of the bridge, you should actively “bring” the pelvis with your feet to the shoulder blades, after the position of the bridge has been accepted. There is no need to make sudden movements, this is not useful.

Important: do not do bridges on narrow and slippery gymnastics benches. Cover standard gym equipment with a terry towel to ensure stability of the body position and make sure that the shoulder blades do not slip.

From a lying position

The starting position is the same as for a straight twist, you need to lie on your back and place your feet at a distance of 2 feet from the buttocks. We place our palms behind our heads, support ourselves with our hands and lift our pelvis up, arching our back.

You need to get up from the bridge smoothly, carefully performing the sequence of movements in reverse order. You should not accelerate, much less fall on your back.

Learning to do a handstand from a bridge is even more difficult. To do this, you must, in principle, already be able to stand on your hands. Beginners are advised to stand with their head to the wall in the bridge, and throw one leg at a time onto the wall, while using the help of a belayer.

From a standing position

Another option, not intended for a beginner in principle. Stand up straight, push your pelvis forward, put your hands behind your head and, pushing your pelvis forward, lower them to the floor. The deflection should be deep, and the position of the palms and feet should be such that it is stable.

Important: you should not train the bridge more than 2 times a week. If you do strength training, it is logical to do it at the end of a bench press workout, since after deadlifts or back exercises, you are unlikely to be able to properly assemble your shoulder blades and make a good arch of the spine.

In yoga, a bridge on the elbows is practiced, this is when the deflection in the thoracic and lumbar region allows you to bend so as to place your forearms, and not your palms, on the floor in the bridge. It is correct to master this bridge after sufficient mobility has been achieved in the so-called fish pose, a backbend in the thoracic region while lying on the back.

Typical beginner mistakes

Beginners usually perform bridges without warming up, trying to learn quickly, and, moreover, without increasing the amplitude in the joints. Stretching is not a light exercise; you need to warm up before it, otherwise the benefits are lost. This is the most important mistake.

In addition, you should not make “springs” throughout the entire range of motion, especially when performing a bridge from a standing position. Ballistic stretching is harmful to joints in principle, and when performed this way it can lead to serious injury. Lead-up exercises should not be neglected. But if the mobility of the joints is normal, but the bridge still doesn’t work, the problem is not with you or the bridge, but with the fact that your feet or palms are positioned incorrectly. Try a wider or narrower stance to increase core stability in the exercise.

And the most important mistake is haste, trying to “do the splits in a month, stand on a bridge in a week,” and in general almost complete the CMS in gymnastics in 2 days. All these girls from the beautiful pictures walked to the bridges with a relaxed expression on their faces for more than one month. Be patient and develop your body holistically and you will definitely achieve your goal.

The article was prepared by Anna Tarskaya (trainer, nutritionist)

The bridge is an exercise familiar to many from school: we all once did it in physical education lessons.

Of course, at 10-12 years old it was easier for us to stand on the bridge than now, when we grew up: it’s no secret that children are much more flexible than adults. It’s not without reason that good stretching and flexibility are associated with youth and good health.

That's why it's especially impressive when a woman over 30 can easily, without any effort, do a handstand and stand on a bridge.

But the problem is that only a well-trained person can perform it correctly without causing harm to the back.

How to make a bridge in 3 steps

If you have never been involved in fitness or have done it without paying attention to exercises for your back and stabilizer muscles, you can perform a bridge only after at least three weeks of special training.

At the same time, you must be healthy - our intensive complex will not be suitable for a person with a problematic back or after an injury.

For simplicity, we will refer to a week as a “step”.

Expert commentary

Viktor Sychev, director of the “Group programs” direction of the network of fitness clubs “Territory of Fitness”, master of sports in artistic gymnastics, master of sports of the International class in sports aerobics

“To perform a bridge, it is very important to have good stretching, strong muscles in the arms, back and abs. To strengthen your back, I recommend going to the pool.

If there is no pool, special back exercises will help you strengthen your back. You can work the stabilizer muscles - those responsible for correct posture, a toned stomach and improve balance - using a classic plank. It will also help strengthen your hands.

Basic strength exercises such as crunches and push-ups will also be very useful. Well, moderate-intensity cardio training will help you get rid of excess weight and thereby make it easier to do the bridge: running, brisk walking.”

Step 1

Start preparing to perform a bridge with regular 20-minute gymnastics in the mornings or evenings, after work: with its help you will make your body more flexible.

First, warm up by running in place for 5-10 minutes. Next, perform the following complex: rotation with your arms, then with your hips. Bend forward, then back. Bend your back as much as possible, but be careful if you have problems with blood pressure: do this exercise without unnecessary zeal.

Shoulder bridge. Lie on your back, stretch your arms along your body, bend your knees. Raise your hips off the floor so that your thighs, stomach and chest are in the same plane (see photo). Lower your hips to the floor. Repeat the exercise 15-20 times.
"Swimming" on your stomach. Lie on the floor on your stomach. Take light dumbbells (500 g each) in your hands and stretch them forward. Now raise your arms slightly above the floor and move them back as if you were swimming. Your legs can be slightly lifted off the floor. Try to work your back muscles by bending backwards. Return your arms to the starting position forward. Repeat the exercise 10-15 times.

At the end of your workout, sit on the floor and stretch your feet, then do a couple of stretches.

Step 2

In the second week, do all the exercises listed above, adding to them the classic plank to work the stabilizer muscles.

Photo: shutterstock.com

Plank. Take a push-up position with your hands shoulder-width apart, feet together, heels off the floor. Make sure that your hands form a right angle with your wrists. As you exhale, tighten your abs and straighten your body along the floor line (to do this, mentally imagine that a straight steel string is stretching through the top of your head). Relax your shoulders, face looking at the floor. Hold this pose for 60 seconds (or as long as you can). Take a break and repeat the exercise 2-3 times.

Trainer's tip: if you are well prepared, hold the plank for 2 minutes or 3 sets of one minute, if you hold more, you can increase the time.

Step 3

In the third week, perform exercises to strengthen your arms - push-ups.

Photo: shutterstock.com

Push ups. Place your palms on the floor, hands directly under your shoulders. Bend your elbows and lower your body as close to the floor as possible, then straighten your arms again. Repeat the exercise 10-15 times. If you find it difficult, do the exercise with your knees on the floor.

Finale: making a bridge

After three weeks of preparation, you can try to make a bridge. The easiest way to do this is from a supine position. So.

Lie on your back. Bend your knees and place your feet approximately 20 cm from your hips. Feet - shoulder width apart. Bend your elbows, lift your elbows up, and place your palms on the floor.
Push up with your arms and legs, tighten your abs and lift your hips up. The back is arched. Ideally, your arms and legs should be as straight as possible. This is the classic bridge.
Lower yourself to the floor with your elbows bent and your knees bent.

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.