Comments on: Use the Back Bridge Exercise to Improve Posture and Reduce Back Pain?

By: G.P.

G.P. — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:42:36 +0000

I was doing back bridges when I was younger back in my elementary, middle school and high school days and let me tell ya, back bridges feel damn good! Everything gets a nice stretch! I'm starting to get back into bridges since I started working out again. I'm 30 now. I can't hold a bridge for too long yet since I haven't done it in years but from what I can do it feels pretty good especially for the lower back.

By: Janalyne

Janalyne — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 05:36:56 +0000

I absolutely love bridges…hip, back, and neck bridging has tremendous benefits in my own workouts and I've used it with clients as well for increasing strength and decreasing back pain. Many clients comment on noticing a change after just the first few workouts!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:02:24 +0000

I know this is an older post, but Rusty, if you're still reading comments here….

I know your personal experience is with lower back pain, but if you happen to find some, I'd love to get information on how to eliminate pain in the MID-back. It seems that quite a few people experience this but I don't have the slightest idea which muscles to strengthen (and what exercises will strengthen them), or what opposing/antagonist muscles might be yanking things out of place or adding stress.

By: J. Emory

J. Emory — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:36:16 +0000

Rusty,

Nice! Glad someone else has found this to be true. I learned about bridging from Matt Furey, and I have had no LOWER back pain for over 4 yrs. All I do is 3 reps/day holding for about 10-15 sec/rep, and wala!! BTW I play a lot of golf, so lower back pain has bothered me for the past 15 yrs.

By: Sasha

Sasha — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:59:55 +0000

I learnt to do the back bridge while taking ballet classes growing up. Although I stopped dancing a long time ago, I have always worked on my flexibility and I do the back bridge from standing upright during my cool down time at the end of my workout. I never knew how beneficial this exercise is until i read this article and now that I think of it, I have never had any back problems in my life (but I'm only 24 so i dont know if that counts.
But yes back bridges can hurt your back if done wrong. I would highly recommend trying them using a stability ball underneath for support first and over time work towards being able to do it without the ball.
Wonderful site btw:)

By: Kathy

Kathy — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 02:45:00 +0000

I love the hip bridge and use it any time I find my hip-flexors tightening up… like after sitting at a computer all day. need to figure out neck bridges, but the one or two times I have dabbled it led to a headache. frustrating.

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:08:57 +0000

I recently added bridges to my routine and it has made a huge difference in back/spine strength, hip flexibility and overall confidence. I used to have slight soreness in the lower back from being at the computer a lot but it's virtually gone.

I do the "tumbleweed" flow from this prasara yoga routine, using ploughs to compensate hip bridges; the transitions are simply gorgeous:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK6CGtViWg8

By: Larry

Larry — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 13:59:57 +0000

Kudos to these trainers!!! I had disc surgery 5 years ago; pain had limited me to half of what I did before, and made it hard to teach my martial arts class. I bought COMBAT CONDITIONING and started with the Hindu squats, followed with the Hindu pushups and then added the neck bridge. It was AMAZING the difference it made; I have less back pain and am able to grapple now with students half my age!! I thank God every day that I found out that body weight calisthenics are MUCH better than barbells.

I have added the lower back exercises like the Superman to my students' workout. If it helped me, it'll help them.

Larry Bostic
Senior Instructor, Academy of Martial Arts
Jacksboro, TN

By: Trent

Trent — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 07:00:23 +0000

Rusty – I love your site it has so much knowledge especially knowledge that makes sense. I always come to see what new tid bits I can learn. The only problem I have is when to utilize the knowledge I've acquired. For instance the hip bridge or other techniques that have to do with posture etc where do they fit in with a regular workout routine and how long should you use them?

By: Doc Adam

Doc Adam — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:07:21 +0000

Great suggestion, the more functional movement a person does the better they will improve their strengthen and range of motion. May i suggest that you should stretch out your hip flexors first to improve upon the results- this will help stimulate the proper back and glute muscles building a stronger core.

By: Matthew Gagliano

Matthew Gagliano — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:18:44 +0000

I couldn't find anywhere in McGill's book about the hip bridge being bad. In fat, MikeBoyle who is also a fan of McGill is a big fan of the hip bridge. One major word of caution, make sure the client is fully contracting the glutes and not compensating by using the back and hyper extending the hipflexors. This can hurt the lower back by putting too many newtons of force on the lower lumbar. Keep up the posts, great blog!

By: jasonfranks

jasonfranks — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:26:53 +0000

@howar, do you wear the ninja socks that go with it with it?

if so, dont you need larger sized vibrams? its kind of tight if i have the socks.

By: Mickey

Mickey — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:50:43 +0000

MBT shoes can activate neglected muscles and improve posture, Circulation & Gait,i think it is your best choice of improving your posture. Hot sale mbt shoes

By: Studio Element Personal Training

Studio Element Personal Training — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:25:22 +0000

Good post! Quite often an overlooked area, the low back needs equal attention to the ever so popular, abdominal area. We, at Studio Element, constantly stress this to our personal training clientele and incorporate muscular balance into our workouts.

By: Helder

Helder — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:56:27 +0000

Hawaiichica: Train your arms with low heavy reps, something like 3×3-5 that will bring definition and density to your arms, and obviously eat clean foods, and watch the calories

Gary: High reps don't bring definition, the muscles will get a pumped and bloated look.

By: gary

gary — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:20:14 +0000

hawaiichicado- do high reps on the bicep curl 15+

By: hawaiichica

hawaiichica — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:46:32 +0000

I need help Im a girl and I want cut arms with definition. my arms are my trouble spot does anyone have recomendations to getting nice looking arms? What do you all do?

By: Rafi Bar-Lev at Passionate Fitness

Rafi Bar-Lev at Passionate Fitness — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:33:54 +0000

Rez,

I meant exercises on the pull up bars like l-sits and hanging crunches for the lower abs and lower back (although they're mainly for the lower back).

-Rafi

By: jeff

jeff — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:51:52 +0000

Pull-ups probably do very little to directly strengthen the lower back; however, they are one of the best ab exercises and place the spine in a natural plane, which should improve posture and in theory relieve back pain. Of course I could be totally wrong…

By: Rounder

Rounder — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:43:57 +0000

Hey Rusty, great posts. I just have a quick question, When I flex my arms or calves I have pretty good definition, if I relax it just looks smooth. I want it to look ripped all the time, is that just fat in the way? I do still need to lose 30-40 lbs, I have dropped 70 just trying what your posts have said.

P.S..I live in Seattle too, dam cold huh?