Logan, how do I get my upper back to bend when pushing up into the bridge? I can push up off the floor so my head fully clears the floor but I cant get my arms close to being straight locked-out not even close. My arms stay bent real bad. Im guessing its because its my upper back is not bending?……….I push-up as high as I can & I try to hold it for 10 sec but then I have to lower back down, its hard trying to hold up for a length of time gads! Am I working this the right way to eventually get my arms locked-out straight & shoulders closer to over my hands? I do 3 sets of this. Will this be an effective method? Just keep trying to push-up into it & I will get higher or is there anything else I could be doing to help my bridge get good? My bridge is ugly right now
Randy
I couldn’t bridge fully when I started, so just keep at it.
It is likely that some parts of the spine bend more than others. The answer is to keep working on it, and there are some specific drills that may help more than others.
- Use a swiss ball to bridge over. This can help to get a more uniform curve, in fact bending backwards over the ball without even using the arms to press up can be useful.
- Do mobility work, such as thoracic circles, to get that area more mobile. Here’s a video on the subject.
- The wrestler’s bridge may be helpful to get into that area of the spine as well.
- When you’ve pushed up into the top position, even if your arms aren’t locked out, rock back and forth. This can help to open up things some more.
In general, three sets of bridging should be sufficient to see decent progress over time.
Along with that, a mix and match of these different methods can very likely help.
For more, see the Advanced Bridging Course.