Elevated bridge form check

Posting a pic for the first time. Go easy on me lol. Light Pain in my wrists is tolerable. Can only hold for 30sec max. Unable to do bridge pushups. Working at it but this is difficult. How's my form? Wish I had stall bars but table is best I can do for now.

Hey Jeffrey, you have a lot but really a lot of limitation. At this stage, you should NOT practice the elevated bridge and Highly recommend you to use the GB thoracic spine stretch course.

I should have mentioned that I am doing F1, H1, and Stretch series. This was part of my Thoracic Bridge workout from this morning. Been in the Stretch series for 5 weeks.

Hey Jeffrey,

I have moved this thread to the TB Stretch Forum. We prefer to keep all course material in their corresponding private sections.

As Alex said, for now, you should stop the series before the specific bridge work begins. In addition, working on the elevated cat stretch from the series daily will greatly help your mobility in this area. I suggest 3-5 sets of the stretch spread throughout the day. Perform each for 45-60s.

My bad. The forum said "Digital Coaching" so that's why I posted it there. Why stop the series before the bridge work? I thought the point was to try and go through the whole video the best I can, hopefully making improvements each week? In the first week I maybe had 5sec of the elevated bridge. At present I have increased to 30sec, albeit with limited mobility as you see here.

No worries, Jeffrey!

The reason why we recommend you to stop before the bridge work for now is because at the moment your current level of mobility do not allow you to get in to the right position. Also, you should not experience any pain in your wrists. Keep doing the wrist series from the H1 course  

Working daily on the elevated cat as Everett suggested will improve your shoulder flexion which is absolutely necessary in order to be able to perform a proper bridge. When doing bridge work you should feel the Stretch in your shoulders and upper back when done correctly. 

This is a good start, Jeffrey. I am looking forward to follow your progress! Please let us know if you have any other questions  

Now that I know your situation about your courses, well I suggest you do add a daily stretch of the cat position, especially one arm at a time for 4-5 sets and then 2 arms for 1 set. then the reverse cat position.

Actually, your restriction does not allow you to pushup because the tension generated by pec, lats and generally internal rotator it is too high and probably you have developed capsule restriction. follow my suggestion above, do not force the stretches and be patience.

Thanks everyone. I will take your advice and implement in my training now. Will work on cat stretch and post progress when I see some. You guys are the best. Thank you Forum Coaches!!!

I had some time to think this more and would like your advice. I went through and reviewed all of the Stretch exercises in the course library. I tried to make an honest assessment of where I'm at and here is what I am considering.

1.) You suggested that I stop thoracic bridge before I get to bridge work because of mobility. Recommended cat stretch and some others. I will work on this for a few weeks and report progress. TBSSE16 - TBSSE23

2.) I cannot get into position for standing single pike in the front split series. I'm considering stopping the video there so I can work the beginning stretches in the video. Basically not attempting those moves until I am more mobile. FSSSE18 - FSSSE23

3.) The last movement of the middle split series, pancake roll-through, is impossible for me. I'm considering abandoning that as well until my mobility is better in the other stretches. MSSSE26

Hi @Jeffrey Mailly

For 2.) and 3.), Have you watched the scaling tip videos? I would not skip the FSSSE18-23 and MSSSE26. 

For FSSSE18/19 try putting your hands on a elevated surface for example a chair.

For FSSSE20-23 do the same thing and put your hands on an elevated surface, I had to use 2 large chairs in the start and I had to really limit my ROM in beginning and then it would slowly increase over the course of several months.

Same thing on MSSSE26, do like in the technique tip video and roll through up on an elevated surface. I was so tight in the start that I had to use an office chair.

If you are the slightest bit unsure if you are doing it right just make a form check on the forum.

Good luck! 

Johan is spot on, Jeffrey!

We are always here to support you in the forum  

On 14/07/2017 at 2:07 PM, Pauline Taube said:

 Also, you should not experience any pain in your wrists. Keep doing the wrist series from the H1 course  

Hi Pauline,

That's one thing that still bothering me during a bridge exercise. My wrists and even sometimes my shoulders hurt a bit.  I can't do them properly because of that.  I do H1 regularly, but can I do something else during TB to avoid the pain?

Thanks a lot!

Hey Etienne,

I suggest holding off on performing any of the movements from this series that are causing pain. The pain is a sign that your wrists are not yet prepared for the movement. Do you experience the pain primarily during the elevated bridge work?

18 minutes ago, Everett Carroll said:

Hey Etienne,

I suggest holding off on performing any of the movements from this series that are causing pain. The pain is a sign that your wrists are not yet prepared for the movement. Do you experience the pain primarily during the elevated bridge work?

Hi Everett,

Yes, I feel the pain during the elevated bridges and also during the handstand shoulder flexion.  You recommend to stop it until I get stronger?

Hi Étienne,

As Everett suggested I also recommend holding of any exercises that are causing pain. I would also recommend to have a medical professional look at your wrists and shoulders. 

@Pauline Taube @Everett Carroll @Alessandro Mainente I did the TB video up until the bridge work like you suggested. I followed that up with 5 sets of Cat Stretch and 3 sets of the shoulder capsule stretch to supplement. I've been trying to do these stretches as much as possible the past week without overdoing it as Everett suggested. I just tried one elevated bridge to see if there was an improvement at all from last week so I'd have something to report - good or bad. Here's what I noticed. I was able to get into the elevated bridge as before and the form was better, but I could not hold it for more than 5sec. I tried again one more time immediately after and could not get up off the ground. I've analyzed the movement as much as possible so I believe my starting position is much better than before, which is probably why I can't get off the ground as compared to before in the bad form. Is it mostly just mobility? It feels like so much effort to get off the ground like I might need to build up strength somehow. Perhaps the increased resistance is me working against a mobility deficit in the correct position?

One a better note - I made serious strides in the HS Shoulder Flexion Press. I slowed down and tried to do it properly. It's certainly not easy but I can maintain good form through 10 reps.

Thanks for the update, Jeffrey! Congrats with your HS shoulder flexion press

When gaining new ROM, it's completely normal to feel 'weaker'. This is because you have never worked this range before. That is why mobility is so important, first build ROM then strength, this way you will always get the most bang for your bucks when training. Keep up with your stretching and once you're ready to do the bridge work your strength will gradually increase.

Feel free to keep us posted with photos/videos. We'd love to follow your progress  

27 minutes ago, Jeffrey Mailly said:

@Pauline Taube @Everett Carroll @Alessandro Mainente I did the TB video up until the bridge work like you suggested. I followed that up with 5 sets of Cat Stretch and 3 sets of the shoulder capsule stretch to supplement. I've been trying to do these stretches as much as possible the past week without overdoing it as Everett suggested. I just tried one elevated bridge to see if there was an improvement at all from last week so I'd have something to report - good or bad. Here's what I noticed. I was able to get into the elevated bridge as before and the form was better, but I could not hold it for more than 5sec. I tried again one more time immediately after and could not get up off the ground. I've analyzed the movement as much as possible so I believe my starting position is much better than before, which is probably why I can't get off the ground as compared to before in the bad form. Is it mostly just mobility? It feels like so much effort to get off the ground like I might need to build up strength somehow. Perhaps the increased resistance is me working against a mobility deficit in the correct position?

One a better note - I made serious strides in the HS Shoulder Flexion Press. I slowed down and tried to do it properly. It's certainly not easy but I can maintain good form through 10 reps.

Absolutely it is a combination of tight tissue and weak muscles which are unable to overcome the passive tension of the tight tissue.

4 minutes ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

Absolutely it is a combination of tight tissue and weak muscles which are unable to overcome the passive tension of the tight tissue.

In most cases, if we have hard time to improve flexibility, is it due to a lack of strength in the target area?

As stated it is a combination of weak muscles and super tight fascia, joint capsule and some time structure with fibers-carthilage.

Thanks guys! I'll keep at it for a few more weeks and see what comes from it. I'll post a progress photo/video in a few weeks.

Update on progress. I've been working hard for this small gain. 

Keep at it, Jeffrey! It is coming along. 

Thanks for the response Everett. Might be time to get some stall bars if I am able. The table I'm using isn't helping this process at all. Any other recommendations to further open the shoulders, or just more time and consistency?

Hi Jeffrey,

Very nice progress!

Stall bars are great. But atm you'll have to work with what you've got. I would recommend to elevate your feet more, this will make it easier to lean more into the Stretch and get your shoulders over your wrists. Please let us know how it goes and if you feel a greater stretch in your shoulders and upper back