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Full Thoracic Bridge


Simon

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There is benefit (increased shoulder flexion) but this needs to be weighed against risk, like all things. What are your goals? Shoulders above hands is a high degree of flexibility.

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Wow, it’s hard to see comprehend how my spine could ever articulate like that Simon !
 

I feel like I’ve accumulated many years of playing competitive basketball and Gaelic football as well as lots of heavy pushing exercises and probably lots of poor posture has left my spine glued together  am loving the challenge however, of ungluing it some bit at least.

 

really feel is an inhibiting factor in movements like a squat or even a vertical jump, it’s as though force cannot be transferred efficiently because of the inability of the different parts of the spine to move enough.

 

this pic is the bench exercise I do

i also do a version upside down kind of like a Mexican handstand where I try to lower my feet down the wall

 

 

2D08C20F-A811-44E8-9AC4-DBF7530500DC.jpeg

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@andyfitz I used to do more backbending before I got old, though most of it was in the lumbar area rather than the thoracic. However my experience would be that in BB's like in the photo of 16 May, there is such a strong force along the length of the spine (from your body weight) that it is difficult to encourage much bending. As well as BBs, some of my experience comes from forearm balances in a backbend (scorpion?) where I found that because the back was supporting the body weight, I couldn't much enhance the bend at the thoracic level. In contrast, I found exercises such as you posted most recently excellent for opening up the upper back - though it is also limited by tightness in the arm muscles. I have a small tight-bend baby whale, that I used to lie back over, grab weights from the floor behind me, and then try to bring my hips to the ground on the other side of the whale, often pressing the feet against a wall nearby to enhance the bend. This produced a very strong bend in the upper back. If my experience is anything to go by, this type of exercise is the way to go - but I never got the upper back flexibility that @Simon shows. This video 

  shows me 14 years ago (age 62; sorry about the music). Note that the upper back is almost entirely straight, although I am putting as much force on it as I can using the weight of the legs. This type of exercise never did much for improving flexibility, I think because of the body weight taken along the length of the spine. I hope you can understand what I am saying. Another way of putting it, is that a lot of different approaches are needed, because different exercises target different areas in different ways.

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Jim, because your lower back is beautifully flexible, the scorpion pose will affect it way more than the thoracic spine, as you report. The box bridge with the cues I have described, is far better at getting into the thoracic spine, in my experience.

@andyfitz: put your shoulders on the edge of the bench you show above that's further away from the wall, and hold the next rung up on the ladder bars. Straighten your arms completely before applying any of your body's weight to the exercise (lift your hips up as high as you can to straighten the arms). Then go limp, only holding tension in the triceps to keep the arms straight, and slowly lower the hips, but only as far as you can hold the arms straight. Do that, and please take a pic. of the result.

I am editing this to add that it's clear that your lats are v. tight. The exercise I have modified targets these muscles and fascia directly IF you keep the arms completely straight before loading the shoulders.

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Tried this last night with the cue to straighten the arms before loading them. Definitely makes a difference. Something I've noticed is that I never get the same type of soreness in my lats as I do from stretching other muscles. Is that an indication that I can increase the intensity? I'm not even sure how I would. Thanks so much to everyone on this thread. This is one of my biggest issues right now and it's so great to be a part of the conversation. 

Also tried moving my feet together as shown in the video. Creates a strong fatigue sensation. Like suddenly my legs are really tired, until I move them apart again. 

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20 hours ago, Jason said:

Is that an indication that I can increase the intensity?

Yes, but not at the expense of hurting your shoulders. One-arm hangs are better in this regard, I feel.

20 hours ago, Jason said:

Also tried moving my feet together as shown in the video.

Don't worry about this detail for now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Inspired by this thread, I tried to do a bridge myself. It's a skill I don't usually work on. 

Below is what I can do. It took great effort to get to this position, and it was hard to sustain for more then 5 seconds. 

I saw above that Kit recommended the BB. However, that made it ever more difficult. It seemed to require more upper body strength then I have. 

Any suggestions for next steps would be greatly appreciated. 

(I can almost hear Kit recommending some one arm hangs. I've tried that and don't have the strength for that either). 

Best, 

Adley

 

IMG_1154.jpeg

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Keep working on this version for now, concentrating on your holding strength (triceps and shoulders) for time. When you can do 5 x 15", revisit the BB, and follow all the instructions I gave @andyfitz. You'll get there, and it will take time.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi team,

Not posted for a little while (last pictures on 21 May, I see - longer than I thought), but still doing my regular Sunday thoracic bridge sessions. I believe I am seeing good progress, but those newbie gains are largely a thing of the past, so progress is now incremental and not so easy to see perhaps. But, I am certainly feeling it differently.It is easier and quicker to enter the position and to push it up and out. I am also feeling a slightly different stretch in the back - difficult to describe, but my shoulders and scapular feel a little freer and I feel more comfortable in pushing more strongly with my feet. So, I thought I post my pictures from today and from last week. I was happy about today as I almost managed to totally straighten my legs (not quite there yet, something to work more on), but looking at last week's effort, I think my thoracic extension might have been a little better. Anyway, been working daily on trying to improve the flexibility of my lats (on my stall bars, using something I picked up from Kit's channel, but solo, not partner assisted). I think it is helping somewhat this area (but again more work to do here), and of course any thoughts / comments very much appreciated and welcomed as I look to continue my thoracic bridge journey.

IMG_9737.thumb.png.11e3c8eaad27d503d38cea4d47c7c739.pngIMG_9670.thumb.png.bd6a47caf136ea2dbf25f7a7e7ec955a.pngThanks.

Simon.

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These things definitely do take time, but we have this... Keep going, both of you.

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  • 1 month later...

So, here is my August update. It's getting hard to tell, but looking back at the July pics, I do think (admitttedly very incremental) progress is still being made. Here, I am trying two things, hence two photos. First, is to bring the feet nearer to the hands bit by bit. Second, is to try to straighten the legs, requiring the legs and hands to be a bit further apart. Just to vary things. Anyway, hence two photos of yesterday's session.

Kit, one question if I may. The area where I feel it most, both during the sessions and the day after, is the outside of the top of the arms. Just at the intersection of the shoulder and the top of the bicep (if that makes sense). Wondering if this is "normal" or an indication of something I should work on as well as my daily Swedish ladder lat stretches, which seem to be really helping loosen up the lats and helping with the thoracic bridge, as well as generally making me feel pretty

good! If you have any thoughts on this, I am all ears. (If it'd help I can try to indicate better where I am feeling this.) Thanks in advance!

Simon.

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1 minute ago, Jim Pickles said:

Impressive! Well done!

Thanks Jim ... really appreciate that. Just regular one hour thoracic bridge focussed sessions on Sundays, pushing as hard as I can/dare. But regular stretching sessions working on other movements at least 3 times a week, and - if I can - even more often, and I am sure that has some spin off benefits for my bridge, in terms of hamstring, hip flexor, spinal and other general flexibility. Equally, I think my bridge work is assisting in other ways, especially for overhead shoulder extension for hand balancing. So, all good!

 

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I think the next major benefit will come from sieging the hip flexors: see there is no change of angle from the trunk to the thighs? As you work on the partner hip flexor, you will be able to push the hips upwards from the glutes—and that will allow the feet to come closer to the hands. Excellent thoracic extension.

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On 8/8/2023 at 9:48 AM, Kit_L said:

I think the next major benefit will come from sieging the hip flexors: see there is no change of angle from the trunk to the thighs? As you work on the partner hip flexor, you will be able to push the hips upwards from the glutes—and that will allow the feet to come closer to the hands. Excellent thoracic extension.

Thanks so much, Kit. High praise indeed. And agreed, not much extension showing in the hip flexors here, and so - per your suggestion - I will next focus on this. I know you have a lot of hip flexor exercise videos on your YouTube channel, but, assuming I have to work solo and not with a partner, what is your current latest thinking on the very best exercise (or exercises) I can do to improve the extension of my hip flexor to assist with my thoracic bridge? I'd really appreciate your further guidance on this. Thanks so much.

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Well, unless you live on a desert island (and, who knows? you might!), because you only need to do the partner version once a week, or even two weeks, you should be able to find a partner. But if you can't, then the various approaches to the standing hip flexor is the next best thing (and what I am working on myself). If you look up "standing hip flexor" on our YT channel, you'll find a few. The one with the band (or strap) is very effective.

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I support what Kit said. I will also add two aspects that have been very valuable for me. The first was taught in a class by Jonathan Nosan, a backbending (now 40+ yr old) contortionist, who in the standing hip flexor stretch made us bunch up all the buttock muscles very tightly (poking with fingers on the inner and outer sides of the buttocks to make sure they were all working hard) to push the front of the hips forward and holding that for a long time (several minutes), while in a lunge and reaching-up backbend as Olivia is showing in the table version. For me this transformed the front splits from something occasional that needed a lot of warm up, to something that was routine, needing little warm up, and that I can do as often as I like*. I think it is the basis of Jonathan's technique for backbending which he calls "backbending from the front" - and you have so much thoracic flexbility already I wonder if he would be interested in working with you to encourage further bending all along the spine and hips (if you cant find contact details or dont get a response maybe I could try to contact him for you).

*The relevance for backbends of course, is that if you want a flat front split with the torso vertical, there has to be a good backbend in the hip of the leg that is going backwards - you are of course more interested in the backbending aspect of this exercise.

As for another way of enhancing the standing or kneeling hip flexor stretch, once you are happy with that, is I suggest you try one that I posted under the name "New variant of chair hip flexor stretch" which is a more powerful version.

I am interested that you have such good thoracic flexibility, but use so little lumbar flexibility. I had (in my bendier days) the reverse, but no matter how much I tried, couldnt enhance my thoracic flexibility much. Not sure whether it was a basic anatomical limitation or a training issue.

Anyway, Happy bending!

Jim.

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Thanks so much Jim. I am also working on my front splits (still a long way off, maybe 15cm from the ground), and so the "Nosan technique" sounds great to kill the proverbial two birds with one stone. Will give that a go, for sure. I have also checked your variant for the chair hip flexor stretch, and I honestly can't wait to try that one out having read the exchanges in the comments section. Sunday is going to be interesting this week 😃 !

As for thoracic flexibility, I have been working on this for some time (since the beginning of my thoracic bridge journey) and focussed on this at the beginning as I felt it was a weak area (and overhead flexibility generally). I continue to regularly do a few exercises to try to improve this - I imagine you know them all. But for me maybe the best one is the loaded dumbell overhead pullover - with my upper back draped over a yoga wheel, arms extended behind me overhead with the weight, and pushing my hips and lower back downwards. If that explanation makes sense .... Seems to have done the trick for me at least.

Thanks too for the good wishes - happy backbending to you too!!

Simon.

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  • 1 month later...

I'm working hard on hip flexors and shoulder range of motion. Trying to prevent that massive hinge at the lumbar spine. I feel this from sternum to waist, along my abs. And across my chest from shoulder to shoulder, along the clavicle. But also everywhere else :( 

You can see the box I usually use behind me. It's about 40-45 cm high. I can just about get my legs straight with shoulders over wrists using that height. 

Just curious if you see the same thing I see/feel. Thanks for any thoughts on the subject. 

https://youtu.be/hSiqRcNO-kQ

Hope I'm not hijacking this thread. 

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What you are feeling is 100% normal! Best way to reduce the lumbar extension is to use the box, and simply decrease the height. Even a 100mm lift makes a tangible difference. And make sure that you are breathing as deeply as possible into the front/top of your chest, once up as high as possible. As far as I can see, progress looks excellent.

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