Bridge Exercise: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Should you do the bridge exercise? Will it finally “wake up” your glutes like all those fitness influencers promise?

Maybe and kind-of.

I’ve seen the bridge touted as some type of panacea for all types of movement problems. Back pain? Do the bridge. Hip pain? Do the bridge. Want to end world hunger? Do the bridge!

I say this often in my content, but it deserves constant repeating – there is no one single perfect exercise for everyone.

This article is broken down in the way it's titled. I will first explore the good – what can a bridge do for your body and movement. In this section, I’ll demonstrate what a proper bridge with good form should look like and what cues you should think about while you perform the exercise.

Glute Bridge Exercise – the Good and How to do it

Any type of bridging exercise will improve your hip extension. This a GOOD thing because hip extension is a movement that many modern-day humans are limited in.

We don’t do a lot of it. We do a lot of the opposite – sitting in a chair with our hips in flexion. Giving the body a dose of the opposite is an excellent way to open up the hips.

Glute Bridges Exercise – the Bad and how to make it better

If you can easily get your hips to knee level in an unloaded bridge, you’re not going to get much out of doing them.

The first is to load the glute bridge. When you load a movement you’re competent in, you become better at the movement.

If you’re someone like me, a normal and busy adult with responsibilities who cares more about moving better, then maybe a better goal would be a full back bridge.