“Drop the chin forwards, roll the shoulders forwards, slowly mobilizing one vertebrae at a time — I can usually tell within the first three roll-downs how someone's back is feeling today. Sticky at the thoracic junction? Tight through the hamstrings? The roll-down tells you everything before we've even gotten to the floor.”

Form

“Make sure that the spine is long, there's no excessive arching through that lower back. During bridges, the number one cheat is arching the lumbar spine to get higher. Don't. The height comes from the glutes. If your lower back is doing the lifting, your glutes have checked out.”

Safety

“Toes are always slightly higher than the knee — this ensures the glutes, not the hamstrings, do the lifting. It's a tiny adjustment that changes everything. Drop the toes below the knee and the hamstrings dominate. Keep them above, and suddenly your glutes have to show up. Most people have never felt their glutes work properly during a bridge until I give them this cue.”

Form

“Think about pulling the inner thighs together — activating the adductors stabilizes the pelvis from the inside. It sounds counterintuitive. You're doing a glute exercise, why are we talking about inner thighs? Because the pelvis is a ring. Glutes pull from the outside, adductors stabilize from the inside. You need both to protect the lower back.”

Motivation