Bridge

On your back, lift the hips into a straight line from knees to shoulders. Active glute and hip-extension work.

· 2 min read

yoga · glute · hip extension · posterior chain · supine

The lesson

  1. 1

    Heels within fingertip reach

    On your back, knees bent, heels close enough that your fingertips almost brush them.

  2. 2

    Flatten, then press up

    Press your lower back into the floor first, then drive through your heels and squeeze your glutes to lift your hips into a straight line from knees to shoulders. Knees track over your feet rather than splaying out.

  3. 3

    The test

    You should feel your glutes. Hamstrings cramping means your heels are too far out — walk them in. A busy lower back means you lifted before you flattened it.

Bridge

How to do it

Lie on your back with the knees bent and the feet flat on the floor, heels close enough to the hips that you can almost touch them with your fingertips. Arms rest along the sides. Press into both feet — especially the heels — to lift the hips up into a straight line from knees to shoulders. Squeeze the glutes. Hold and breathe steadily.

Why it's good for runners

This is one of the most useful active poses in the catalog for a runner. Bridge trains glute activation — the same hip extension your body uses every time your foot pushes off the ground. Most runners have glutes that are technically strong but lazy to fire; Bridge as a hold or as repeated reps teaches them to switch on quickly. That carries over directly into a stronger push-off on every stride.

Common mistakes

Don't push the hips higher by arching the lower back — the lift comes from the glutes, not the lumbar. If you feel it in the low back, your feet are probably too far from your hips; pull them in closer. And don't let the knees splay outward; they stay tracking over the feet.

Related

Yoga poses

Locust

Face down, lifting chest, arms and legs off the floor. The whole back of the body contracting at once.

Yoga poses

Legs Up the Wall

Sit up against a wall, swing the legs up it, and stay. Three shapes in one position — straight, wide, soles together — and you never come down between them.

Yoga poses

Reclined Butterfly

On your back, soles of the feet together, knees falling wide. Both hips and the whole front of the body open at once, with the floor doing the holding.

Back to Yoga poses