How To Do Bridge With Chest Expansion

By: Chris Freytag, CPT


Chloe Freytag demonstrating Bridge with Chest Expansion in a black tank top and yoga pants

 

Bridge Pose With Chest Expansion stretches the chest, neck and back and opens the front of the hips. This pose also strengthens the glutes and core and lower back and promotes good posture. Almost anyone should learn how to do Bridge With Chest Expansion and experience the benefits it has to offer.

If you have been to a yoga class or done a yoga practice on your own, you will notice is there a fair amount of bending forward. This is for good reason, since most of these poses help to stretch and open the hamstrings and back. It is, however, very important to balance out your body and provide ways to stretch and open the chest and front of the hips. Bridge Pose With Chest Expansion is an excellent example of this and it is user-friendly for most people. Contraindications include those with neck injuries. If this is the case for you, be very careful or avoid Bridge Pose with Chest Expansion completely.

Bridge Pose With Chest Expansion allows you to deepen the pose as much as you would like by using your arms and pressing more firmly into the floor, and by lifting your heels and squeezing your glutes very tight. Another great option to enhance Bridge Pose with Chest Expansion is to use a small, squishy ball or rolled up towel between your knees. This keeps your legs from bowing out which puts pressure on your spine and de-activates some of the muscles used. Be sure to keep your inner thighs puling toward one another as if magnets were inside each of them, and squeeze your glutes and abdominals throughout.

Your neck should rest gently on the floor during this pose and you should be able to feel that all 7 cervical vertebrae are on the floor.

Here are the steps to doing Bridge Pose With Chest Expansion:

1) Begin lying on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor close to glutes.

2) Tucking your shoulders under you, tighten your abdominals and lift your hips up as high as you can. Align knees with hip bones.

3) Interlace hands under body and press them into the floor as you lift hips high. Squeeze glutes and abdominals. Keep neck relaxed on the mat.

4) Continue to breathe and hold for 30 seconds.

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