Thoracic Bridge
Enhance thoracic spine and shoulder mobility while building core and glute strength with the Thoracic Bridge. Improve posture and flexibility effectively.
Description
The thoracic bridge is a great exercise to improve the mobility of the thoracic spine and shoulders. It also helps strengthen the core and glutes.
How to Do Thoracic Bridge
- 1Setup
Begin seated on the floor with your knees bent, feet flat and hip-width apart, and your hands placed behind you with fingers pointing towards your hips.
- 2Setup
Lean back slightly onto your hands, ensuring your elbows are soft and not locked out to protect your joints.
- 3
Inhale to prepare, then as you exhale, press through your feet and one grounded hand, lifting your hips towards the ceiling into a bridge position.
- 4
Simultaneously, reach your free arm overhead and across your body, allowing your torso to rotate and your chest to open fully.
- 5
Actively push through your grounded hand and foot, extending your thoracic spine and engaging your glutes to achieve maximum height and stretch.
- 6
Hold the peak position briefly, then slowly and with control, reverse the movement to return to the starting seated position, then repeat on the opposite side.
Tips
- Initiate the movement by driving through your grounded foot and hand, actively squeezing your glutes to lift your hips high and create a strong, stable bridge.
- Breathe deeply throughout the movement; inhale as you prepare and exhale powerfully as you lift, using your breath to assist in spinal extension and rotation.
- Keep your neck relaxed and follow your reaching hand with your gaze, allowing for a natural cervical spine alignment as your thoracic spine extends.
- Focus on expanding your chest and feeling the stretch across your pectoral muscles and the front of your shoulder as you reach, rather than just arching your lower back.
Common Mistakes
- ×Allowing the shoulder of your grounded arm to collapse instead of staying active: Press firmly through your palm and engage your lat to keep the shoulder stable and away from your ear.
- ×Over-arching the lower back instead of extending the thoracic spine: Focus on lifting your sternum towards the ceiling and engaging your glutes to drive hip extension, distributing the arch higher in your back.
- ×Not reaching fully with the free arm: Actively extend your arm overhead and across your body, imagining you're trying to touch something far away to maximize the rotational stretch.
Related Exercises
Seated Neck Side Stretch
Relieve neck tension and improve flexibility with the Seated Neck Side Stretch. Gently stretch your sternocleidomastoid and trapezius muscles for comfort.
Lying Single Leg Hamstring Stretch against Wall
Gently stretch your hamstrings with this effective lying single leg wall stretch. Improve flexibility, reduce tightness, and enhance range of motion
Low Lunge (left)
Master the Low Lunge to deeply stretch your hip flexors, quadriceps, and groin. This foundational yoga pose improves flexibility and hip mobility,
Dead Hang Stretch
Decompress your spine and stretch your lats, shoulders, and upper body with the Dead Hang. Improve posture, flexibility, and relieve back tension.
Cat Cow Stretch
Improve spinal flexibility and relieve back tension with this gentle yoga flow alternating between flexion and extension.
Bodyweight Kneeling Push-up Row
Build chest and back strength with this kneeling push-up variation that adds a rowing pull at the top.
Track Thoracic Bridge in your workouts
Log sets, reps, and weight. See your progress over time.
Get Ellim — Free