Glutes exercise
Shoulder BridgeHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Main muscles
- Glutes, Hamstrings
- Also works
- Abs, Lower back
- Equipment
- Yoga mat
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
How do you do the Shoulder Bridge?
- Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat, and roll up into a bridge on your shoulder blades.
- Keeping your hips level, lift your right foot and stretch the leg to the ceiling, foot pointed.
- Breathe in, flex the foot and lower the straight leg to the height of your other knee.
- Breathe out, point the foot and kick the leg back up.
- Do 3–5 kicks, place the foot down and change legs.
Cues
- Hips level and lifted.
- Reach the leg long, kick from the hip.
- Press through the standing foot.
Common mistakes
- Dropping the hips: keep the kicks smaller.
- Arching the back: draw the ribs in and keep the line from shoulders to knees.
- Rushing: control the lowering, then kick.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
The version in our demo
The classical mat Shoulder Bridge (Joseph Pilates, Return to Life; Balanced Body mat manual) with the leg kicks: in a bridge on the shoulder blades, one leg reaches to the ceiling, lowers straight with the foot flexed and kicks back up with the foot pointed, the pelvis level.
Starting position
Roll up into a bridge (as pelviccurl): shoulders, hips and knees in a line, arms long, palms down.
The movement
Keep the hips level and lift the right foot, stretching the leg to the ceiling, foot pointed. Flex the foot and lower the straight leg until it's level with the other knee; point the foot and kick it back up. After 3–5 kicks bend the knee, set the foot down and change legs.
Breathing
In as the leg lowers, out as it kicks up.
Tempo
6 s: bridge 0.3 s, leg up with control 1.3 s (the knee comes up, the shin passes level, the leg extends), lower 1.2 s (in), kick up 1 s (out), foot down 1.5 s (the knee bends and the foot returns the same way), bridge 0.7 s. Real practice: 3–5 kicks each leg.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
- Bridge: shoulders, hips and knees in a line (within 4–8°), hips 29–32 cm up and still (0.0 cm), weight on the shoulder blades, head on the mat.
- Kicking leg: straight (knee 7°) at the top, vertical, foot pointed; lowered straight until the ankle is level with the other knee, foot flexed.
- Standing foot flat; arms long, palms pressing.
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Shoulder Bridge is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
Sources
- J. Pilates and W. J. Miller, Return to Life through Contrology (1945), "The Shoulder Bridge".
- Balanced Body, Pilates Mat instructor manual
