The bridge is a strengthening exercise that helps protect the low back: lying face up with knees bent, squeeze your buttocks and raise your hips into a straight line, hold 5 seconds, and repeat 10 times.
Not every exercise is for every patient. The ones meant for you carry a check mark on the home sheet your physician fills out; stick to those, morning and evening, every day, unless the sheet gives you a different schedule.
What are the steps for the bridge?
- Get set: Lying face up, bend your knees and plant your feet hip-width apart.
- Move: Clench your buttocks and push your hips up so your shoulders, hips and knees make one line. Lower down slowly.
- How many: Hold 5 seconds at the top. Do 10.
How does the bridge help you recover?
Strong hip and buttock muscles carry your body weight so your low back does not have to. They also help you lift, climb stairs and get out of a car safely.
Bridges are one of the hip exercises our spinal stenosis exercise guide also uses, so they often stay on the plan for the long term.
Which mistakes should you watch for?
- Lifting so high that your back arches.
- Pressing up through your neck.
- Letting your knees fall inward or outward.
When should you stop and call us?
Feeling a stretch, a bit of ache, or next-day stiffness is expected and fine. Stop the exercise and call us if you notice any of these:
- Sharp or stabbing pain
- Pain that jumps 2 or more points above your usual and lasts over an hour
- New numbness, tingling or weakness
- Dizziness or a change in your vision
Call 911 right away for chest pain, fainting or trouble breathing.
Why does your exercise log matter?
Each time you finish your exercises, tick the box on your log, and jot your pain number down once a day. The log rides along to every visit. Your technician adds up your days, has you demonstrate one exercise so form can be checked, and enters that tally in the visit note, right beside the treatments.
What to remember
- Squeeze first, then lift.
- Straight line, not an arch.
- Knees stay pointed forward.
Show us you have it: Do a single bridge in front of us and keep your hips up for five seconds. If any part is unclear, ask us to go over it again; there is no limit on that.
Other low back exercises in the program
This page belongs to the Gateway Midwest physician-directed physiotherapy program. On Natural Bridge Road, the physician who examined you signs each order, and no treatment runs without a physician on site.
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