A Simple Guide to Learn the Bridge Exercise (With Videos)

The bridge exercise is one of the best body fitness workouts for athletes. Besides, it is an explosive Brazilian jiu-jitsu and wrestling technique. As a well-versed beginner white belt, your overall performance will benefit from thoroughly understanding the BJJ bridging move.

The bridge is a well-known Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling, and judo move used to escape some wrong positions. It’s a movement by lifting your glutes off the ground while engaging your shoulders and feet.

There is something in this article for everyone, whether you are just starting in Brazilian jiu-jitsu or are an expert. So, it provides some helpful advice on improving your game by using the bridge movement in jiu-jitsu. Stay tuned!

BJJ Bridging Exercise Benefits

bridging move

The bridge is a fantastic fitness exercise with tons of benefits. Take a glance at the following gifts of the bridging exercises.

  • Strengthen your core, including your abs, glutes
  • Boost your core stability & flexibility.
  • An excellent therapy to reduce knee and back pain.
  • Improve posture & core mobility.
  • Improve BJJ practitioners’ overall performance.
  • Stretch your neck and chest.
  • Reduce anxiety and fatigue.
  • Etc.

Related: Discover the Endless Benefits of BJJ – from Self-Defense to a Confident Mindset – and Unleash the Warrior Within. Click Here to Find Out More!

Bridge Exercise Variations

Bridging exercise is one of the best fitness exercises for you. You can use the bridge exercise to warm up, improve mobility and conditioning, and gain strength in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

The bridge move has several variations suitable for BJJ and other fitness goals. So, what are the best bridge exercises to overall your fitness performance?

The following are some fantastic glute bridging exercises that you should consider doing.

  • Standard glute bridge
  • Single-leg glute bridge
  • Bench glute bridge
  • Dumbbell glute bridge
  • Band single-leg glute bridge
  • Frog pump glute bridge
  • Bench single-leg glute bridge
  • Barbell glute bridge
  • Mini band glute bridge

In the video below, you’ll learn how to perform the various bridging exercises with and without weights. Have a great time!

Source: Criticalbench

Related: Begin your BJJ career confidently as you learn the essential techniques and movements that every beginner should know. This article reveals the basic moves and techniques to help improve your game so far.

Bridging Mechanism: How to Bridge in BJJ & MMA?

Bridging is a great way to work against the laws of gravity (weight-bearing exercise). As a result, the hip extensors get more robust, and the core gets more stable.

To begin this bridge exercise, lie on your back with your arms at your sides. The next step is to lift your hips while squeezing your toes and shoulders into the bridge position.

When it comes to grappling martial arts, the bridge is one of the essential techniques. With this technique, practitioners can avoid unwanted bottom positions, such as the side control and mount.

In addition, it can help alleviate back pain and increase the activity of trunk stabilization muscles like the internal oblique, external oblique, and so forth.

In the following video, you’ll get great advice on correctly performing the bridge technique for BJJ, MMA, and Wrestling.

Source: Effective Martial Arts

Related: Drills will aid in developing your BJJ technique, timing, reflexes, and execution. I wrote an article about the best BJJ Drills to incorporate into your daily training regimen. Click here to read more!

Jiu-Jitsu Bridge Escapes

The bridge movement is used in Brazilian jiu-jitsu to escape some bad bottom positions, including the mount, side control, etc.

Bridge and Roll Escape from Mount

The bridge and roll are effective escapes from the bottom mount position in BJJ martial art. This is among the basic movements that white belts should learn and master from their early training days. So, how to perform the bridge and roll escape?

  1. Maintain proper distance and prevent your opponent from gaining an advantage while in the bottom mount position.
  2. Correctly handle the hand fighting, then tangle one of your opponent’s hands.
  3. Bridge and roll toward the opponent’s trapped hand. But, make sure to raise your head to avoid being choked.
  4. Finish the mount escape and secure the new position.

Need more help!

In the video below, Lachlan Giles demonstrates how to bridge and roll correctly to escape the mount.

Source: Absolute MMA St Kilda – Melbourne

Bridge and Shrimp Escape from Side Control

The bridge and shrimp movements effectively escape the bottom side control position in jiu-jitsu. This is one of the first techniques beginner white belts should learn and master on the mat. So, how do you pull off the bridge and shrimp escape?

  1. First, block your opponent with the appropriate frames at the bottom side control position.
  2. Take advantage of the right moment to perform a diagonal bridge movement, then shrimp to make space.
  3. Bring your knee forward to close the gap and reclaim the guard.
  4. Complete the side control escape and secure the new position.

More assistance is required!

In the video below, Renzo Gracie explains how to bridge correctly to escape the side control position in BJJ grappling.

Source: Gallerr

Bridging BJJ Mistakes

As previously stated, BJJ bridging assists you in escaping nasty positions and attacks by creating distance and disbalance your opponent.

Unfortunately, many white belts practitioners perform the bridge exercise incorrectly because they encounter common mistakes and problems. Here are some common jiu-jitsu bridging exercise errors.

  1. Elbows are not in.
  2. Not engaging your toe.
  3. Wrong angle.
  4. Bridging on your neck.
  5. Not engaging your core enough.

In the following video, Stephan Kesting demonstrates 4 bridge and roll mount escape mistakes you should avoid.

Source: Stephan Kesting

Conclusion

Bridging is one of the best full-body core exercises, with numerous advantages. It is used in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling, and MMA to turn the game in your favor by escaping some undesirable positions (bottom mount, etc.).

Aside from that, the bridge move is an excellent fitness exercise for reducing back pain, increasing power explosivity, and improving core stability, among other things. As a result, you should incorporate this exercise into your strength and conditioning routine.

Recommended: Refrain from allowing the choice between MMA and BJJ to keep you from reaching your full potential. This comprehensive article compares and contrasts MMA and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to help you choose the best option. Click here to learn more!