Bridge with Ball

STEP BY STEP GUIDE:

  1. Lay on your back and bend your knees so that your heels are about one foot away from your butt and place your hands out to the side of your body.

  2. Place a ball between your knees and use the muscles of your inner thigh to squeeze the ball tightly.

  3. Press your heels into the ground to lift your hips up until your hips are fully extended, forming a straight line between your knees and your shoulders while keeping the ball in tight between your thighs.

COMMON MISTAKES:

  1. Not fully extending the hips. Stopping short of the fully extended position will limit the amount of tension on the glutes, which is the primary muscle we are trying to train with this exercise.

  2. Not squeezing the ball hard enough. Adding the ball into the bridge exercise is meant to train the adductor muscles, so if you’re not squeezing the ball with max/near max effort you aren’t getting any benefit from it.

  3. Placing the feet too far away from or too close to your butt. Different foot positions will shift the focus to other muscles such as the low back or the quads. Keep the heels about a foot away from you in order to most effectively train your glutes.