During the Mat Work Progression the Bridge position may be challenging for many clients to hold with correct form. It is important to avoid the booty squeeze. Cue the hips to lift to the ceiling while reaching long forward through the knees keeping the booty relaxed. Watch to see the hipbones are level. Another great cue is to hug the inner thighs together. A ball may be used to keep the knees aligned. Adding the ball will increase the intensity of the exercise working the inner thighs. Cue the clients to press into the mat with their hands and the feet. Pressing the palms and feet into the mat will activate the triceps and hamstrings increasing the work in all the right places. When teaching this exercise try not to rattle off all of the cues at once. Instead, look at what needs to be corrected and cue from those observations. If you do use all of the cues, go slowly and have the class hold the pose feeling the proper position in their bodies. Maintaining this pose, with proper form, is often just as hard as moving in this exercise. ]]>
