This was originally an email for a group of gymnastics parents…

Sitting at a desk or computer all day will do very bad things to your spine, as well as shortening the muscles along the front of your body.

What’s the problem with muscles shortening? Well, the tight chest/shoulders and hip flexors continually pull your back out of alignment, which creates sitting-like back pain even when you’re on your feet.

A semi-advanced adult Carson City Gymnastics move that will build strength along the back of your body as well as stretching those tight shoulders and hips is the reverse bridge:

Here’s a video of this gymnastics exercise:

How to do it:

• Lie flat on your back
• Bend arms and put them on the ground by your ears, with forearm vertical to the floor
• Bend knees and bring your feet in, placing feet flat on the ground
• Press through shoulders and drive through hips to to raise your body off the floor
• Reach full extension in the hips with legs straight as you push your head through your arms
• Finish the bridge up with arms vertical to the floor and the rest of the body in full extension

You can make this exercise easier by placing your feet flat on a higher surface (like a box or step) and/or have a partner stand by your hands to pull your shoulders on the press up.

To get used to moving yourself backwards, try the bridge wall walk:

As you build more confidence, you can walk lower and lower.

And a one more bridging gymnastics exercise is the bridging push up:

This push up variation demands shoulder flexibility, core/glute strength, and body awareness.

Give this exercise a try after a thorough warm-up and see how great your shoulders and back feel!