Back pain. Sucks dosen't it? There are many different excercises to strenghten the lower back. I've tried most of them, deadlifts, good mornings, back extensions. In my experience these often hurt more then helped. While searching the internet for a way to eliminate back pain, I came across an excercise called the "back bridge" found in a book titled "combat conditioning". The back bridge has been used through out the globe in multiple martial arts. Mike tyson is seen doing it in one of his early training highlights, as this excercise works the entire spine perhaps thats why mike's neck was so damn big. How does one perform the back bridge? 1.Lie on your back with your legs drawn up to your butt and your feet flat on the ground. 2.Raise your elbows so they are pointing straight up and place your palms on the ground. The bottom of your palms should be next to your ears. 3.Tilt your head back so you are looking at your hands. You want to have you're forhead(not the top of you're head) on the ground, try to touch you're nose to the ground. The most important thing to remember is to start off slow if you feel uncomfortable stop dont force it. It looks scary but its not. Remember to stay relaxed, its no good for you to be all tensed up. Start off with the image below then progress to the one under it. The Back Bridge, is controversial. Many people think it’s dangerous, that it compresses the cervical spine. Matt Furey, the author of "combat conditioning" says the exact opposite is true, that the Back Bridge stretches the spine and strengthens the neck, back, thighs, hips and buttocks like nothing else. He refers to it as the King of excersice. However people who have a pre-existing neck injury or neck problems of any kind should consult their doctor and proceed with caution. I've been doing if for quite some time now and it's worked wonders. I thought I should share it with you guys. This guy holds the back brige for 3 minutes, you'll notice this guy is balancing on the top of his head, matt furry says you should do it on you're forhead, its feels alot more confortable in my opinion.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvVVMNVMqhc&feature=PlayList&p=34CA813470205E9D&index=8 Here is an easier way to do it, for begginers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4JKOtUGfwc&feature=fvw Here's Mike Tyson doing the bridge, fast forward to 1:56 to see it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6zlaIl0yh0
