World Class Athletics

" Bridging exercises are not widely practiced in the West. Perhaps this really is because our culture VALUES APPEARANCE OVER ABILITY, because in other parts of the world the bridge is highly esteemed as one of the greatest exercise techniques known - in the East, it is regarded as the "king" of exercises. Various forms of bridge are well known in Shaolin kung fu training, and and are also practiced as part of the Taoist health arts like k'ai men and tao yin. But perhaps no country has devoted so much time to understanding the bridge as India, where it is called chakrasana - the wheel posture. In yoga, there are scores of bridging exercises, ranging from basic positions to highly advanced poses where the feet actually rest on the head. Indian physical culturist take the bridge so seriously because their understanding of the importance of the spine goes back thousands of years further than our own. Ayurvedic medicine (the ancient Indian philosophy of health ) places so much importance on the spinal column that it is seen as possessing occult and even magical qualities. " - Paul "Coach" Wade, Convict Conditioning

When holding the bridge and breathing deeply, I'm often overcome by this "magical" feeling. I can't explain it. It's beyond the physical realm. I need to make this a daily practice. A good goal to work up to would be to hold the bridge for 3 minutes while taking as few deep slow breaths as possible by breath control.