Lower back, hips and knees

Bridge: Block Between Knees

Activates your inner thighs alongside posterior chain strengthening, improving pelvic alignment and adding medial chain support that benefits your knees and lower back.

How to do it

1. 1

   Set a block between your knees, lying down

   On your back with knees bent and feet flat, place a block or a firm cushion between your knees. Keep each knee in line with the foot below it.

2. 2

   Squeeze the block gently and keep that pressure

   A light, steady inner thigh press is enough, roughly a third of what you could give. That pressure is what keeps your knees tracking and your pelvis even.

3. 3

   Lift your hips with the pressure unchanged

   Rise into your bridge while the block stays exactly as squeezed as it was on the floor. If the block loosens or starts to slip, the point of this version has been lost.

4. 4

   Hold, then lower with the squeeze intact

   Hold for 20 to 60 seconds, then come down slowly and release the block last. For less, keep the lift small and reduce the height you rise to.

What to watch for

Squeezing so hard that the effort turns into gripping and the knees drift in or out. Even, light pressure that lasts the whole hold matters far more than force.

Ways to adjust it

• Mini bridge
• Reduce height

If this one is too much today

Try the gentler version instead. It asks less of you and does much the same work.

• Bridge: Mini

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits. See all Bridge versions in one place, ordered from gentlest to strongest.

• Bridge: Classic Hold
• Bridge: Legs on Chair
• Bridge: Mini
• Bridge: Movement
• Bridge: Supported Sacrum
• Bridge: Wall
• Glute Bridge: Single Leg

Before you try it

Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.