Side Bridge Exercise - Intermediate

To Perform the Intermediate Side Bridge Exercise:

1. Begin by lying on your side with your weight supported on your elbow and your knees fully extended. Prevent excessive strain on your shoulder by making sure your elbow is positioned directly underneath your shoulder and your upper arm is perpendicular to the floor (Figure 1).
   
2. Lift your hips off the floor to bring your legs back in line with your upper body. As you do this, you should feel your lateral trunk and lateral hip muscles contracting on the side of your body closest to the floor, but this should not cause pain in your neck or shoulders (Figure 2).
   
   
3. As you lift the hips off the ground, keep the shoulders, hips, and feet in a straight line (Figure 3). Do not allow the upper body to twist or flex forward.
   
   
4. Begin by holding the Intermediate Side Bridge position for up to 10 seconds. Return to the starting position and rest for 5-10 seconds, then lift your body up once again. Repeat this sequence up to six times on both the right and left sides for a total contraction time of 60 seconds per side.
   
   
5. When this becomes too easy, you can make the exercise more challenging by holding the Intermediate Side Bridge position for 20 seconds and repeating three times, and finally, by performing the exercise for a full 60 seconds per side.