📖 Static demo — read-only snapshot

You’re browsing a static build of the Body IQ knowledge graph, so everything loads with no backend. A few things that need the live server are turned off here:

  • Global search (sidebar) is disabled — it queries the API.
  • The JSON API and the API “Try it” playgroundaren’t included.
  • The data is a snapshot — it refreshes only when the demo is rebuilt, not live from the database.

Everything else — the body map, progression ladders, coverage heatmap, exercise finder, and all anatomy/exercise/source pages — works fully. The full app (live search + API + database) runs from the source on GitHub.

Side-Bridge

Draftmotor-control88%intermediate⬤ moderate evidence
View FHIR resourceFHIR R4 ActivityDefinition — the interoperable form of this exercise

Positions & Range of Motion

Start
sidelying on the down forearm with elbow directly under the shoulder, legs stacked and extended, hips resting toward the floor
End
hips driven upward so the body forms one straight line from head to feet, down hip pushed toward the ceiling, position held
Range of Motion
isometric lateral-bridge hold — minimal joint excursion once hips are lifted

How to Perform

Sidelying on forearm, lift hips so body forms a straight line from head to feet; hold.

Watch on YouTube↗

Opens a YouTube search for “Side-Bridge”

Starting position: sidelying

Coaching Cues

  1. 1

    Stacked shoulders, hips, ankles — quadratus and obliques hold the line

    (verbal)
  2. 2

    Drive the down elbow into the floor

    (verbal)
  3. 3

    Push the down hip toward the ceiling

    (verbal)
  4. 4

    Body stays straight as a plank from crown to heel

    (visual)

Evidence-Based Dosing & EMG Data

Recommended Dosing

3×30 s per side, 3×/week.

EMG Activation Data

>45% MVIC gluteus medius and external obliques [Ekstrom 2007].

Muscles Involved (5)

Primary Movers

Gluteus Medius— >45% MVIC
External Oblique— >45% MVIC

Secondary Movers

Quadratus Lumborum
Internal Oblique

Stabilizers

Transversus Abdominis

Easier Variations ↓

1

Short-Lever Side-Bridge

Knees bent, side-plank from knees.

Harder Variations ↑

1

Top-Leg Lift Side-Bridge

Lift the top leg for extra glute med demand.

2

Side-Bridge with Rotation

Thread top arm under body and return.

Target Movements (2)

Hip AbductionHip Joint (Coxofemoral)
Lateral Pelvic TiltLumbopelvic

Why This Exercise Matters

Everyday activities this exercise helps you do — essential means it directly trains the capacity the task needs:

Carrying and Lifting ObjectsSingle-Leg BalanceWalkingPosture Maintenance

Goals This Helps With

Rehab, performance, prevention, and mobility goals this exercise supports — essential means it's a cornerstone:

Low Back PainrehabImprove Core StrengthperformanceLow Back Injury Preventionprevention

Research Notes

AUDIT[medium]: emgNotes makes a quantitative claim ('>45% MVIC gluteus medius and external obliques [Ekstrom 2007]') but Ekstrom 2007 is not among the linked sources (only Kisner 2017 and ACSM 2021 are attached) → Add Ekstrom RA et al. 2007 (J Orthop Sports Phys Ther, EMG of core/hip exercises) as a linked source node, or remove the bracketed inline citation AUDIT[medium]: All four cues cite 'McGill 2010, Strength Cond J — side-bridge core EMG', but McGill 2010 does not exist in the exercise's linked sources list → Add McGill SM 2010 (Strength and Conditioning Journal, core training) to the sources list so the cue citations resolve to a real source node AUDIT[low]: Quadratus lumborum is listed as 'secondary' even though the internal cue names it as a primary line-holder and McGill's EMG work (the cited cue source) identifies the side-bridge as the signature high-activation QL exercise (~50%+ MVIC) → Consider promoting quadratus-lumborum to 'primary' to be consistent with the cited McGill evidence and the cue text