The Wrestler's Bridge Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

The Wrestler’s Bridge 3

Posted on Tuesday, October 31st, 2017 by John Wood

Another fantastic shot of The Wrestler’s Bridge in action. Unfortunately, it was not recorded who these gents were but the fellow on the bottom performs a picture-perfect nose-to-mat bridge to save what would probably have been an easy pin. Superb.

The Wrestler’s Bridge

Posted on Friday, December 11th, 2015 by John Wood

THIS is why wrestlers practice bridging ~ a strong neck may just be the only thing keeping the shoulders off the mat. This outstanding example of bridging occurred at the 1936 Berlin Olympics Greco-Roman wrestling event. The fellow doing the bridging is Germany’s Kurt Hornfischer (who won the Bronze medal) while Estonia’s Kristjan Palusalu is up top going for the pin. (Palusalu quite impressively took the Heavyweight gold in both the freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling events in Berlin.)

The Wrestler’s Bridge 2

Posted on Thursday, July 30th, 2015 by John Wood

The wrestler’s bridge is a fantastic exercise for building neck size and strength and here’s a good look at why it is so named and practiced by grapplers. In a match, the neck can act as an extra ‘limb’ which, if strong enough, can keep the shoulders off the mat. Shown here is a Greco-Roman featherweight class match from the 1912 Stockholm Summer Olympics with Swedish wrestler Ewald Persson (bridging) vs. Norwegian champion Ragnvald Gullaksen. This match ended in a decision after 59 minutes, with Gullaksen taking the win.

Hackenschmidt’s Bridge

Posted on Monday, January 19th, 2015 by John Wood

A look at George Hackenschmidt demonstrating perfect form in the wrestler’s bridge around 1910. This exercise has obvious merit for wrestlers but can be an awesome method for developing neck and upper-back strength. Bridging will also strengthen the spine and may even make you slightly taller so it’s a good one to have in your bag of tricks.

Farmer Burns on the Wrestler’s Bridge

Posted on Thursday, December 18th, 2014 by John Wood

“I wish to impress upon all my students the great value of physical training connected with the bridge exercise. I want you to practice bridging every day, for you can find nothing that will develop the neck and back muscles to such an extent as bridging will do.

You already realize the importance of a very strong neck and it is entirely up to you to have a wonderful neck or not, depending entirely on the amount of study, and time of practice that you give the subject. A strong, well-developed neck is not only valuable to health and your personal athletic appearance, but important in wrestling as well.”

~ Farmer Burns, 1912