If you’re reading my website, you’re probably familiar with Return of Kings already. Loved by millions, and hated by the Southern Poverty Law Center and millions of others, the 3+-year old website has become one of the exemplars of the burgeoning philosophy of neomasculinity (in fact, ROK owner Roosh V coined the term).

I bring this up because they have been so kind as to publish an article from yours truly on the subject of bridging, a vital exercise for the physical man

I will still be doing my weekly updates to this website, but I will also be posting occasionally on Return of Kings. All ROK articles I write from henceforth will be linked to on this website the same day.

What if there was an exercise that could heal spinal pain, rejuvenate vertebral discs, add definition and size to muscles most people don’t even know exist, tone the arms and legs, strengthen the toes and ankles, expand lung capacity, and promote circulation? And, what if variations of this same mythical exercise strengthen the neck, literally making you more difficult to punch out?

The answer is: there is one, and it is one of the oldest exercises documented in human cultures: the bridge.

I mastered bridging when I was in my sophomore year of college, at a time when I had never once attempted to deadlift. A year or two later, when I started to deadlift, I lifted with horrible form, as most people do when they first attempt that exercise. It took me about 2 months to realize that having lower back pain is a problem-I feel this is because the healing power of bridging insulated me from my idiocy-every workout ended with a round of bridging, which took the edge off my back pain and let me rationalize it away. Once I shored up my form, continuing to do rounds of bridging afterwards, I have literally never had any back pain from deadlifting again, and in that time span I have gone from deadlifting 95 pounds to deadlifting 350 pounds. Many lifters complain about throwing their backs out, having herniated vertebral discs, and other spinal suffering, but these are fates I have completely avoided, which I attribute to bridging. As a side benefit, bridging gave me these (literally and figuratively) groovy erector spinae muscles snaking up the middle of my back  a defined muscle that you will rarely see at the gym.

You can read it here.